The fall festival circuit — Venice, Telluride and Toronto — has wrapped, and early Oscar contenders are starting to sort themselves out. Colorado’s Telluride Film Festival produced one of the season’s biggest breakouts, while other titles that arrived with buzz saw their prospects cool.
The standout from Telluride is the Elizabeth Holmes documentary “You Can See Everything,” from directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. The film premiered in Colorado as a “secret screening” and immediately drew strong reviews, with early talk of a run in both the best documentary and best picture categories. A24 will release the film in theaters on Oct. 16.
Oppenheim also directed “Primetime,” a stylized take on Chris Hansen and “To Catch a Predator” that premiered at Venice and has generated best actor talk for star Robert Pattinson, who has multiple films in play this season including “The Drama,” “The Odyssey” and “Dune: Part Three.” An awards-industry source said, “Robert is just operating on a whole other level right now. I’m so happy for him. It makes me feel justified with my ‘Twilight’ obsession.”
Out of Toronto, Amazon MGM’s “I Play Rocky” emerged as a major surprise. The film stars Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone during his effort to land the role of Rocky Balboa. One source called it the biggest revelation of the festival, saying, “I think Anthony Ippolito is so charming and so sweet, and he really fought for this role. That will play well in his campaign, the way he talks about it.” Another source noted the film had strong test scores heading into its debut but that “seeing is believing.” Amazon now has two boxing-adjacent contenders in the mix this year, counting the alien character from “Project Hail Mary.”
Jesse Eisenberg’s new film as director, “The Debut,” also earned praise at both Telluride and Toronto, with stars Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti drawing critical notice. Eisenberg later hosted an additional Los Angeles screening for industry figures who missed the festivals. “It blew the roof off the DGA. Everyone was laughing. Throughout his Q&A, people were enthralled,” one attendee said, adding that Eisenberg’s ability to discuss his own process is helping the film’s campaign. “He really captivated the room with every story he told — it really feels like that movie is going to be incredibly hard to beat.”
Other performances drawing attention after the festivals include John Malkovich in “Wild Horse Nine,” Rosalind Eleazar in Chris Rock’s “Misty Green” — one source called her “a star is born” — Andrew Scott in “Elsinore,” and married co-stars Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz in “Bunker.”
Two films that debuted earlier at Cannes got a fresh boost from the fall circuit: “La Bola Negra,” which also took the TIFF People’s Choice Award and was picked up by Netflix, and Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid,” acquired by A24.
Not every early favorite gained ground. “Prima Facie,” once seen as a leading best actress contender for star Cynthia Erivo, received a mixed reaction at Toronto. “It’s definitely divisive. I liked it,” one source said, adding, “It didn’t go over that well. I’m curious about why not. I still think Cynthia is a contender. At the end of the day, it’s a good performance in a movie that might not work. And she’s a previous nominee, so that gives her a leg up.”
