French director Alexandre Smia's feature debut "Jupiter" imagines a newly elected French president forced to confront the threat of nuclear war with Russia, and its Venice Film Festival premiere arrives at a moment when the scenario feels disturbingly plausible rather than dystopian. Smia says he began writing the film while Joe Biden was still US president, but shifting geopolitics since Russia's invasion of Ukraine have made the story's premise feel far closer to reality, prompting him to describe the current era as a "third nuclear age" in which France, as a nuclear power within the EU, NATO and the UN Security Council, can no longer remain a passive observer.

The film stars Denis Ménochet as President Paul Archambault, who is taken to the real-life "Jupiter" command bunker beneath the Élysée Palace after an assassination attempt on the Russian president sparks an escalating crisis blamed on Ukraine. Produced by Chi Fou Mi Productions (part of Mediawan) and sold internationally by SND, the film draws on extensive research, including advice from nuclear deterrence expert Bruno Tertrais and input from General Fabien Mandon, now France's chief of defence staff, who reviewed the script for authenticity. Cast members, including Dominique Blanc and Théo Kateb, drew inspiration from real figures such as Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger, and the ensemble rehearsed together for a week to master the film's specialist political and military dialogue. "Jupiter" premieres out of competition at Venice.