The article previews 12 highly anticipated films at the Venice Film Festival, spanning political drama, documentary, psychological suspense and ambitious experimental cinema. It highlights major directors and performers, with several films addressing media power, authoritarianism, celebrity, historical violence and the ethics of spectacle.

– Danny Boyle’s Murdoch drama stars Guy Pearce and Jack O’Connell, examining class, empire and the transformation of the Sun.
– Ilya Khrzhanovsky expands his vast, controversial Dau project with a Soviet-era story of love and repression.
– Lance Oppenheim directs Robert Pattinson as To Catch a Predator presenter Chris Hansen, questioning who exploits whom.
– Slavoj Žižek concludes his “pervert’s guide” trilogy with a pop-culture exploration of utopias.
– May el-Toukhy reworks Rebecca-like suspense in post-war Denmark, centred on a widower, his nanny and a troubling past.
– A documentary follows Oasis’s reunion tour, including footage of Liam and Noel Gallagher together.
– Lee Chang-dong returns after Burning with a Netflix-produced drama about two intertwined couples.
– Martin McDonagh brings a dark thriller about CIA operatives in Chile during the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende.