(2025, USA, 112')
After an eight-year absence from the screen, the Academy Award-winning director of The Hurt Locker returns to the Venice Competition with a gripping and sharp-edged thriller that intertwines geopolitics, military tension, and moral dilemmas. When a nuclear missile strikes U.S. soil without any claim of responsibility, a frantic global manhunt is launched to identify the perpetrator. As paranoia mounts, the American administration must decide whether — and how — to respond, without triggering an irreversible war. A chilling and timely reflection on the fragility of global balance and the thin line between security and catastrophe.
Kathryn Bigelow (San Pedro, California, 1951) is one of the most powerful and distinctive voices in contemporary American cinema. She made her directorial debut in 1981 with The Loveless, and rose to prominence in the 1990s with films such as Point Break and Strange Days, exploring the boundaries between genre and social commentary. With The Hurt Locker (2008), she won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director — the first woman ever to receive the latter. In 2012, she reaffirmed her narrative strength with Zero Dark Thirty, while Detroit (2017) tackled America’s racial wounds. Known for her immersive and stripped-down visual style, Bigelow returns to Venice for the third time with a film that merges political thriller with ethical inquiry, cementing her reputation as a master of exploring the dark corners of power and the American conscience.
