Casey Affleck's third directorial feature, "Company," will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, offering a Gothic mystery told across three interlinked timelines beginning on Christmas Day 1975. The low-budget film, co-written with novelist Ron Hansen over six years, unfolds as a story-within-a-story structure moving through 1975, 1953 and 1903, and centres on themes of loneliness, old wounds and healing that Affleck says are personal to him, though he remains guarded about specifics.

The cast is notably drawn from Affleck's own family: his 18-year-old son Atticus makes his acting debut in a lead role, his eldest son Indiana also appears, and his girlfriend of more than five years, Caylee Cowan, plays an actress who takes refuge with a reclusive Nick Nolte character. Both of Affleck's parents appear in the film too, which is dedicated to them after they died between the completion of production and the film's finishing. Affleck says involving his loved ones brought unexpected pressure, feeling more responsible for their portrayal than on previous projects; the film, shot with a rotating crew on a tight budget, also stars Scoot McNairy, Adelaide Clemens and Emily Alyn Lind.