Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Venice >> 2021 >> Competition
View other Venice Film Festival Films by strand: Biennale College Cinema, Critics' Week, Orizzonti, Orizzonti Extra, Out of Competition, Venice Days
Il Buco and Happening
America Latina
(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2021; Director: Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo; Writer: Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo; Stars: Elio Germano, Maurizio Lastrico, Massimo Wertmüller, Sara Ciocca, Carlotta Gamba, Filippo Dini, Astrid Casali, Federica Pala, Elio Germano, Maurizio Lastrico, Massimo Wertmüller, Sara Ciocca, Carlotta Gamba, Filippo Dini, Astrid Casali)
A calm dentist with a life rooted in honest finds the absurd intruding after an unforeseen event.
Another World
(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Stéphane Brizé; Writer: Stéphane Brizé, Olivier Gorce; Stars: Anthony Bajon, Marie Drucker, Sandrine Kiberlain, Vincent Lindon, Anthony Bajon, Marie Drucker, Sandrine Kiberlain, Vincent Lindon)
Drama about an executive manager, his wife and his family, at the moment when his professional choices are about to overwhelm them all.
The Box (La Caja)
(Country: US, Mexico; Year: 2021; Director: Lorenzo Vigas; Writer: Paula Markovitch, Lorenzo Vigas; Stars: Hernán Mendoza, Cristina Zulueta, Hatzín Navarrete, Hernán Mendoza, Cristina Zulueta, Hatzín Navarrete)
Hatzin, a young teenager from Mexico City, travels to collect the remains of his father, which have been found in a communal grave. But a casual encounter with a man who shares a physical resemblance with his father fills him with doubts and hope about his parent’s true whereabouts.
Captain Volkonogov Escaped
(Country: Russia, France, Estonia; Year: 2021; Director: Aleksey Chupov, Natasha Merkulova; Writer: Aleksey Chupov, Natasha Merkulova, Mart Taniel; Stars: Yuriy Borisov, Timofey Tribuntsev, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Nikita Kukushkin, Vladimir Epifantsev, Anastasiya Ukolova, Natalya Kudryashova, Dmitriy Podnozov, Viktoriya Tolstoganova)
A Russian captain goes on the run and finds himself being threatened by eternal torments in hell... with the only way to avoid it being to seek forgiveness.
The Card Counter
(Country: UK, China, US; Year: 2021; Director: Paul Schrader; Writer: Paul Schrader; Stars: Oscar Isaac, Willem Dafoe, Tye Sheridan, Tiffany Haddish, Joel Michaely, Ekaterina Baker, Billy Slaughter, Amye Gousset, Hassel Kromer, Calvin Williams, Marlon Hayes, Bobby C. King, Adrienne Lau, Dylan Flashner, Alexander Babara)
William Tell, a former serviceman who became a poker player, leads a solitary existence on the casino trail. His path crosses with Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man obsessed with his plan for revenge and he tries to steer him away from violence.
The Power Of The Dog and Official Competition
Freaks Out
(Country: Italy, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Gabriele Mainetti; Writer: Nicola Guaglianone, Nicola Guaglianone, Gabriele Mainetti; Stars: Franz Rogowski, Eric Godon, Claudio Santamaria, Anna Tenta, Emilio De Marchi, Pietro Castellitto, Edoardo Purgatori, Elia Pietschmann, Aurora Giovinazzo, Giorgio Tirabassi, Franco Pistoni, Christoph Hülsen, Massimiliano Ubaldi, Riccardo Angelini, Astrid Meloni)
Rome, 1943: Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Mario live like siblings in Israel’s circus. When Israel mysteriously disappears, perhaps in flight or perhaps captured by the Nazis, the four “circus freaks” are left alone in the occupied city.
The Hand Of God
(Country: Italy; Year: 2021; Director: Paolo Sorrentino; Writer: Paolo Sorrentino; Stars: Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betty Pedrazzi, Biagio Manna, Ciro Capano, Enzo Decaro, Lino Musella, Sofya Gershevich, Alessandro Bressanello, Alfonso Perugini)
The story of a young man’s heartbreak, liberation and passion for football in Naples, Italy, in the Eighties.
Happening (L'Evenment)
(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Audrey Diwan; Writer: Audrey Diwan, Marcia Romano, based on the book by Annie Ernaux; Stars: Anamaria Vartolomei, Kacey Mottet Klein, Luàna Bajrami, Louise Orry-Diquéro, Louise Chevillotte, Pio Marmaï, Sandrine Bonnaire, Leonor Oberson, Anna Mouglalis, Cyril Metzger, Eric Verdin, Madeleine Baudot, Alice de Lencquesaing, Fabrizio Rongione, Isabelle Mazin)
France, 1963. Anne is a bright young student with a promising future ahead of her. But when she falls pregnant, she sees the opportunity to finish her studies and escape the constraints of her social background disappearing.
Il Buco
(Country: Italy, France, Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Michelangelo Frammartino; Writer: Michelangelo Frammartino, Giovanna Giuliani; Stars: Paolo Cossi, Jacopo Elia, Denise Trombin, Mila Costi, Carlos José Crespo, Leonardo Larocca, Angelo Spadaro, Nicola Lanza, Antonio Lanza, Claudia Candusso)
Drama based on the true adventures of a group of young speleologists who in 1961 descended into a hole in the mountains of Calabria to explore what was then the third-deepest known cave on Earth.
The King Of Laughter (Qui Rido Io)
(Country: Italy, Spain; Year: 2021; Director: Mario Martone; Writer: Mario Martone, Ippolita Di Majo; Stars: Toni Servillo, Maria Nazionale, Cristiana Dell'Anna, Antonia Truppo, Eduardo Scarpetta, Roberto De Francesco, Lino Musella, Paolo Pierobon, Giovanni Mauriello, Chiara Baffi, Roberto Caccioppoli, Lucrezia Guidone, Elena Ghiaurov, Gigio Morra, Gianfelice Imparato)
At the beginning of the 20th century, the great comic actor Eduardo Scarpetta was the king of the box office but when he decided to stage a tragedy, trouble ensued...
The King Of Laughter and The Hand Of God
Leave No Traces
(Country: Poland, Czech Republic, France; Year: 2021; Director: Jan P Matuszynski; Writer: Kaja Krawczyk-Wnuk, Cezary Lazarewicz; Stars: Agnieszka Grochowska, Tomasz Kot, Robert Wieckiewicz, Tomasz Zietek, Aleksandra Konieczna, Jacek Braciak, Adam Bobik, Sebastian Pawlak, Sandra Korzeniak, Lukasz Gawronski, Mateusz Górski, Aidan Hoyle, Maksym Kogua, Jacek Grygorowicz, Dominik Wald)
Poland, 1983. The country is shaken by the case of Grzegorz Przemyk - a high school student beaten to death by militia. Based on true events, the film follows the story of Jurek - the only witness of the beating, who overnight became the number one enemy of the state.
The Lost Daughter
(Country: US, Greece; Year: 2021; Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal; Writer: Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Elena Ferrante; Stars: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ed Harris, Dagmara Dominczyk, Panos Koronis, Jack Farthing, Alba Rohrwacher, Ellie James, Abe Cohen, Vassilis Koukalani, Nikos Poursanidis)
A holidaying professor finds an encounter with another family triggers memories of motherhood from her past
Lost Illusions
(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Xavier Giannoli; Writer: Xavier Giannoli, based on the novel by Honoré de Balzac; Stars: Benjamin Voisin, Cécile de France, Vincent Lacoste, Xavier Dolan, Salomé Dewaels, Jeanne Balibar, Gérard Depardieu, André Marcon, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Jean-François Stévenin, Alexis Barbosa, Marie Cornillon, Saïd Amadis, Morgane de Vargas, Raphaël Magnabosco)
A poet finds his opinion of the world and himself challenged after he moves from the provinces to Paris.
Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon
(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Ana Lily Amirpour; Writer: Ana Lily Amirpour; Stars: Kate Hudson, Ed Skrein, Craig Robinson, Jeon Jong-seo, Charlie Talbert, Rae Gray, Sylvia Grace Crim, Ritchie Montgomery, Jibrail Nantambu, Billy Slaughter, GiGi Erneta, Tiffany Black, Evan Whitten, Colby Boothman, Kent Shocknek)
A girl with unusual and dangerous powers who escapes from a mental asylum and tries to make it on her own in New Orleans.
Official Competition (Competencia Oficial)
(Country: Spain, Argentina; Year: 2021; Director: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat; Writer: Mariano Cohn, Andrés Duprat, Gastón Duprat; Stars: Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Irene Escolar, Melina Matthews, Oscar Martínez, Carlos Hipólito, Pilar Castro, Karina Kolokolchykova, Manolo Solo, José Luis Gómez, Juan Grandinetti, Koldo Olabarri, Ken Appledorn, Mónica Bardem, Nagore Aranburu)
In search of significance and social prestige, a billionaire businessman decides to make a film to leave his mark. To do it, he hires the best: a stellar team... but they have egos to match.
Leave No Traces and The Lost Daughter
On The Job: The Missing 8
(Country: Philippines; Year: 2021; Director: Erik Matti; Writer: Erik Matti, Michiko Yamamoto; Stars: Rayver Cruz, Dennis Trillo, Joel Torre, Ricky Davao, Christopher De Leon, Lotlot De Leon, John Arcilla, Dante Rivero, Ina Feleo, Soliman Cruz, Vandolph, William Martinez, Isabelle De Leon, Eric Fructuoso, Andrea Brillantes)
Inspired by true events, the film chronicles the story of Sisoy Salas, a corrupt journalist seeking justice for his colleagues, and convict Roman Rubio, a hired gun who is regularly brought out of prison to perform assassinations.
Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas)
(Country: Spain; Year: 2021; Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Writer: Pedro Almodóvar; Stars: Penélope Cruz, Rossy de Palma, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Daniela Santiago, Milena Smit, Julieta Serrano, Israel Elejalde, Adelfa Calvo, Inma Ochoa, José Javier Domínguez, Carmen Flores, Trinidad Iglesias)
Two women, a generation apart, find themselves inextricably linked by their brief time together in a maternity ward, bound by a secret with ties to a deep trauma in Spanish history.
The Power Of The Dog
(Country: UK, Australia, US, Canada, New Zealand; Year: 2021; Director: Jane Campion; Writer: Jane Campion, Thomas Savage; Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, Thomasin McKenzie, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy,)
A widow and her son are tormented by her new husband’s sullen and bullying brother.
Reflection
(Country: Ukraine; Year: 2021; Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Writer: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Stars: Roman Lutskyi, Dmitriy Sova, Andriy Rymaruk, Vasiliy Kukharskiy, Nika Myslytska, Nadiya Levchenko, Igor Shulha, Andrii Senchuk, Stanislav Aseyev, Oleksandr Danyliuk)
Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy is captured by the Russian military forces and exposed to horrifying scenes of humiliation and violence. On release, he tries to rebuild his life.
Spencer
(Country: Germany, Chile, UK, US; Year: 2021; Director: Pablo Larraín; Writer: Steven Knight; Stars: Kristen Stewart, Sean Harris, Amy Manson, Sally Hawkins, Jack Farthing, Timothy Spall, Richard Sammel, Olga Hellsing, Ryan Wichert, Jack Nielen, Michael Epp, Niklas Kohrt, John Keogh, Ben Plunkett-Reynolds, Wendy Patterson)
The marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles has long since grown cold. Though rumours of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities, across which handful of days, the film is set.
The Card Counter and Parallel Mothers
Sundown
(Country: France, Mexico; Year: 2021; Director: Michel Franco; Writer: Michel Franco; Stars: Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Samuel Bottomley, Henry Goodman, Iazua Larios, Mónica Del Carmen, James Tarpey, Albertine Kotting McMillan)
Alice and Neil Bennett are the core of a wealthy British family on vacation in Acapulco with younger members Colin and Alexa until a distant emergency cuts their trip short. When one relative disrupts the family’s tight-knit order, surprising tensions rise to the fore.
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:
Cannes Film Festival
The world's most famous film festival
Sands Film Festival
Weekend film event in St Andrews
Visions du Réel
Swiss documentary showcase
Cannes Film Festival
Archive of festival coverage.
Sundance Film Festival
Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.
Berlin Film Festival
Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.
Search Movie Database
Browse our full archive
Browse our short film archive
Browse our media archive
