excited

Fall Film Festival Season 2025 Begins – 10 Films I’m Excited to Watch

by Alex Billington
August 27, 2025

Off we go back into the lands of cinema and storytelling. Hoping to encounter some of the best films of the year. The fall film festival season is upon us once again, and we’re ready to start watching. Kicking things off with the 82nd Venice Film Festival which is now under this week in sunny Italy, along with the 52nd Telluride Film Festival in Colorado – two of the most beloved and iconic festivals in the world. Then the Toronto Film Festival will take over in mid-September celebrating 50 years (!!), before Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX (starting on Sept. 18) and the 63rd New York Film Festival in NYC (starting on Sept. 26), continuing with the London Film Festival (starting on Oct. 8) & Sitges Film Festival (also on Oct. 9). This is when all the big new movies and surprise projects they’ve been saving for the end of the year finally make their first appearance. Which of them will win us over? It’s an exciting time for cinephiles who make the voyages to these cities to discover the latest that the gods of cinema have provided. We’ve been covering these festivals all over the world for the last 19 years in a row – it’s part of who we are. Below is my list of my most anticipated from the line-ups across all of the festivals. I’ll be back in Venice to watch films at this annual cinema celebration in Italy – though this list includes many films from each of the various fall fests.

The challenge with film festivals nowadays is that it’s impossible to see everything at every festival, and it’s unaffordable to go to every festival all over the world (as much as I wish I could). Each of these fests has its own set of world premieres & special presentations – I decided to pick my own Top 10 Most Anticipated from among the entire set of films debuting this fall. Not just the ones at Venice or at TIFF or otherwise. Alas, I won’t be able to watch all of these listed as I won’t be able to attend the Toronto and New York Film Fests. But I still think these are some of the most interesting premieres. Choosing only 10 films is always a daunting task – I could name 50 films I want to see right now. However, this is always what’s so enticing and exhilarating about festivals, and why I always go back year after year. Let’s go watch and discover something new and discuss cinema! Let’s celebrate all of these achievements – and make sure writers and actors and the entire film crew are paid fairly & treated with respect. Anyway, enough of my rambling, onto the films…

No Other Choice – directed by Park Chan-wook – Venice & TIFF & NYFF

As a huge fan of Park Chan-wook’s last film Decision to Leave (read my full review), I am excited to see him continue on in his tender era with this dark comedy about a man doing what he must. I’ve already read the synopsis and know what it’s about, which actually makes it even more exciting knowing that Park Chan-wook is handling this story about capitalism’s darker sides, right next to his colleague Bong Joon-ho, focusing on criticizing the financial woes of modern Korean society. Unless you prefer to watch this without any idea of what’s happening, don’t read on. Which is the best way to watch the film anyway – either way I’ve got a feeling this is going to be another knock out from Park Chan-wook. Lee Byung-hun stars as Man-soo, a father and family man who, after being unemployed for years, decides to start taking out the competition to hopefully give him a better chance at getting a job. Ha… Adapted from the book “The Ax” by Donald E. Westlake. There’s already an official trailer out if you want to see more footage from this one. Premiering in the Main Competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival – this one is a strong contender for the Golden Lion.

Jay Kelly – directed by Noah Baumbach – Venice & NYFF & London

Yet another beloved filmmaker who is a regular at the Venice Film Festival returning with his new movie. I also watched Noah Baumbach’s last two films, Marriage Story (2019) and White Noise (2022), in Venice in the years prior. He’s back with a personal story of a famous actor struggling with his own fame & glory as he gets older. Baumbach was lucky to get the one-and-only George Clooney as the titular Jay in his new film titled Jay Kelly (made for Netflix). It’s a very meta story – famous movie actor Jay Kelly and his devoted manager Ron embark on a whirlwind & profound journey across Europe to a (fictional) European film fest. Both are forced to confront choices they’ve made, their relationships with loved ones and the legacies they’ll leave behind. Baumbach’s cast also includes Adam Sandler as his manager, and Laura Dern as his publicist, along with his usually terrific ensemble: Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Riley Keough, Billy Crudup, Isla Fisher, Greta Gerwig, and Emily Mortimer. While Baumbach has said the film is inspired by White Noise doing poorly, the script is co-written by fellow actor Emily Mortimer and feels very much like it’s meant for someone like Clooney to work through his own film industry woes and depression.

Silent Friend – directed by Ildikó Enyedi – Venice & TIFF

I love trees and nature and spending time in the forest and saying hello to trees. No really, it’s true, I adore trees (I love to photograph them all the time). Silent Friend is the new film from acclaimed Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, who won the Golden Bear top prize at Berlinale 2017 for her film On Body and Soul (it’s very good). The film is about a giant, old ginkgo tree located inside a garden in a medieval German town (yes this town and garden and tree really exist in Marburg, Germany). Spanning three periods in time – from 1908 to 1972 to 2020. 🌳 “In the heart of a botanical garden in a medieval university town in Germany stands a majestic ginkgo tree. This silent witness has observed over a century the quiet rhythms of transformation across three human lives.” The intro goes on explaining: ” We follow their clumsy, awkward attempts to connect — each one of them deeply rooted in their own present — as they are transformed by the quiet, enduring, and mysterious power of nature. The ancient ginkgo tree brings us closer to what it means to be human — to our longing to belong.” Yep I really cannot wait to watch this – it honestly sounds like it’ll be this year’s Perfect Days. The film stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Léa Seydoux, and also Luna Wedler.

Bugonia – directed by Yorgos Lanthimos – Venice

Yorgos is back! Let the Lanthimos Chaos reign! I was there in 2023 when Greek filmmaker extraordinaire Yorgos Lanthimos rocked everyone in Venice with Poor Things (here’s my full review) – which went on to win the Golden Lion and four Academy Awards. This time he’s going to surprise us all and take us another wild journey into madness. I’ve got a feeling the story and the way it all plays out in this film will be just as upsetting & divisive as Poor Things, though in a completely different way. Bugonia is a Lanthimos remake of the 2003 Korean sci-fi tilm titled Save the Green Planet, about a beekeeper who kidnaps a corporate exec because he believes he’s an alien controlling humans. Or something like that… This time around it’s Emma Stone starring as the corporate CEO + Jesse Plemons as the beekeeper guy who kidnaps her. Everything else, well, we’ll have to watch and find out where it goes and what happens and how wacky and weird and fun it gets. Or not! I’m so excited to watch this and argue about it with everyone at the festival and beyond…

Frankenstein – directed by Guillermo del Toro – Venice & TIFF

Only need to say: Guillermo del Toro! The maestro is back! I was also in Venice in 2017 when The Shape of Water (here’s my full review) premiered at at all of the fall festivals, then went on to win the Golden Lion as well as Best Picture at the Oscars. Happy he’s back with his latest creation – an epic, stylish, grandiose new take on the classic tale of Frankenstein from the story by Mary Shelley. Though it is a Netflix movie, it still sounds like it’ll be a fascinating new version of this classic tale: “A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.” Featuring Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as The Monster, with Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Ineson, Charles Dance, Christian Convery, and Burn Gorman. It was filmed with real sets, shot on location around the world, with lavish costumes and limited CGI. Even though everyone expects horror, apparently it’s more of a “deeply personal & intimate” character study than anything horrifying. I’m not even a big fan of the Frankenstein story, but I’m ready to watch this.

Rose of Nevada – directed by Mark Jenkin – Venice & TIFF & NYFF & London

What do we have here? A new project from clever Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin? I’m intrigued. Jenkin has been earning his marks on the film festival circuit with two other films before which cinephiles have been raving about: Bait and Enys Men. Rose of Nevada is his latest and it’s a mysterious new project. This time he was able to cast two major actors: George MacKay and Callum Turner star in the film as young men who try to join a fishing boat crew. In a forgotten fishing village, a boat mysteriously appears in the old harbour. The Rose of Nevada, lost at sea with all hands 30 years ago, reappears. After this lost ship returns to a village 30 years after vanishing, two men join its crew hoping for better fortune. After one voyage, they find themselves transported back in time, mistaken for the original crew. That’s the only intro that anyone should be reading before watching this – the rest will be a discovery when it’s playing on the screen in front of us. I’ve been following Jenkin’s work over the years and it seems like his most exciting creation yet. Keep an eye out for it playing at festivals this fall and hopefully in your local art house theater sooner than later…

After the Hunt – directed by Luca Guadagnino – Venice & NYFF

This one is going to be major. Early word is that After the Hunt is 2025’s Anatomy of a Fall – it’s the kind of “what do you believe?” movie that will have everyone talking and debating and arguing. The trailer hints at an upsetting incident with a young woman, played by Ayo Edebiri, at a prestigious university. She files an accusation against another professor then it becomes a controversy, etc. The rest of it is a mystery – we’ll have to wait to find out what really happened and why everyone is so defensive in here. From what I’ve heard, it’s possible Julia Roberts will end up winning the Academy Award next year for this movie. The main cast also features Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg (still beloved for his great performance in Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name), and Chloë Sevigny. Venice Fest regular Luca Guadagnino also specifically requested to not have the film premiere in the Main Competition, which I believe is because he’d rather everyone focus on what the movie is actually talking about and not whether it should win any awards.

Rental Family – directed by Hikari – TIFF & London

Rental Family was a surprise addition to the fall line-up of new releases (now set to open in theaters in November). While it won’t be premiering in Venice, it will show up at TIFF (and probably Telluride) instead. Brendan Fraser stars in the lead role in a story quite obviously inspired by Werner Herzog’s film Family Romance, LLC (which premiered at Cannes 2019) as a struggling American actor who moves to Tokyo and starts working for a “person rental” company. He is given various jobs to play various people – father, friend, etc. This seems like it’s the perfect post-Oscar role for Fraser – playing a man working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, “starring” in stand-in roles for strangers. He rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the beauty of human connection. The charming Japanse cast features Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto. It’s also the second feature film made by the filmmaker known as Hikari, aka Mitsuyo Miyazaki, her next big project after directing episodes of the hit TV series “Beef” for A24 & Netflix. This is definitely one to watch, even if it is a bit too cheesy & sentimental that’s fine with me.

Straight Circle – directed by Oscar Hudson – Venice

My wildcard pick for 2025 is this intriguing indie film creation – premiering in the Critics Week sidebar at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. Straight Circle is the first feature from British director Oscar Hudson, best known for directing many commercials & music videos. He’s finally making his leap into feature films and this one sounds like a fascinating psychological thriller similar to The Lighthouse or Foxtrot. Here’s the intro: “A pair of enemy soldiers stationed on a remote border in a vast featureless desert descend into a state of profound disorientation after forgetting which side of the border is which. As they grapple with identities, loyalties, and the absurdity of their situation, their isolation slowly gives way to an unfathomable nightmare that will blur the line between friend & foe.” The film stars Luke Tittensor & Elliot Tittensor – actual brothers in real life playing characters on opposite sides of the border. I am always interested in discovering new films that attempt to show how alike we are by revealing the truth about borders & nationality & wars: we’re all pretty much the same and we’re fighting over nothing aside from the hubris of greedy politicians.

A House of Dynamite – directed by Kathryn Bigelow – Venice & NYFF

As a reminder, filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, which went on to win Best Picture, initially premiered at the Venice Film Festival back in 2008. Her next movie is much more ominous: When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond. I thought this might take place entirely in the White House in underground rooms focused on a few people, but apparently it’s a full-on dramatic thriller following many different people involved in deciding what to do in this situation. The return of nuclear fear! Netflix hasn’t really revealed any marketing yet other than a basic poster with the tagline: “Not if. When.” The full cast includes Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke. I’m especially intrigued to find out what happens in this fictional (or not?) story. Will they make the right call? Bigelow’s director’s statement also explains: ” I wanted to make a film that confronts this paradox — to explore the madness of a world that lives under the constant shadow of annihilation, yet rarely speaks of it.”

Aside from these 10 films listed above, there are also a handful of films that I want to watch but fall into the category of “I just really hope they’re good.” I’m not as excited about them as I should be right now, I just want them to be very good films. These include: Werner Herzog’s new doc Ghost Elephants about African elephants; Chloe Zhao’s new film Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare & Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare; Derek Cianfrance’s crime comedy Roofman with Channing Tatum; Mona Fastvold’s follow-up to The Brutalist, which she also co-wrote with Brady Corbet, a new film titled The Testament of Ann Lee starring Amanda Seyfried as as Ann Lee – the founding leader of the Shakers religious sect in the 18th century; the next Daniel Day-Lewis project titled Anemone (which looks quite good); and of course Rian Johnson’s latest whodunit with Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – which is premiering at TIFF. There are plenty of other discoveries and surprises that I am sure we’ll encounter over the next few months as they premiere at upcoming film festivals around the world.

A few others that are also on my watchlist: Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers (TIFF), Claire Denis’ The Fence (TIFF & NYFF), Ulrich Köhler’s Gavagai (NYFF), Kent Jones’ Late Fame (Venice & NYFF), Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice (TIFF), Olivier Assayas’ The Wizard of the Kremlin (Venice & TIFF), Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny (TIFF), Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious (TIFF), and Ben Wheatley’s Normal (TIFF) with Odenkirk. You can find more preview lists for the fall festival season here: Metro UK’s I can’t wait for these 10 movies; The Film Stage’s 15 Most-Anticipated Films, Indiewire’s Fall Festival Preview: 42 Must-See Films, and THR’s Venice Top 10 Must-See Titles. Keep following for reviews / updates on all these & more.

With the Venice Film Festival beginning soon, I’ll be dedicated entirely to this festival and catching films for the next two weeks and writing about them. Venice 2025 runs from August 27th until September 6th, ending Saturday night with the awards (the Golden Lion). Follow my daily coverage and instant reactions on Twitter/X as usual @firstshowing, follow my photography posts as always on Instagram @abillington, follow my reviews on Letterboxd, and check the site for daily updates on films + reviews. Back in 2016, I wrote an essay about Why I Can’t Stop Going to Film Festivals. What I said then is still true. It always is. I’m still totally addicted film festivals, and they still fill me with so much joy and inspiration. Let’s hope some of these films turn out to be all-timers – like Dune and Tar and First Man in the years before. I’m always ready to start watching, hoping for some real discoveries and unforgettable works of cinema that will fascinate us.

Find more posts in: Feat, Indies, Lists, Venice 25