Paul Schrader's new film "The Basics of Philosophy" had its out-of-competition premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Friday night, receiving a 4.5-minute ovation as star Jack Huston and co-stars Sofia Boutella, Bill Pullman and Daniel Zovatto embraced the visibly moved director amid cheers of "Bravi, Bravi!" The drama, about a philosophy professor forced to confront a past act of sexual abuse when his victim reappears in his life, continues Schrader's long-standing preoccupation with guilt and redemption, which he has linked to his strict Calvinist upbringing.

Huston plays professor John Jorissen alongside Boutella, Zovatto, Pullman, Dana Delany, Shiloh Fernandez, Karl Glusman and Elizabeth Petruso, with Variety critic Jessica Kiang singling out Huston's "peculiar intensity" in her review of the film. Martin Scorsese joined as an executive producer ahead of the premiere, and the 80-year-old Schrader, best known for writing "Taxi Driver" and directing "American Gigolo" and "First Reformed", is a Venice regular whose past premieres there include "First Reformed", "The Card Counter" and "Master Gardener"; he received the festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2022.