The Venice Film Festival 2026 opened on September 2 with Danny Boyle’s Ink, and Deadline’s critics have been busy ever since. The 83rd edition brought out a wide cast of names, from Robert Pattinson and Penelope Cruz to Javier Bardem, Jack Huston, Sofia Boutella, Dakota Johnson, John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Alicia Vikander, Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte. Kate Mara and Rooney Mara appeared together in a film for the first time. Deadline has been posting reviews as the festival unfolds, and here’s a rundown of what its critics found.
Ink Opens the Festival
Danny Boyle’s Ink, starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy, kicked off the competition lineup. Deadline’s review called Boyle the right director for the material, a look at 1969 London and the launch of a new time in popular journalism. The review said the film runs at full force throughout, and is thrilling stuff indeed.
Herzog’s Bucking Fastard
Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, part of the competition, stars Kate Mara and Rooney Mara alongside Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson. Deadline’s review said the film opens with a light, teasing tone. Beneath its odd surface, the review found something quite sweet and generous in the story of two sisters, a tone Herzog had never really struck before in his fiction work, with the possible exception of 2019’s Family Romance LLC.
Schrader’s The Basics of Philosophy
Paul Schrader brought The Basics of Philosophy to the Out of Competition section, with a cast including Jack Huston, Sofia Boutella, Daniel Zovalto, Bill Pullman and Richard Gere. Deadline called it a deep and serious character study. The review praised Schrader for making the kind of grown films rarely seen outside Europe, and pointed to the key question the film asks of many of Schrader’s characters: “Can we change?”
Father Joe and Al Pacino
Barthélémy Grossmann’s Father Joe, playing Out of Competition, stars Kiefer Sutherland, Ever Anderson, Al Pacino and Michael Rispoli. Deadline’s review said Al Pacino is about the only thing that isn’t over the top here, generously giving the lead to Kiefer Sutherland in a part that is amusing, hard to believe, and at times so hard to believe it turns funny. The review called it the wildest, most wild rock ‘n’ roll phenomenon to hit the Lido this year.
The Girl with the Leica
Alina Marazzi’s The Girl with the Leica, in the Orizzonti section, is drawn from the life of the late war photographer Gerda Taro, starring Emilia Schüle. Deadline’s review said the spirited, uncommon approach asks real questions about the line between courage and pride in carrying reports back from the front line, but found that its arrangement makes too much of a puzzle out of a simple yet quite profound meditation on an artist’s identity and place in memory.
Pattinson’s Primetime
Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime stars Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers and Anna Faris. The film looks at how public feeling can quietly feed moral decline. Deadline said Pattinson’s performance joins together two very different parts, an eager hopeful and a dark, dreadful figure, and suggested he may be entering a new period of his career built on serious, grave parts.
Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love runs nearly three hours. Deadline said this “takes a little too long here.” Still, the review praised the cast of South Korean actors, led by Jeon Do-Yeon and Sul Kyung-gu, for putting Lee Chang-dong’s vision on the screen in what it called a handsome and fitting film.
Oasis Documentary and More
Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s documentary on Oasis, Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, played in the Venice Open section. Deadline noted the film never really explains why Noel and Liam Gallagher put aside their differences for the tour. It offers, instead, an inside look at what followed for the two brothers.
The lineup also includes Laura Poitras’ short about ICE protests in Minnesota.
The lineup includes new films by Luca Guadagnino and Wim Wenders as well.
Deadline’s reports from the Venice Film Festival 2026 continue, with more reviews expected as the festival moves through titles from Florian Zeller, Martin McDonagh, Andrea Pallaoro and Casey Affleck.
Source: deadline.com