The biggest premieres of day 5 of the Venice Film Festival were the Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, Olivier Assayas’s The Wizard of the Kremlin, and first peek at Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Anne Lee.
Jim Jarmusch’s minimalist style, wry humor, and poetic portraits of outsiders have made him a pioneer of independent cinema, and his latest film—a triptych about family encounters where siblings reunite with parents, or their memories—is being warmly praised by critics. Earlier this year, unreliable whispers online claimed the film had been denied a Cannes competition slot over quality concerns—clearly untrue.
Vulture calls the film a ‘minor key’ work, spare and intimate, that leaves viewers with a nostalgic urge to reach out to their own families. The Guardian finds it an elegant piece offering meditative, unresolved emotional reflections rather than catharsis. The Wrap praises the way the film finds resonance in the spaces between words—the subtle humor and unsaid truths that define family bonds. And Screen International compared it to Ozu and slow cinema in its humanism and deliberate pacing.
Olivier Assayas is one of the most innovative shapeshifters in contemporary French and international cinema—and one of our favorites here at Frames and Flicker. Prolific as ever, he’s a regular on the festival circuit, though with uneven fortunes: Cannes has long embraced him, Berlin too, while Venice has been less kind. Sadly, his new film The Wizard of the Kremlin seems to continue that trend, drawing mixed reviews and landing a very early score of 48 on Metacritic. The premise is fascinating—the film follows a fictional Kremlin spin doctor (Paul Dano) as he helps craft Putin’s grip on power, exploring propaganda, manipulation, and the inner workings of authoritarian rule. It sounds like very juicy roles for both Dano and the always incredible Jude Law (who plays Putin) that could’ve contended for awards attention. Now that’s much more up in the air.
The Guardian describes it as “laborious and literal‑minded” and notes that while Jude Law’s portrayal of Putin is physically convincing, the film is weighed down by relentless voiceover narration and heavy-handed exposition. It also criticizes Paul Dano’s portrayal of the enigmatic Vadim Baranov as monotone, implausible and uninspired. The Times highlighted Jude Law’s striking turn and says his performance carries the film. The Wrap thinks Paul Dano is the true anchor of the film. Variety thinks the film is “basically a glorified TV-movie.” Many critics have taken issues with the pacing, but commend the film’s ambition to tell a sprawling and dense portrait of Russian politics over the last 35 years.
Official reviews for Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee will land tomorrow, once more critics have had the chance to see it. Early reactions from the first screening, however, have already started spilling onto Letterboxd, suggesting the film may prove polarizing with audiences. That’s not surprising given its premise: an epic, musically infused historical drama—part biopic, part fable—that reimagines the life of Ann Lee, founder of the Shaker movement, charting her transformation from grieving mother into a radical spiritual leader who built a celibate, utopian community and was revered as the “female Christ.” It’s a daring idea—and a tough film to pull off.”
From what we’ve seen on Letterboxd, many viewers appreciate the film’s creative ambition but feel it falls short of its goals. The technical craft—especially the photography—has been widely praised, as has Amanda Seyfried’s committed performance, yet critics note the film often drifts into boredom, lacks vitality, and gets muddled in its ideas, resulting in a very uneven experience. Reports even surfaced that around 100 attendees walked out mid-screening, sparking plenty of chatter on film Twitter. Several comments pointed out that the film falters whenever Seyfried isn’t on screen, and that its musical elements don’t live up to expectations.
We’ll see if these initial impressions hold once top critics publish their reviews tomorrow. There’s also a rumor that some Ariana Grande fans have been review-bombing the film after Seyfried’s recent comments about almost being cast as Glinda in Wicked. Hopefully that’s not true—but if it is, consider this a massive eye roll from us.