September brings us the best and the most-awaited Venice Film Festival—it’s the festival where one boldly expresses and celebrates the unique takes from filmmakers.
While there’s a low possibility of us getting some of the films in the big screens, you might want to dive into this year’s film standouts:
Don’t Worry Darling
After spending the summer stunning crowds on a sold-out global tour, the former One Direction band member is now establishing his place in Hollywood via director Olivia Wilde’s pitch-perfect second feature, Don’t Worry Darling. Florence Pugh plays Alice, a woman living in a borderline-dystopian 1950s town that she believes has her best interests at heart. This film is totally about female autonomy that brings so much sinister.
Blonde
The ever-famous Ana de Armas is such a scene stealer the moment she plays this fictional version of Marilyn Monroe. This fearless film was made to look back on how her star shined and be hailed as one of the biggest stars in the world.
Bones And All
Five years after Call Me by Your Name stole our hearts, director Luca Guadagnino reunites with his protégé Timothée Chalamet in this cannibal love story set in the American Midwest. The film follows cannibalistic lovers, Maren (Taylor Russell) and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), as they embark on a road trip across Reagan-era America. That’s some spicy love story with a pint of horror over there.
The Son
Hugh Jackman makes his return alongside an all-star cast in, The Son. Jackman plays Peter, whose picture-perfect new life with a new wife and infant son is upended by the return of his 17-year-old son, Nicholas. The teenager runs away from his mother, Kate, seeking his father’s guidance.
Tár
Set in the international world of classical music, the film talks about Lydia Tár — the first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra and widely considered one of the greatest living composers and conductors.
This film is noted for fine-grained details, a microscopic character study of an intense musical master. Played by the fierce and superb actress Cate Blanchett, things just fell right into place as she gives another operatic performance as the self-possessed director that is splintering under the show’s heavy weight.
The Whale
The Whale tells the story of Charlie, a 600-pound middle-aged man named who is trying to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. Charlie abandoned her and the rest of his family years before to unite with a gay lover. After his partner died, Charlie turned to compulsive eating to fill grief’s fathomless hole.
Fun fact: The Whale received a six-minute standing ovation not only for Darren Aronofsky’s heartbreaking direction of Samuel D. Hunter’s screenplay, but for the highwater mark of Brendan Fraser’s to the screen.
Another fun fact: The Whale is scheduled to be theatrically released on December by A24.
