Film festivals are the ultimate authority on what movies are worth watching, and one of the most respected institutions is the Venice Film Festival. Every year, actors, directors, and other film industry insiders gather in The Floating City to showcase unique, captivating, and jaw-dropping works of cinematic art.
This year, the 79th annual cinephile fete featuring the creme de la creme of film creatives yielded many impressive premieres that promise to make the fall and winter film season one worth actually going to the cineplex again.
We sifted through all the reviews and buzz and hand-selected the movies you don’t want to miss when they hit movie theaters and/or streaming services. These are the most anticipated movies from the 2022 Venice Film Festival.
Cover Photo: Warner Bros.
Venice Film Festival 2022
'The Whale'
Brendan Fraser received a six-minute standing ovation after the screening of this drama, in which he plays a morbidly obese English teacher trying to reestablish a relationship with his estranged teenage daughter.
Photo: A24
'White Noise'
Fans of Noah Baumbach, Adam Driver, and Greta Gerwig will rejoice at the director and actors' reunion in this adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel of the same name that follows a suburban Midwest family confronting a dangerous chemical leak.
Photo: Netflix
'Bones and All'
We're not saying this is the Call Me By Your Name sequel that everyone swears is not forthcoming, but we're not not saying that, either. After all, the story centers around a couple of cannibals, happens to star Timothée Chalamet, and was directed by Luca Guadagnino. All that's missing is Armie Hammer.
Photo: Fremantle
'Don't Worry Darling'
There's been so much gossip surrounding this film's director, Olivia Wilde, and co-stars stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles that we can't even remember what the movie is supposed to be about. Oh, yeah, a 1950s housewife suspects her Californian utopian community is anything but and fights back against the gaslighting men who are trying to silence her.
Photo: Warner Bros.
'Blonde'
Ana de Armas stars in this NC-17 Netflix feature about Marilyn Monroe -- with a twist. The movie is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' acclaimed novel of the same name, in which the author writes an alternative narrative for the late, iconic Hollywood actress.
Photo: Netflix
'The Banshees of Inisherin'
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, who co-starred in 2008's In Bruges , teamed up again onscreen for this Irish tragi-comedy by Academy Award-winning director Martin McDonagh about a pair of pals, Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson), whose friendship abruptly ends.
Photo: Searchlight Pictures
'The Son'
A man named Peter (Hugh Jackman) and his wife Beth (Vanessa Kirby) find their family life upended when his ex-wife, Kate (Laura Dern) shows up with a teenage son in this adaptation of a stage play.
Photo: Sony Picture Classics
'Tár'
One could argue Cate Blanchett has never made a bad film; many are also saying this just might be the best of her career. The artsy psychological drama centers around real-life queer conductor Lydia Tár and her complicated relationships with music and her adopted daughter. It's the first film from director Todd Field since his 2006 masterpiece Little Children , and early reviews say this flick was well worth the wait.
Photo: Focus Features