Masks off

Yes, masks off, today, our third day at the Venice Film Festival. The first mask to go is that of roles and genres – says Halina Reijn, who once teased Gen Z with inflammatory horror Bodies Bodies Bodies, and this year is in the main competition with Babygirl, a spark-filled lovers’ story starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson. Second mask to go (we’re still in love territory) is the one that gives that reassuring allure of stability, the one that keeps us pushing through even when nothing seems to go right: Trois amies by Emmanuel Mouret is the second film in the main competition today. The film explores the love relationship of three girlfriends, unmasked by random chance. Mouret is known for his ordinary, poignant human dramas. A rapid, catastrophic change of roles for the protagonist of Cloud, by Japanese horror wiz Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Out of Competition), the story of an internet scammer who himself falls victim to his haters. A new identity for the young protagonist of Nineteen (Orizzonti), produced by Luca Guadagnino and directed by Giovanni Tortorici: the protagonist moves from London to Siena, Italy, and discovers his true self in the beautiful Tuscan city. Troubles afoot for Enric Marco, the protagonist of Marco by Basque filmmakers Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi,  an impostor who claimed to be a Holocaust survivor. Repented or not, the protagonists of documentary Homegrown (International Film Critics’ Week) are a very familiar bunch. Journalist and artist Michael Premo created a film portrait of far-right activists that support Donald Trump, staging the campiest, most tragic coup in the recent history of the USA.