Known for her LA-girl-meets-athleisure wardrobe, Kaia’s off-duty looks have long been pinned to ’90s-inspired moodboards. The Gucci Jackie seems to be her current favorite accessory in her vast collection.
Suitably updated with her contemporary trophy bag and a sultry neckline, Kaia Gerber has successfully turned the nostalgic print into a Gen Z staple.
There’s no shortage of blowout parties at the Venice Film Festival, during which the film world descends on the city to celebrate premieres from some of the world’s greatest directors. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s no shortage of fashion parties, either. But there are few fashion houses that bridge the gap between those two worlds more naturally than Miu Miu: not only is it a particular favorite for multiple generations of young actresses, it has also, for nearly 15 years now, actively supported new films from women directors via its Miu Miu Women’s Tales program. (The latest chapter in the series, directed by the French filmmaker Alice Diop, premiered at the festival just yesterday.)
So it’s little surprise that Miu Miu’s party on Saturday night was one of the hottest tickets in town. Held at the Fondazione Prada, the event began with a stream of water taxis pulling up to the jetty, followed by guests making their way through the exhibition halls to take in the contemporary art foundation’s latest exhibition, Diagrams. The show, which debuted in May to coincide with the opening week of this year’s Architecture Biennale, seemed perfectly engineered to serve as a conversation starter for the evening ahead: featuring hundreds of rare documents, it explores how diagrams have been used across the centuries for humans to make sense of the world, spanning subjects from war to health, to the environment. (Just the small stuff, then.)
Chatter about the exhibition—and, of course, the various films premiering in Venice this week—could be heard from the third floor of the 18th-century palazzo, where waiters began to circulate with negronis and Champagne, as well as playful canapés of anchovies and butter on toast and miniature cucumber sandwiches served on antique silver platters. The stars arrived in their droves: Amanda Seyfried with Mona Fastvold, the director of her new film The Testament of Ann Lee, in a retro floral halter neck dress. Emma Corrin and Alexa Chung, both wearing the statement bullet bras from the brand’s fall 2025 collection, caught up over plates of freshly sliced mozzarella and ricotta-stuffed courgette flowers. Willem Dafoe and Mrs. Prada were deep in conversation at a table by the window, their companions admiring the 19th-century linen napkins embroidered with the initials of their original owner. The most unexpected sighting, however? Dwayne Johnson, who was in town to promote the new Benny Safdie film The Smashing Machine, and posed for photos alongside his co-star and good friend Emily Blunt. (Is the Rock a Miu Miu girl now?)
The tables were heaving with food everyone could help themselves from—loaded up on Meissen china that belongs to Mrs. Prada herself, which, like the silver platters and napkins, had been ferried over from her home in Milan—and the convivial atmosphere felt a little like being over at the Prada family pad for dinner. You know you’re throwing a good party, after all, when even the actors with premieres the next day are still hanging around at the stroke of midnight.
In today’s crowded fashion landscape, designers at leading luxury fashion houses have to wear many different hats. They need to set trends and ignite fresh ideas on the catwalk, appeal to the demands of their spending couture clientele, create and sell products on a more mainstream level. All the while, they have to also stay relevant by dressing celebrities for the red carpets, crafting relationships with buzzy brand ambassadors, and conceptualizing pop culture-shaking campaigns that make fashion-as-entertainment. It’s a tall order, though there’s a set few that have consistently bucked the trend. Some labels, like Maison Margiela, have succeeded by simply marching to the beat of their own drum.
Since founding his namesake brand in 1988, Martin Margiela was notoriously press shy and very much anti-celebrity dressing, having once said, “We have nothing at all against celebrity, but just not for us! To each his own.” Despite the enduringly low-profile spirit of the brand—and Margiela’s exit in 2009—the intrigue and interest around Margiela designs have persisted—even as successors like John Galliano and, now, Glenn Martens, have taken over the creative reigns.
Then, just this week, a new fall 2025 campaign was released starring Miley Cyrus—its first-ever campaign featuring a celebrity at the forefront, shot by Paolo Roversi. Cyrus has long incorporated the brand into her wardrobe, on album promo circuits, to the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party, and at the Grammys.
“The American artist is captured in a new light, stripped-back and immersed in the core codes and archetypal expressions of the maison,” said the house in a press statement. “Some images portray the artist in a state of undress, her body painted white in homage to the maison’s white-overpaint bianchetto technique introduced in 1989.”
by Tamara Khodova
August 31, 2025
For American director Noah Baumbach, returning to the Venice Film Festival must feel like coming back to the scene of a crime. Three years ago, he opened the fest with his apocalyptic drama White Noise, which was savaged by festival crowds. By the director’s own admission, the experience was so traumatic he lost his faith in cinema. He credits two things with restoring it: working on the screenplay for Barbie with his wife, Greta Gerwig, and a new collaboration with actress Emily Mortimer, with whom he co-wrote his new film titled Jay Kelly. The movie follows Hollywood star Jay Kelly (starring George Clooney as the famous actor), who, after an encounter with an old friend, is prompted to reconsider his life choices. He abruptly decides to end his acting career and takes off for Europe, where he hopes to find his younger daughter and mend their relationship, having failed to do so with his older daughter (Riley Keough). So he brings his entire entourage along for the ride, including hairdresser, publicist (Laura Dern), and his loyal manager (Adam Sandler), who follows his beloved client everywhere he goes, even at the expense of his own family.
Baumbach is clearly exorcising some demons, and he’s brought all his friends along. Much like in a Wes Anderson film, Jay Kelly features a cast of the director’s famous acquaintances, with Greta Gerwig, Isla Fisher, and Jim Broadbent all making cameo appearances. The result feels less like a movie and more like a group therapy session. And yet, considering the state of the world—and cinema in particular—perhaps a little mutual support is no bad thing, even if it’s fleeting. Still, one can’t help feel the director has lost his incisive edge, trading his signature blend of pessimism & absurdity for a dose of unchecked sentimentality.
Jay Kelly opens with a gorgeous long take on the set of Kelly’s latest film. A scene buzzing with the focused chaos of a real shoot: the gossip, calls home, endless retakes—everything that comes with the filmmaking process, or at least our idea of it. Baumbach isn’t reinventing the wheel. His new film fits neatly alongside other recent movies about the magic of cinema like: Babylon, The Fabelmans, The Artist, and Hail, Caesar!. The director speaks of that famous movie magic, which, as it turns out, really does exist. Why else would millions of people lose themselves in front of screens, big & small, every single day, falling in love with everyone involved in this mystical process? But as the film shows, the process isn’t mystical at all. It’s dirty work, demanding total commitment, betrayal, lies, and profound loneliness. Again, that’s nothing new, but Baumbach & Mortimer pepper the story with the director’s signature snappy dialogue and comedic timing.
As the film wisely notes, it’s hard these days to get audiences invested in the struggles of an aging white man (though plenty of directors keep trying). George Clooney seems to be playing himself—it’s no coincidence his initials are a phonetic parody of the character’s. But then again, who really knows who George Clooney is? As the film suggests, an actor is never just himself. It’s an image built on another image, masked by many illusions. Sometimes, “playing yourself”—or rather, finding your true self within—is the hardest role of all.
It helps that Clooney is the quintessential movie star, with his dazzling smile, deep voice, and sharp suits. He’s in constant performance mode, effortlessly charming the world while alienating those closest to him. But the film’s emotional core isn’t the selfish, albeit lost, Kelly. It’s his manager, played by a heartbreakingly sad Adam Sandler. We haven’t seen the actor this melancholy since Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love. He’s the one truly trapped in a toxic relationship, the kind you need to flee without a second thought.
Perhaps judging Jay Kelly as a film is missing the point entirely. It’s less a movie, much more of a public conversation Baumbach is having with himself. Even if you fall under its spell, all the allure vanishes the moment the lights come up. Throughout the film, Baumbach seems to be wrestling with the very question that haunts so many artists: why endure the agony of creation? After all, filmmakers and actors are famous for threatening retirement, only to inevitably return to the craft they can’t escape. The climax sees Kelly accepting a lifetime achievement award as a montage of his work—which is to say, Clooney’s actual films—lights up the screen. Watching it, mesmerized by that silver glow, the protagonist realizes that the magic is real. And in that moment, the “how”—all the sweat, blood, and compromise that went into creating all of this art—simply doesn’t matter, the magic is what lasts.
Tamara’s Venice 2025 Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Follow Tamara on Telegram – @shortfilm_aboutlove
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by Alex Billington
August 29, 2025
The always provocative mad genius Yorgos Lanthimos is back again with another movie to mess with our minds! But this one is much more important than his more playful creations. Bugonia is Lanthimos 10th feature film so far – and one of his best yet. It’s not as weird or confusing as Dogtooth, and it’s not as bizarre or wacky as Poor Things, nor is it as playful or witty as The Favourite. It’s actually one of Lanthimos’ most direct and accessible films – mainly because the premise is specific, following one path towards an ultimate reveal. Bugonia is Yorgos’ clever remake of a Korean movie titled Save the Green Planet! (from 2003). His take on this story is quite similar, following the original script closely with a few changes & tweaks that fit Yorgos’ sentiments. Above all else, I think it’s a remarkably fun and fresh new version of this story, with an improved finale and better performances from the cast as they all get lost in the madness of the situation.
Similar to Dogtooth but unlike in Poor Things, Bugonia takes place mostly in confined spaces and simple locations – primarily at the house of this man named Teddy. Jesse Plemons stars as Teddy, a beekeeper who decides that he must kidnap the CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical company. His cousin Don, played by Aidan Delbis, is recruited into his conspiracy plot and off they go to grab her. Emma Stone co-stars as Michelle, the power woman girlboss CEO who is picked up by these two guys. They believe she is an alien from Andromeda controlling Earth and all the people. Teddy is smart enough to get her into his basement and lock her up there, keeping the investigation away as he tries to get her to admit the truth and prepare a message so they leave Earth alone. Of course it gets kooky, and as time goes on, Teddy and Don start to lose control of the situation, and Michelle starts to figure out what the best escape plan is. But the question still remains: is she an alien? Or are these guys just super crazy? The film sticks to this premise, same as the one from Save the Green Planet!, and for most of the runtime we don’t get many answers to the many questions.
Minor spoilers from here on. Without giving away everything, Bugonia is going to be a challenging film for many people to grasp and not get upset watching. Mainly because for most of the movie you’re watching too crazy conspiracy nuts doing crazy things to a woman in hopes they’ll get her to reveal the truth so they can be the ones to save the planet. Supposedly. It requires a big ask of the audience to have different feelings by the end and to go back and make sense of and – most importantly – rethink everything that came before. Many viewers will not want to do this – their visceral, emotional reaction to the kidnapping and everything that is happening is going to be the dominant emotion no matter. But this is ultimately the entire point of both Bugonia and Save the Green Planet!. Humans are so caught up in these emotions we often refuse to see the bigger picture and refuse to understand what it really take to save the entire planet and to give all humans a better life. The question of how to solve climate change is complex, and this movie is clearly not attempting to answer that directly because it is just a sci-fi fantasy story, but it is also a reminder that we’re just not capable of realizing that this planet is being destroyed by extremely dumb humans. And so it goes…
The thing about Bugonia is that it’s just a movie – this is not happening for real and we shouldn’t interpret it in that way. And good movies are supposed to make you think, they’re supposed to stir up emotions & make you wonder. One of the issues with this Lanthimos movie is that it gets a bit slow in the middle, dragging out the “what the heck is happening” middle section of this kidnapping, because it’s set at this home & these two guys are such goofballs you’re just waiting for it all to unravel. It’s easy to misinterpret and get upset at this movie, and many early reactions I’ve seen so far have already indicated this is happening. Among many intriguing ideas it brings up, I really do think Bugonia is commenting on the kind of people who have a “but this adds nothing new” attitude and who are more obsessed with getting upset at who or how something important is being said than WHAT is really happening to our planet because we’re destroying it. And that is reiterated within the last 15 minutes of the film, along with Lanthimos’ song choice right at the end. “When will they ever learn?” Probably never, sadly. And while I don’t expect this movie to change anyone’s minds, I am glad Lanthimos has retold this story in order to reiterate the very bold statement this script is making.
As for the technical aspects, of course Lanthimos is a master filmmaker and is always capable of presenting a film that is gorgeous to look at and listen to – with another unique score by Jerskin Fendrix. Featuring some vivid, wide angle cinematography by his regular DP Robbie Ryan, which works sometimes, though it doesn’t feel as expansive or as majestic as Poor Things or The Favourite. Bugonia is less of a movie that is meant to be entertaining, considering we’re watching a kidnapping for nearly two hours, as it is meant to be deeply thought-provoking and prickly. I seriously hope audiences are willing to engage with it on that level, to interpret it correctly. And let the final message land with the veracity it’s designed to so that maybe, just maybe, we can all figure out what is really required to save this beautiful Earth before we destroy it for good.
Alex’s Venice 2025 Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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by Alex Billington
August 30, 2025
“In seeking life, I created death.” The timeless story of Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster returns to the big screen again in this brand new version of Frankenstein. For his 13th movie, Mexican maestro Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel of the same name and brings his vision of this tale to screens – with a gothic, macabre, brutal, and mesmerizing take on this well-known story. Much like del Toro’s version of the classic story of Pinocchio from a few years ago, he infuses this Frankenstein with so many unique and intriguing ideas, expanding upon the original story and adding depth into every single frame of it. I LOVED this movie. Right from the start, with an action-packed opening scene set on a Danish ship trapped in ice, I knew we were in for a magnificent tale of madness and this delivers on that promise. Part creature feature, part emotional exploration of what makes us human, part horror, part love story, it’s a mash-up of all of del Toro’s favorite things in one spectacular cinematic creation. Yes it is yet another Netflix movie destined for streaming but I don’t care, it’s beautiful creation no matter what. I’m especially lucky to have had a chance to view it on the big screen and enjoy every last second of it as a thrilling, heart-pounding, vivid experience.
Everyone already knows that Guillermo del Toro is a master storyteller & cinema maven. He’s won plenty of Oscars already, he’s even won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival before (for The Shape of Water in 2017). He is still as voracious and masterful as ever and Frankenstein is one of his best. Del Toro is also credited as the sole writer on this adapting Mary Shelley’s original story about Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his Monster creation. He sticks closer to what is in the book and does not attempt to reinvent or re-imagine this story in any new way, which is fine, he doesn’t need to as it’s still a riveting story to tell especially with his vision. What he does do is embellish in the visuals and the emotions – letting all the extraordinary sets & cinematography become characters of their own. Del Toro’s Frankenstein tells the original 1800s version of the story following Victor, played with exceptional verve by Oscar Isaac, as he grows up through a troubled childhood to become a mad scientist / surgeon hellbent on figuring out how to stop death. This ultimately leads him to exploring the uncanny act of creating life from death – and his greatest experiment involves putting together a body from various parts and re-animating it with the electricity captured from lightning.
Goodness it is always so refreshing & thrilling when a filmmaker actually has a VISION for their work. Not just someone shooting what’s in the script and getting it on screen in the most generic way. A real visionary filmmaker has a complete focus on the details & every last part of the film so that that there’s real meaning and depth in every shot. Everything matters. This is the true glory of fantastic cinema. Guillermo del Toro is one of the greatest filmmakers of our times whose vision remains entirely singular & cinematically exciting. This story obviously means a great deal to him and it feels like his life’s work to adapt the classic tale of The Monster with his distinct flourishes. He knocked this one out of the park. It’s everything that cinema should be – beautiful, thrilling, engaging, emotional, satisfying. The score, sets, cinematography, performances are all ravishing. I am buzzing thinking about and writing about this movie. There’s a propulsive, powerful drive del Toro’s storytelling that pulls viewers in and keeps them hooked. This drive is also what keeps the movie’s pacing lurching forward – it’s nearly 2 & 1/2 hours long but there is a lot to get through, from his childhood, to the birth of The Monster, to the violent aftermath, to the Monster’s own story when it all comes full circle.
My favorite segment of the movie is in the second half when The Monster himself, played by Jacob Elordi, finally gets to tell his side of the story. This seems to be where other reviewers have been getting frustrated as it humanizes The Monster in a way that gives him more depth than the classic version of this character presented iconically by Boris Karloff. It’s actually quite stirring to switch to this side and learn about what makes us human – which is an important aspect in the emotional core of del Toro’s take on Mary Shelley’s tale. Guillermo is often at his best when he lets the wise old man teach us about life – one of my favorites in his filmography is John Hurt as “Broom” in the first Hellboy. In this movie we get British character actor David Bradley as the Blind Man. In fact, all the performances are tremendous. Finally we get Oscar Isaac digging into a role again (it has been a bit), giving it all his all, confronting his darkness and presenting a well-rounded take on this character. Del Toro said during the press conference that this Frankenstein movie is about the various flaws in all people and how these flaws, these imperfections, are part of humanity, part of our existence, part of what makes us all unique. Isaac embraces that uniqueness ever so (ahem) perfectly.
I can’t wait to watch it again. Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a cinematic triumph. It represents his growth as a filmmaker and exemplifies his storytelling prowess. Much like Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpieces, I can sense every storyboard, every decision that led to every single shot working as wonderfully as it does on screen. The cinematography by DP Dan Laustsen is to die for – and be brought back to life by because it’s awe-inspiring to look at all the time. Light pouring in from everywhere, lush colors, vivid details. It’s not exactly realistic, but neither is this story, it’s a fantastical tale of darkness. Maybe this fancy, showy cinematography style won’t work for everyone, but I loved everything about it. As an example of the attention to detail, the way Del Toro makes sure that glowing orange embers float away from The Monster’s robes after he is shot represents how this kind of tiny, usually unnoticeable detail is part of the magic of visionary filmmaking. Frankenstein isn’t a completely new reinvention but is now the best version of Victor & The Monster’s story made for the screen. An instant favorite. This is why I go to the movies – for this kind of enchanting cinema.
Alex’s Venice 2025 Rating: 9 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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On Friday night in Venice, the grande dame hotels lining the Grand Canal were abuzz with parties as the film world headed back from premieres on the Lido and were ready to celebrate their films over a negroni or two. And few events were quite as starry as the dinner held at the Gritti Palace by Cartier and the cult film magazine A Rabbit’s Foot, which saw the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Charles Finch, welcome guests for a dinner of vegetable risotto and grilled fish. Those arriving to the hotel jetty for the evening included Jacob Elordi, in town to promote his starring role in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein; Sofia Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola; Bugonia’s Alicia Silverstone; and the president of this year’s Venice Film Festival jury, Alexander Payne.
Naturally, a series of speeches soon followed, all honoring the “craft of cinema.” First, Finch raised a glass to Cartier’s longstanding commitment to supporting filmmakers (this is the fourth year that the French jewelry house has served as the main sponsor and official partner of the Venice Film Festival). Then, Cartier’s SVP chief marketing officer Arnaud Carrez offered his thanks to Finch for partnering on the event, as well as to the illustrious roll-call of artists seated around the room.
Finally, it was time to head to the Gritti rooftop, which had been transformed for the evening into Venice’s most glittering open-air nightclub for the after-party, with actors Rashida Jones, Gemma Chan, and George Mackay all arriving to sip Champagne and take in the sweeping views over to the dramatically lit Santa Maria della Salute church and the lagoon beyond. Even as those with premieres and press junkets the next day began to peel off, the party continued late into the night as guests blew off steam after a busy first few days at the festival—and left the party chattering about the rest of the films to come over the next week.
The 2025 Venice Film Festival has barely kicked off and, already, it’s star-studded affair: the likes of Julia Roberts, Emma Stone, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Colman Domingo are all set to grace the Lido over the next couple of weeks, and we’ve got our first reports on the fashions from the red carpets.
While focus will, of course, be on this season’s buzziest premieres—including Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein—all eyes will no doubt be on the show-stopping red-carpet style, too. After all, this is the festival that brought us Lady Gaga’s white feathered Valentino couture gown back in 2018, and Zendaya’s wet-look Balmain dress in 2021.
Before the festival had even kicked off, we spotted George and Amal Clooney, and Emma Stone arriving in the Italian city, as well as Greta Gerwig and Laura Dern in the most euro summery fits for the daytime press calls. Following the first set of premieres—including Clooney’s Jay Kelly and Stone’s Bugonia—the style bar was set high. In tandem, the DVF Awards also took place in Venice, with Kim Kardashian in a clingy, sweeping gray Margiela look and a rare appearance for Christy Turlington with her daughter Grace Burns.
We’ve also seen more archival and vintage looks via Frankenstein’s Mia Goth, custom chanel via After the Hunt’s Ayo Edebiri, and Jonathan Anderson’s first Dior Couture look on Alba Rohrwacher.
Below, see all the best looks from the 2025 Venice Film Festival, so far.
by Alex Billington
August 30, 2025
“He crossed the line.” “But what actually happened?” The truth is out there, but no one really likes the truth anymore, because the truth can be destructive. That’s just the truth. Not every film is meant to make you feel all warm & fuzzy when you watch. In fact, some of the best films ever made are films that make viewers feel uncomfortable (like Tar at Venice 2022), and make them question their own views and thoughts and feelings. This is the case with After the Hunt, the 10th feature film from the acclaimed Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. The film just premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival to many negative reviews from critics right off the bat. But I’m here to set the record straight – After the Hunt is a brilliant thriller, Luca Guadanigno’s best film after Call Me By Your Name. It may not as exciting or upbeat as Challengers or Queer, but that doesn’t make it any less masterful. The film features an exceptionally dense, philosophically / intellectually complex script that directly address sexual assault denialism. It’s also meticulously crafted, entrancing and harrowing to watch. And it hasn’t left my mind at all since the end of the screening days ago.
After the Hunt is a sensitive story about sexual assault and women, however it is directed by a man – Luca Guadanigno. Though the screenplay is written by a woman – American writer Nora Garrett with her first produced screenplay. The film is set at Yale and literally opens with a title card saying “it happened at Yale.” Clearly inspired by and/or based on a real incident, but that’s besides the point because what it shows is still sadly happening in so many places. Julia Roberts stars as professor Alma Olsson, on the verge of tenure at Yale. One of her friends / colleagues is Hank Gibson, played by Andrew Garfield, a beloved, outspoken, bearded young professor. Ayo Edebiri co-stars as Maggie Price, a PhD student in Alma’s program. After a late night party at Alma’s fancy home where everyone was drunk, Hank walks Maggie home and something happens. The next day a broken down Maggie comes to Alma and tells her something bad happened that night, hoping she might help her through this horrible situation. Alas, Alma increasingly becomes resistant, and the situation explodes – mainly because Hank and Alma start to realize this is going to mess with their hopes and dreams of tenure climbing up the career ladder in academia. It’s not actually a “he said, she said” situation – it’s much more about why won’t others believe what she said & refuse to deal with abusive men.
The filmmaking is entirely on point as it’s a very sensitive subject dealing with major issues of our time and generational differences. This film has some serious depth to what it’s getting at and implying about society – and it’s actually very specifically making an uncomfortable point. It’s not “fun” to watch by any means, but it is compelling and extremely fascinating. Michael Stuhlbarg also co-stars as Alma’s husband Frederik, an arrogant philosopher therapist who loves to argue and debate about heady topics. Much of the dialogue throughout he film is exceptionally complex, and I think it will take multiple viewings for those interested to dig into what is being said, what is being debated, and what each scene means. It’s hard for anyone to pick up on everything in the first viewing. Yes it’s a very talky film, but almost all of Luca Guadanigno’s films are about dialogue and conversations. Even Call Me By Your Name – they’re attracted to each other because of their conversations. “You know what things…” After the Hunt is actually quite similar to CMBYN but plays out entirely opposite. At the start, Alma and Maggie do sort of love each other (in a respectful professor / student way) however as the story goes on they split and get further & further from each other. I love how Guadanigno crafts this dynamic and builds a narrative around an intellectual understanding of the dialogue.
What might upset people the most is that the film has a very strong point to make about all the characters. Essentially it’s a film about generational differences, and specifically it’s about how the older generation is entirely wrong about the younger generation. Yes this is brought up in a few conversations, but the point of the script is digging really painfully into why someone like Alma gets so obsessed with denying and rejecting Maggie and what happened. Accusations are thrown about, conversations descend into yelling matches, and philosophy is used to excuse complaints. All because way too many people are afraid of losing their power, their career, all that they’ve worked for, because they don’t want to deal with the truth about sexual assault and rape, and how poorly it is handled in places like prestigious universities. The script and this film really want to remind us that older generations might not be right about everything and really do need to defer to the younger generations – even if this pisses them off. The writing is very, very heavy with intricate scenes and subtle reveals aplenty. I really think most are missing the point. But this is all too common nowadays – even the final revelations are going to piss people off because it’s not what they want to hear from anyone…
Aside from the narrative, this new Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross score is again superb though much more haunting, enhancing the unease of watching this story about accusations and truth. Of course everything is different from Guadanigno’s past films because this is not a topic that warrants any kind of playful, upbeat filmmaking. The lead performances are all exceptional & layered. Their characters are not underdeveloped at all, any claim of such is incorrect. There’s so much going on within each one of them, but of course they’re people in academia and that means their entire existence is wrapped up in the philosophy & intellectualism of academia, which is precisely what it is like on these campuses. The film will grow on people with time and will be appreciated properly with time. The best summation of how reflective it is comes from Garfield at the press conference in Venice: “If we don’t make the unconscious conscious, things will happen in our lives and we will call them fate. When our motivations are invisible even to ourselves, we become unreliable narrators – especially in a culture where survival is paramount. It’s fascinating that, in these characters, their wants and needs are invisible to themselves, so each of them believes they’re the hero of the story.” And in the end there is no hero, there is no one to celebrate in this story. But it’s still an important story told so brilliantly.
Alex’s Venice 2025 Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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George Clooney arrived in Venice earlier this week, where he was set to promote and premiere his new film, Jay Kelly. On Thursday, George was supposed to do the press conference and some individual interviews, but he ended up pulling out of all of it because he was feeling under the weather. They’re saying it’s a sinus infection, but I kind of wonder if he was suffering from the Don’t-Ask-Me-Political-Questions virus. His ratf–king with Jake Tapper blew up in his face, and while the international media might not care or ask, the American media might. Still, George “rallied” in time to walk the red carpet with Amal. He apparently told reporters that he can’t hear anything (convenient) and he was seen clutching his sore throat at times.
Amal looked… okay. While I love this vivid violet shade, I’ve never been into Amal’s love of mullet dresses. The train was very dramatic though, and the whole ensemble photographed very well, even if it’s a dated, button-covered disaster once you look at the details. In George and Amal’s early years, I loved her hair, and she regularly got really great blowouts back in the day. But in recent years, she’s been having a lot of bad hair days. Her hair is too long and it looks damaged and in need of some good conditioning treatments. Her colorist is also doing a terrible job! Update: I just saw the ID for Amal’s dress, it’s a vintage Jean-Louis Scherrer by Erik Mortensen. I honestly thought it was a custom Giambattista Valli.
Meanwhile, I was fully prepared to hate on this movie because of George Clooney, little did I know that my nemesis Laura Dern is also in Jay Kelly! LMAO, I hope this sh-t bombs so hard. Her bangs are trash!! (Her Armani is okay-ish although it looks unfinished.)
Eve Hewson in Schiaparelli – I kind of like this, and I usually roll my eyes at Schiaparelli.
Riley Keough in Chloé – it looks like something she would wear.
And finally, Greta Gerwig (her husband/partner Noah Baumbach directed Jay Kelly). This is custom Rodarte. Not bad.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
Featuring: Laura Dern
Where: Venice, Italy
When: 28 Aug 2025
Credit: IPA/INSTARimages
**UK, USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**
Featuring: Eve Hewson
Where: Venice, Italy
When: 28 Aug 2025
Credit: IPA/INSTARimages
**UK, USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**
Featuring: Riley Keough
Where: Venice, Italy
When: 28 Aug 2025
Credit: IPA/INSTARimages
**UK, USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**
Featuring: Greta Gerwig
Where: Venice, Italy
When: 28 Aug 2025
Credit: IPA/INSTARimages
**UK, USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**