Venice International Film Festival 2019 Scorecard

Critics Consensus: Observing a splintering union with compassion and expansive grace, the powerfully acted Marriage Story ranks among writer-director Noah Baumbach's best works.

Synopsis: A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a grueling divorce that pushes them to their limits.

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Azhy Robertson, Laura Dern

Directed By: Noah Baumbach

Critics Consensus: About Endlessness sees writer-director Roy Andersson surveying the human condition with equal parts striking clarity, tenderness, and deadpan existential wit.

Synopsis: ABOUT ENDLESSNESS is a reflection on human life in all its beauty and cruelty, its splendor and banality. We wander, dreamlike, gently guided by our... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jessica Louthander, Martin Serner, Tatiana Delaunay, Anders Hellström

Directed By: Roy Andersson

Critics Consensus: Powerfully acted and sensitively directed, Babyteeth offers audiences a coming-of-age story that's messier -- and more rewarding -- than most.

Starring: Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Essie Davis, Ben Mendelsohn

Directed By: Shannon Murphy

Critics Consensus: Citizen K sees documentarian Alex Gibney training his sights on post-Soviet Russia, with engrossing -- and unsettling -- results.

Synopsis: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a wealthy man in Russia, rocketed to prosperity in the 1990s and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement.

Starring: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Leonid Nevzlin, Boris Berezovsky, Alexei Navalny

Directed By: Alex Gibney

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Ten years have gone by since Elena's six-year old son has disappeared. The last thing she heard of him was a phone call he gave... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Marta Nieto, Alex Brendemühl, Anne Consigny, Frédéric Pierrot

Directed By: Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and powerfully acted, Ema puts a thoroughly distinctive spin on its story of emotional trauma and self-discovery.

Synopsis: After a shocking incident upends her family life and marriage to a tempestuous choreographer, Ema, a reggaeton dancer, sets out on an odyssey of personal... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mariana Di Girólamo, Gael García Bernal, Santiago Cabrera, Josefina Fiebelkorn

Directed By: Pablo Larraín

Critics Consensus: A message movie admirable for its subtlety as well as its execution, The Perfect Candidate faces oppression and powerfully advocates for change.

Synopsis: When Maryam, a hardworking young doctor in a small-town clinic, is prevented from flying to Dubai for a conference without a male guardian's approval, she... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mila Al Zahrani, Dae Al Hilali, Nora Al Awadh, Khalid Abdulraheem

Directed By: Haifaa Al-Mansour

Critics Consensus: The Truth may not stand with Hirokazu Kore-eda's best work, but it finds the writer-director revisiting familiar themes with a typically sensitive touch.

Synopsis: A stormy reunion occurs between an actress and her daughter after the actress publishes her memoirs.

Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ludivine Sagnier, Roger Van Hool

Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda

Critics Consensus: Joker gives its infamous central character a chillingly plausible origin story that serves as a brilliant showcase for its star -- and a dark evolution for comics-inspired cinema.

Synopsis: Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks -- the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy

Directed By: Todd Phillips

Critics Consensus: Ad Astra takes a visually thrilling journey through the vast reaches of space while charting an ambitious course for the heart of the bond between parent and child.

Synopsis: Thirty years ago, Clifford McBride led a voyage into deep space, but the ship and crew were never heard from again. Now his son --... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland

Directed By: James Gray

Critics Consensus: Brutally uncompromising in its portrayal of Nazi Germany, The Painted Bird is a difficult watch that justifies its stark horror with searing impact.

Synopsis: A young Jewish boy in Eastern Europe seeks refuge during World War II.

Starring: Petr Kotlár, Udo Kier, Lech Dyblik, Jitka Cvancarová

Directed By: Václav Marhoul

Critics Consensus: While The King is sometimes less than the sum of its impressive parts, strong source material and gripping performances make this a period drama worth hailing.

Synopsis: Young Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming king of England in the 15th century.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson

Directed By: David Michôd

Critics Consensus: Martin Eden uses one man's quest for fulfillment as fuel for an ambitious -- and often rewarding -- look at a complex array of social and personal themes.

Synopsis: After Martin Eden meets Elena, he tries to achieve a place among the literary elite through self-education.

Starring: Luca Marinelli, Jessica Cressy, Denise Sardisco, Carlo Cecchi

Directed By: Pietro Marcello

Critics Consensus: Seberg's frustratingly superficial treatment of a fascinating true story does a disservice to its subject -- and Kristen Stewart's performance in the central role.

Synopsis: In the late 1960s, French new wave actress and Breathless star Jean Seberg becomes the target of the FBI due to her support of the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Jack O'Connell, Anthony Mackie, Margaret Qualley

Directed By: Benedict Andrews

Critics Consensus: Depicting the Dreyfus affair with steadfast efficiency and a standout performance by Jean Dujardin, An Officer and a Spy is one of director Roman Polanski's sturdiest efforts in years.

Synopsis: On January 5, 1895, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young Jewish soldier, is degraded for spying for Germany and is sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel, Emmanuelle Seigner, Grégory Gadebois

Directed By: Roman Polanski

Critics Consensus: Gong Li's typically outstanding performance notwithstanding, Saturday Fiction is too awkwardly assembled to recommend.

Synopsis: 1941. Since the Japanese occupation, China has become a wartime intelligence battlefield for the Allies and the Axis Powers. Iconic actress Jean Yu returns to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gong Li, Mark Chao, Pascal Greggory, Tom Wlaschiha

Directed By: Ye Lou

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A mother adopts a traumatized 5-year-old girl and works to curb her violent behavior.

Starring: Nina Hoss, Yana Marinova, Murathan Muslu, Daniela Holtz

Directed By: Katrin Gebbe

Critics Consensus: The Laundromat misuses its incredible cast by taking a disappointingly blunt and unfocused approach to dramatizing the real-life events that inspired it.

Synopsis: When her idyllic vacation takes an unthinkable turn, Ellen Martin begins investigating a fake insurance policy.

Starring: Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Jeffrey Wright

Directed By: Steven Soderbergh

Critics Consensus: Wasp Network's talented cast makes this spy drama hard to ignore, even if the mystery at the heart of its storyline is too tangled for its own good.

Synopsis: A band of Cuban defectors infiltrates anti-Castro terrorist groups in Miami in the early 1990s.

Starring: Penélope Cruz, Edgar Ramírez, Gael García Bernal, Wagner Moura

Directed By: Olivier Assayas

Critics Consensus: David Thewlis' performance aside, Guest of Honour serves as a frustratingly limited return to form for writer-director Atom Egoyan.

Synopsis: A father confronts his 20-year-old daughter, who is in prison for a sexual assault. Their relationship will become more complicated when the past resurfaces.

Starring: David Thewlis, Laysla De Oliveira, Luke Wilson, Rossif Sutherland

Directed By: Atom Egoyan

Critics Consensus: Admirable in theory but disappointing in execution, Waiting for the Barbarians struggles to turn strong performances and worthy themes into affecting drama.

Synopsis: A local magistrate reevaluates his loyalty to his nation while holed up at a remote outpost.

Starring: Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Greta Scacchi

Directed By: Ciro Guerra