
(Photo by Gia Coppola's Mainstream. Thumbnail: Chloe Zhao's Nomadland)
Our 2020 Venice Film Festival Movie Scorecard
The 77th Venice International Film Festival opened ceremonies with an orchestral tribute to Ennio Morricone, saluting the legendary composer who passed away in July and ushering in 2020’s fest selections. In the first industry bash since quarantine lockdown, the scaled-back, safety-protocoled festival will host socially distant critics pursuing buzzed movies, including Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, Kornel Mundruczo’s Pieces of a Woman, and Gia Coppola’s Mainstream. As these films achieve their Tomatometer scores, along with everything else playing at the festival through September 12th, we’ll be adding them to our Venice Film Festival 2020 Movie Scorecard.
#56
Adjusted Score: 112.017%
Critics Consensus: A hauntingly powerful reflection on larger-than-life figures, One Night in Miami finds Regina King in command of her craft in her feature directorial debut.
Synopsis: On one incredible night in 1964, four icons of sports, music, and activism gathered to celebrate one of the biggest...
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#55
Adjusted Score: 107.441%
Critics Consensus: A poetic character study on the forgotten and downtrodden, Nomadland beautifully captures the restlessness left in the wake of the Great Recession.
Synopsis: Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off...
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#54
Adjusted Score: 77.069%
Critics Consensus: The World to Come is made from ingredients that will be familiar to fans of period forbidden romance movies, but they're given fresh life thanks to an excellent cast.
Synopsis: In this powerful 19th century romance set in the American Northeast, Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a farmer's wife, and her new...
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#53
Adjusted Score: 100.53%
Critics Consensus: Apples explores human identity from a surreal and often humorous perspective, with peculiar yet ultimately thought-provoking results.
Synopsis: Amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, middle-aged Aris (Aris Servetalis) finds himself enrolled in a recovery program designed...
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#52
Adjusted Score: 86.324%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When simple-minded friends Jean-Gab and Manu find a giant fly trapped in the boot of a car, they decide to...
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#51
Adjusted Score: 97.129%
Critics Consensus: Dear Comrades takes a sharp, commanding look at a dark chapter in Soviet history made even more effective by its director's cold fury.
Synopsis: When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go...
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#50
Adjusted Score: 52.607%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National...
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#49
Adjusted Score: 101.348%
Critics Consensus: A restless and riveting fable, Night of Kings sees writer-director Philippe Lacôte in full command of his craft.
Synopsis: A young man is sent to "La Maca," a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its...
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#48
Adjusted Score: 76.424%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A masseur from the East enters the lives of the rich residents of a bland, walled off community. Despite their...
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#47
Adjusted Score: 33.477%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#46
Adjusted Score: 96.339%
Critics Consensus: The Human Voice unites Pedro Almodóvar and Tilda Swinton for a short film whose rich rewards are belied by its abbreviated length.
Synopsis: A woman watches time passing next to the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up,...
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#45
Adjusted Score: 68.439%
Critics Consensus: in spite of solid performances, New Order's merciless brutality and unfocused gaze threaten to derail its message.
Synopsis: In this riveting, suspenseful dystopian drama, a lavish upper-class wedding goes awry in an unexpected uprising of class warfare that...
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#44
Adjusted Score: 43.042%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The year is 1940 in Kobe, the night before the outbreak of World War II. Local merchant, Yusaku Fukuhara, senses...
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#43
Adjusted Score: 96.148%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Sharad Nerulkar has devoted his life to becoming an Indian classical music vocalist, diligently following the traditions and discipline of...
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#42
Adjusted Score: 80.778%
Critics Consensus: Audiences might not learn anything new from I Am Greta, but its stirring chronicle of the young activist's efforts is inspiring.
Synopsis: In August of 2018, Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old student in Sweden, starts a school strike for the climate. Her question...
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#41
Adjusted Score: 80.872%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#40
Adjusted Score: 28.79%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Deep in the underbelly of New York City, a five year-old girl and her mother live among a community that...
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#39
Adjusted Score: 81.564%
Critics Consensus: Notturno contemplates the cost of war in starkly human terms by surveying the lives of people living under the threat of destruction.
Synopsis: Filmed over three years on the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon, Notturno captures the everyday life that lies...
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Starring:
#38
Adjusted Score: 38.308%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#37
Adjusted Score: 85.378%
Critics Consensus: Pieces of a Woman struggles to maintain momentum after a stunning opening act, but Vanessa Kirby's performance makes the end result a poignant portrait of grief.
Synopsis: Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are a Boston couple on the verge of parenthood whose lives change irrevocably...
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#36
Adjusted Score: 28.695%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#35
Adjusted Score: 14.347%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#34
Adjusted Score: 21.599%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Twelve years in the making, Final Account is director Luke Holland's compelling documentary profiling German veterans and their accounts of...
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Starring:
#33
Adjusted Score: 28.838%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: IN BETWEEN DYING is the love story of Davud, a young man in search of his 'true' family, who completes...
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#32
Adjusted Score: 18.939%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Just above Hollywood boulevard, lives FRANKIE (Maya Hawke) a young woman in her early 20s trying to navigate who she...
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#31
Adjusted Score: 44.109%
Critics Consensus: David Thewlis' performance aside, Guest of Honour serves as a frustratingly limited return to form for writer-director Atom Egoyan.
Synopsis: Jim (David Thewlis) and his daughter Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira), a high school music teacher, attempt to unravel their complicated...
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#30
Adjusted Score: 14.539%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Bright, intelligent, passionate and free, Eleanor is Karl Marx's youngest daughter. Among the first women to link the themes of...
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