Sure, the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival had its fair share of high-profile releases that didn’t quite live up to expectations, but there were plenty more that had real staying power—gripping dramas, twisty thrillers, and supremely powerful documentaries that have leapt straight from the Lido and into the 2027 awards race. These are the eight films you need to see.
Walking a taut tightrope between hilarious and deeply melancholy, Martin McDonagh’s latest romp combines a sharp script with the extraordinary, other-worldly landscapes of Chile’s Easter Island, birthing a madcap thriller that winks at our chaotic political present. A deadpan John Malkovich steals the show as Chris, a CIA veteran reaching the end of his life and contemplating his complicated, blood-soaked past.
When he’s dispatched from Santiago to that mystical, volcanic speck in the Pacific Ocean, along with his irritable friend and colleague, Lee (Sam Rockwell), a bizarre tangle of shoot-outs, car chases, and undercover operations offer a glimpse of the mindless violence that will soon follow with the horrific Chilean coup of 1973. A chatty, thoughtful film with big ideas about American imperialism and our seemingly endless battle against fascism, that also happens to be a rollicking good time.
Wild Horse Nine
They’re Here