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The 2024 Venice Film Festival kicked off August 28 with the long-awaited Tim Burton-Michael Keaton sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opening the 81th edition, which runs through September 7 on the Lido. Deadline is on the ground to watch all the key films.

The lineup for the world’s oldest fest also includes world premieres of Todd Phillips’ Joaquin Phoenix-Lady Gaga pic Joker: Folie à Deux, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Pablo Larrain’s Maria Callas biopic Maria starring Angelina Jolie and new works from the likes of Alfonso Cuarón, Walter Salles, Harmony Korine, Thomas Vinterberg, Brady Corbet, Takeshi Kitano, Claude Lelouch, Errol Morris and others.

Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year awarded its Golden Lion for best film to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, who went on the win the Best Actress Oscar. Isabelle Huppert heads the competition jury this year.

If you’ve spent time in towns in the far-flung provinces of any number of European countries — particularly ones in which mills that supplied the economic lifeblood of working-class communities have closed, leaving inhabitants adrift without a raft — chances are you’ll recognize the fictional Northeastern French setting of And Their Children After Them (Leurs enfants aprés eux). These are places stuck in time, usually around the point when their industries were shuttered. That fossilization can be observed at public celebrations where the locals mob the dance floor when the cheesiest of Euro-pop relics are blasted over the speakers, in this case Boney M.’s “Rivers of Babylon.”

Writer-director brothers Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma capture that atmosphere with such specificity and melancholy fondness in their ambitious adaptation of Nicolas Mathieu’s 2018 Prix Goncourt-winning novel that it’s easy to imagine they lived it — or at least something very close to it.

There is the faint sound of a callback to Francois Truffaut in Venice Film Festival competition title And Their Children After Them (Leurs Enfants Après Eux), a sunlit story of three teenagers set in a moribund French steel town in the 1990s. Check, for example, those fundamental French subjects: first love and sexual awakening, nature and the spontaneity of youth, the consuming love of family and corresponding desire to break free. It is an echo that grows fainter by the minute, however, as that lightness of touch is weighed down by a repetitive narrative and the charmlessness of its central characters.

Gormless working-class boy Anthony (Paul Kircher) pursues Steph (Angelina Woreth), a pretty girl from a couple of yards the other side of the tracks, from one summer to the next. They meet first at the picturesque local lake, where Anthony has just stolen a canoe along with his cousin (Louis Memmi). That night,...

Of the many ’90s needle drops in this episodic epic about a smalltown, working class French youth, it is one by Bruce Springsteen that captures its spirit. It takes a special film to earn the right to play ‘Born To Run’ over the end credits, and this does. The fourth feature by twin brothers Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma, adapted from a 2018 novel by Nicolas Mathieu, is so close to the essence of The Boss that it might have been reverse-engineered from his DNA.

Set over four summers “And Their Children After Them” drops us into a formative day in the life of 14-year-old Anthony (Paul Kircher). The first shot is of perfect blue sky; the camera pans down to reveal a vista so tranquil as to be almost banal — puffy clouds, forest, lake — until it is sullied by a cigarette butt flicked into the water. In this world, it...

French writer Nicolas Mathieu won the Prix Goncourt — France’s highest-profile literary award — for his 2018 novel “And Their Children After Them,” a working-class Bildungsroman set against a backdrop of severe deindustrialization, for which he stated his disparate influences to include John Steinbeck, Émile Zola, Bruce Springsteen and the 2012 Jeff Nichols film “Mud.” The Springsteen namecheck is easily taken care of in this brash big-screen adaptation, via a thuddingly obvious needle-drop as its bike-riding hero straps his hands across some engines and hits the open road. Mathieu’s more literary allusions, however, haven’t survived the journey to Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma’s overlong, outwardly emotive but strangely unmoving film, which resorts to soap-opera mechanics in its saga of three youths variously affected over a six-year period by one rash act of teen delinquency.

The Boukherma twins showed some inventive, genre-jumbling verve in their first three features — most prominently “Teddy,” a...

Twin brothers Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma left their village in southwest France for Paris just over a decade ago to study film at the Luc Besson-spearheaded L’École de la Cité.

The duo is now settled in the French capital, but they still turn for inspiration to their working-class upbringing in so-called “Peripheral France”, a term coined in the 2010s to describe disadvantaged communities left behind by globalisation.

Their fourth feature And Their Children After Them – which world premieres in competition in Venice this weekend – taps into this world in the 1990s.

Adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s 2018 novel of the same name, the drama revolves around three youngsters growing up in a former steel town in north-eastern France.

Anthony and Hacine (Sayyid El Alami), are the sons of two ex-steel workers, and Steph (Angelina Woreth), a girl from a comfortable middle-class background.

Over the course of four summers...

Barely a decade out of film school, Gallic twins Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma are primed for an international splash once their fourth feature, “And Their Children After Them,” premieres in competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Adapted from a literary sensation that won the Prix Goncourt, France’s equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize, the film explores teenage heartache and working-class doldrums with a novelistic sweep, playing as a coming-of-age power ballad full of operatic emotions and chart-topping tunes.

“We wanted to turn a story made up of fairly ordinary, small conflicts into something vast and cinematic,” says director Zoran Boukherma, who co-wrote with his brother Ludovic after actor-filmmaker Gilles Lellouche handed each of them a copy of the book over lunch two years ago.

“That idea stemmed from our discussion with Gilles and with [original author] Nicolas Mathieu, who recognized that a very small event could lead to an entire family’s downfall.

Antoine Chevrollier's debut feature Block Pass follows on the heels of a strong run in television for the writer/director, who created Oussekine - which considers the events that led to the death of a French-Algerian student at the hands of police - and helmed episodes of Baron Noir and The Bureau. Block Pass (La Pampa) focuses on the friendship between teenagers Willy (Sayyid El Alami) and Jojo (Amaury Foucher). Both have bonded over motocross, racing at a track founded by their fathers. Although Willy is still reeling from the death of his ten years afterwards, while Jojo comes under increasing pressure from his (Damien Bouchard). Chevrollier's film offers racing thrills and spills while also zeroing in on toxic masculinity, small-town prejudice and the pressure to conform to parental expectations. Block Pass had its premiere...

You can almost smell the mixture of sweat and Lynx body spray leaping from the screen from the start of Antoine Chevrollier’s dive into the testosterone-fuelled world of teenagers Jojo (Amaury Foucher) and Willy (Sayyid El Alami).

The childhood friends are both motorbike-mad, although Jojo is by far the more devil-may-care of the two, with Willy more introverted. Their difference is also reflected in their look, with Jojo sporting a bleach blonde do, the polar opposite of Willy’s darker hair. It’s an indicator of a film that is all big moods and opposing forces - individuality against the collective, parental desire versus that of their children, nurturing camaraderie against toxic masculinity. The block pass of the film’s English language title, refers to an attempted overtaking manoeuvre, where you come up on the inside of an opponent and steal the racing line - and for all that Chevrollier’s film contains some.

Will You Be My Ride or Die?: Chevrollier Ramps Up the Chaos in Portrait of Sons & Missing Fathers

Exploring themes of rebellion, shame, and unresolved anguish, La Pampa (aka Block Pass) delves into the profound challenges of articulating inner turmoil. This setup resembles Rebel Without a Cause, but with dirt bikes as the chosen mode of death-defying delinquency with daddy and in-the-closet issues to boot. Actors Sayyid El Alami and Amaury Foucher embody blood-brother dynamics in Antoine Chevrollier’s stagey, coming-of-age drama feature debut and while the film excels at portraying teenagers navigating an adult world, it sometimes fetiches the turmoil and silly wrong turns that the collective make.…...

In the realm of dirt bike racing, the term “block pass” describes when you obstruct someone’s path with your bike and body, effectively standing in their way. It serves as a fitting metaphor for the portrayal of blood brothers grappling with the challenges of adulthood that surround them. Among the seven films chosen for this year’s Critics’ Week competition section, we get onto the muddy tracks and fragmented teenage-moving-into adulthood world in the debut feature of French filmmaker Antoine Chevrollier. In La Pampa, also known as Block Pass, young actors Sayyid El Alami and Amaury Foucher take the lead roles in a coming-of-age drama set in the muddy tracks of suburbia.…...

Cannes Critics’ Week championing work by emerging filmmakers has unveiled the line-up for its 63rd edition running from May 15 to 23.

The traditionally compact parallel selection will showcase 11 features, seven in competition, as well as 13 short films, selected from 1,050 features and 2,150 short films. (scroll down for full list)

The 2024 edition marks Artistic Director Ava Cahen’s third at the helm, with buzzy discoveries under her directorship to date including Tiger Stripes, The Rapture, Aftersun and Love According To Dalva.

Opening and closing films

French director Jonathan Millet’s psychological manhunt thriller Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes) will open the section. It marks his first feature after half a dozen shorts including Tell Me About The Stars.

Adam Bessa, who won the Un Certain Regard prize for his performance in Harka in 2022, stars as a man in pursuit of his former torturer. He never saw his oppressor’s face, but knows his smell,...

Chevrollier is behind hit French series including Oussekine and international hit thriller The Bureau

Paris-based sales house Pulsar Content has hopped aboard Antoine Chevrollier’s Block Pass and will kick off sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris which takes place from January 16-23.

Block Pass is the anticipated debut feature from Chevrollier, who is well known as a series director in France. His credits including police brutality drama Oussekine, spy thriller The Bureau and political drama Baron Noir.

The film is produced by Nicolas Blanc’s Agat Films and reteams the director with Oussekine star Sayyid El Alami alongside fresh face Amaury Foucher,...

Alain Attal and Hugo Selignac have formed a producing duo known for delivering original, starry French films that probe uneasy subjects that earn B.O. gold and critical laurels. Attal is in Cannes with Un Certain Regard title “Rosalie,” while Selignac has “Omar à la Fraise” in Critics’ Week.

The pair is now about to hit a new milestone in 2024, starting with Gilles Lellouche’s epic romance drama “L’Amour Ouf,” which boasts a budget of €32 million ($34 million) and marks Studiocanal’s biggest investment in a French-language film to date. They also have “And Their Children After Them,” an adaptation of Nicolas Mathieu’s Goncourt Prize-winning novel to be directed by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma (“Teddy”), which has been boarded by Warner Bros. France and HBO Max and France Televisions, the first French movie to bring together these three partners.

“L’Amour Ouf” also marks the first film co-acquired by Canal Plus,...

Disney+’s French historical drama Oussekine will present the “dark part of our national history books,” according to its creator, who sought inspiration from Ava DuVernay’s U.S. Netflix smash When They See Us.

Antoine Chevrollier’s four-parter, one of the first Disney+ France originals to be greenlit, tells the story of the tragic death of Malik Oussekine, the response of his family down the years and the ripple effect on French society. In 1986, the young French-Algerian student was chased and beaten to death by police at a protest against immigration restrictions, which were scrapped days later after the protests intensified in the wake of Oussekine’s death.

Launching on adult-skewing vertical Star on May 11, the show features Messiah‘s Sayyid El Alami as Malik and Succession’s Hiam Abbas as his mother Aicha Oussekine and is the first to be showrun by The Bureau director Chevrollier, who oversaw...

Sales

Studiocanal has sold a raft of global territories on four-part thriller drama series “Ridley Road.” Created by Studiocanal’s Red Production Company, commissioned for BBC One and co-produced with Masterpiece, the series will air in the U.S. on PBS Masterpiece, in France on Canal Plus, and has also been acquired by Now Studio Hong Kong, ABC Australia, Nova Greece, Yle Finland, Svt Sweden, Nrk Norway, Dr Denmark, Rte Ireland, Hot Israel, Canal Plus Poland and Disney Plus Benelux. A sale to Mola Indonesia was agreed earlier this year.

Based on Jo Bloom’s book, the series follows a young Jewish woman who falls in love with a member of the ’62 Group. She rejects her comfortable middle-class life in Manchester and joins the fights against fascism in London, risking everything for her beliefs for the man she loves.

The drama adaption is written, and executive produced by Sarah Solemani...

In a Gold Derby exclusive, we have learned the category placements of the key Emmy Awards contenders for Netflix. For this season, the streamer has returning hits “After Life” (Ricky Gervais), “Black Mirror” (Andrew Scott), “The Crown”, “Dead to Me”, “Glow” (Alison Brie), “The Kominsky Method” (Michael Douglas), “Ozark”, “Stranger Things” (Winona Ryder) as part of their 2020 campaign. Newcomers include “#blackAF” (Kenya Barris), “Living with Yourself” (Paul Rudd), “The Politician”, “Space Force” (Steve Carell) and “The Witcher” (Henry Cavill).

Below, the list of Netflix lead, supporting and guest submissions for their comedy, drama, TV movies and limited series. We’ve also got the full list of titles for variety, reality and other major genres. More names might be added by the studio on the final Emmy ballot. Also note that performers not included on this list may well be submitted by their personal reps.

13 Reasons Why

Drama Series

Drama Actor...

Network: Netflix

Episodes: 10 (hour)

Seasons: One

TV show dates: January 1, 2020 -- January 1, 2020

Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Mehdi Dehbi, Tomer Sisley, Michelle Monaghan, John Ortiz, Melinda Page Hamilton, Stefania Lavie Owen, Jane Adams, Sayyid El Alami, Fares Landoulsi, and Wil Traval.

TV show description:

A suspense thriller TV series, Messiah was created by Michael Petroni. The show chronicles the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East. Al-Massih (Dehbi) creates a groundswell of international followers around him when he claims to be the eschatological return of 'Isa (Jesus). Has he been sent by God or, is he a dangerous fraud who's bent on dismantling the world's geopolitical order?

Read More…...

Netflix has opted not to reenew provocative drama Messiah for a second season. Series co-star Wil Traval revealed the news on Instagram Thursday.

“It’s a very sad day today,” he wrote. “I have just received news from Netflix that there will be no season 2 of #messiah I wanted to say to all the fans thank you for your support and love. I wish things were different.”

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Created by Michael Petroni and produced by The Bible‘s Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, Messiah explored the lines among religion, faith and politics. When a CIA officer investigates a man — referred to by some as Al-Masih (Mehdi Dehbi) — attracting international attention and followers through acts of public disruption, she embarks on a global,...

Netflix has canceled “Messiah” after one season, Variety has confirmed.

Series star Wil Traval shared the news on Instagram, writing, “It’s a very sad day today. I have just received news from Netflix that there will be no season 2 of #messiah I wanted to say to all the fans thank you for your support and love. I wish things were different.”

According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, Netflix did not feel confident producing a show that required so many international locations given the current state of things with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The series followed CIA officer Eva Geller (Michelle Monaghan), who uncovers information about a man (Mehdi Dehbi) gaining international attention through acts of public disruption. As he continues to cultivate followers who allege he’s performing miracles, the global media become increasingly beguiled by this charismatic figure.

The series also starred Tomer Sisley, John Ortiz,...

Is the mystery solved in the first season of the Messiah TV show on Netflix? As we all know, the Nielsen ratings typically play a big role in determining whether a TV show like Messiah is cancelled or renewed for season two. Netflix and other streaming platforms, however, collect their own data. If you've been watching this TV series, we'd love to know how you feel about the first season episodes of Messiah here. *Status update below.

A Netflix suspense thriller TV series, Messiah stars Mehdi Dehbi, Tomer Sisley, Michelle Monaghan, John Ortiz, Melinda Page Hamilton, Stefania Lavie Owen, Jane Adams, Sayyid El Alami, Fares Landoulsi, and Wil Traval. The show chronicles the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East. Al-Massih (Dehbi) creates a groundswell of international followers around him when he claims to be the...

Messiah will not be rising at Netflix again.

The streamer has canceled the thriller after just one season, according to series star Wil Traval.

"It's a very sad day today," he said via Instagram on Wednesday.

"I have just received news from Netflix that there will be no Season 2 of #messiah."

He continued, "I wanted to say to all the fans thank you for the support and love."

"I wish things were different," he said in conclusion.

The series focused on CIA officer Eva Geller (Michelle Monaghan), who uncovers information about a man (Mehdi Dehbi) gaining international attention through acts of public disruption, As such, she begins an investigation into his origins.

As he continues to cultivate followers who allege he's performing miracles, the global media become increasingly beguiled by this charismatic figure.

Geller must race to unravel the mystery of whether he really is a divine entity or a...

Is Al-Masih the savior that his followers believe him to be? It looks like we may never know. Netflix has cancelled the Messiah TV show so there won't be a second season of the series.

Streaming on the Netflix subscription service, Messiah stars Mehdi Dehbi, Tomer Sisley, Michelle Monaghan, John Ortiz, Melinda Page Hamilton, Stefania Lavie Owen, Jane Adams, Sayyid El Alami, Fares Landoulsi, and Wil Traval. The show chronicles the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East. Al-Massih (Dehbi) creates a groundswell of international followers around him when he claims to be the eschatological return of 'Isa (Jesus). Has he been sent by God or, is he a dangerous fraud who's bent on dismantling the world's geopolitical order?.

The first season of 10 episodes was released on January 1st. While the show's season...

Vulture Watch

Is Al-Massih who he claims to be? Has the Messiah TV show been cancelled or renewed for a second season on Netflix? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of Messiah, season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?  

What's This TV Show About?

Streaming on the Netflix subscription service, Messiah stars Mehdi Dehbi, Tomer Sisley, Michelle Monaghan, John Ortiz, Melinda Page Hamilton, Stefania Lavie Owen, Jane Adams, Sayyid El Alami, Fares Landoulsi, and Wil Traval. The show chronicles the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East. Al-Massih (Dehbi) creates a groundswell of international followers around him when he claims to be the eschatological return of 'Isa (Jesus). Has he...

Netflix is dialing up the intrigue on New Year's Day thanks to new thriller, Messiah.

When CIA officer Eva Geller (Michelle Monaghan) uncovers information about a man (Mehdi Dehbi) gaining international attention through acts of public disruption, she begins an investigation into his origins.

As he continues to cultivate followers who allege he's performing miracles, the global media become increasingly beguiled by this charismatic figure.

Geller must race to unravel the mystery of whether he really is a divine entity or a deceptive con artist capable of dismantling the world’s geopolitical order.

As the story unfolds, multiple perspectives are interwoven including that of an Israeli intelligence officer (Tomer Sisley), a Texas preacher (John Ortiz) and his daughter (Stefania Lavie Owen), a Palestinian refugee (Sayyid El Alami) and the journalist (Jane Adams) who covers the story.

The series also stars Melinda Page Hamilton, Wil Traval, Fares Landoulsi, Dermot Mulroney and Beau Bridges.

Netflix has released the trailer and first-look images for its upcoming thriller series “Messiah,” which opens up an interesting debate as to how today’s society would react to a potential Second Coming in the age of social media.

Out Jan. 1, “Messiah” stars Michelle Monaghan as CIA officer Eva Geller and Mehdi Dehbi as Al-Masih, a man who believes he is the son of God. In the trailer, which you can watch above, officer Geller is faced with the task of determining the man’s motives — is he genuine, or could he wreak havoc on a global scale?

Here’s Netflix’s official logline:

When CIA officer Eva Geller (Michelle Monaghan) uncovers information about a man (Mehdi Dehbi) gaining international attention through acts of public disruption, she begins an investigation into his origins. As he continues to cultivate followers who allege he’s performing miracles, the global media become increasingly beguiled by this charismatic figure.

Exclusive: Melinda Page Hamilton, Stefania Lavie Owen, Jane Adams, Sayyid El Alami, Fares Landousil and Wil Traval round out the series-regular cast of Messiah, Netflix’s series from writer Michael Petroni (The Book Thief) and producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.

Barbara Eve Harris, Iqbal Theba, Emily Kinney, Jackson Hurst and Nicole Rose Scimeca are set recur on the 10-episode straight-to-series drama. They all join previously announced regulars Michelle Monaghan, John Ortiz, Tomer Sisley and Mehdi Dehbi

Created by Petroni, Messiah explores the lines among religion, faith and politics as told from multiple points of view. It chronicles the modern world’s reaction to al-Masih (Dehbi), a man who first appears in the Middle East, creating a groundswell of followers around him claiming he is the Messiah. Is he sent from God, or is he a dangerous fraud bent on dismantling the world’s geopolitical order?

Hamilton is Anna Iguero,...