Awards Watch: Venice and Telluride Deliver a Brutal First Weekend
The first weekend of fall festivals has thrown the 2025 awards race into overdrive. Venice (August 27 to September 6) and Telluride (August 29 to September 1) have given audiences and critics their first chance to see several of this year’s most anticipated films and react to them. The responses have been mixed, and in many cases, harsh. These films are far from failing, but few have earned the kind of immediate, glowing acclaim that marks a clear frontrunner, and Venice audiences in particular did not hold back.
No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook’s darkly comic tale of unemployment and moral compromise, emerged as the rare Venice standout. Deadline Hollywood praised it as “a jet-black comedy that stars Lee Byung-hun in his most revelatory role to date,” comparing it favourably to Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. Its status as a potential Best Picture contender seems secure, though its Neon distribution, which also have several other awards prospects, could limit the studio’s promotional focus.
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet is the consensus darling. The story of Agnes, Shakespeare’s grieving wife, has been lauded for emotional depth and precise, intimate storytelling. Jessie Buckley delivers a “devastating” performance, while Paul Mescal is “cathartically transcendent.” Indiewire noted, “Anchored by the primordial rawness of Buckley’s astonishing performance, Hamnet is never the least bit at risk of reducing Agnes to a trope. If anything, the film regards her as an even more powerful creative force than her husband.” Among the early festival crop, Hamnet feels like the film most likely to secure a Best Picture nomination.
Other Venice titles faced more mixed receptions. Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly drew praise for George Clooney’s emotional depth but was criticized for sentimentality and reliance on clichés. Indiewire described it as “A gorgeously bittersweet shortfaller that hits hardest as a cautionary tale about the perils of trying to avoid oneself in a world that only allows us to act like there’s anyone else for us to be.” Telluride audiences responded with more warmth, suggesting that Netflix’s eventual push could make this its flagship awards contender.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is visually stunning and performance-driven, with Jacob Elordi singled out for acclaim, but opinions on its thematic execution were split. Next Best Picture wrote, “Ultimately, the piece collapses under the weight of del Toro’s vision, a muddled collage of tones that consistently underwhelms. It’s a beautiful collage that amounts to a surprisingly arduous execution.” The consensus points to a film likely to earn technical recognition, but its Best Picture prospects feel limited.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia divided critics as well. The Guardian noted, “For me, Bugonia doesn’t have the ingenuity and elegance of Lanthimos’s previous film Kinds of Kindness, nor the emotional generosity and audacity of his steampunk fantasia Poor Things. It’s a spiny, prickly, hothouse flower.” Despite its uneven reception in Venice, Telluride audiences appeared more receptive, highlighting the role of U.S. festival sensibilities in shaping awards narratives.
Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player offers moody, atmospheric storytelling set in Macau’s gambling underworld. The Wrap noted, “Campy and bombastic at its core, this is ultimately a movie about second chances totuing a magnificent charmed performance from Colin Farrell.” Critics remain split on pacing and narrative clarity, but its visual flair could earn attention in acting and design categories.
Finally, Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, which played out of competition at Venice, landed with a thud. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 46 percent, and Variety summed it up: “After the Hunt has been made with a fair amount of craft and intrigue, but it’s also a weirdly muddled experience — a tale that’s tense and compelling at times, but dotted with contrivances and too many vague unanswered questions.” Despite Julia Roberts’ praised performance, the film appears unlikely to figure prominently in awards-season discourse.
Early lessons are clear. Hamnet stands head and shoulders above the pack and feels the most secure in the Best Picture race from this crop. No Other Choice impressed critically, but Neon’s portfolio of awards titles may dilute the film’s campaign, considering they already have Sentimental Value. Netflix will likely lean on Jay Kelly as a Best Picture candidate, while Focus Features may prioritize Hamnet over Bugonia. The remaining films occupy a middle ground, with critical divides suggesting cautious optimism rather than certainty.
All eyes now turn to TIFF (September 4 to September 14), where U.S. audiences and critics will weigh in. The early bloodbath of Venice and the tempered receptions at Telluride show that this awards season will be a high-stakes competition from the very first screenings.
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