As the 2025 Venice Film Festival draws to a close, it will be remembered for films that bravely reflect on the wars and politics of the time — and the impact of technology on the future. The Venice Film Festival this year offered up films wrestling with the most pressing political and social issues of our times — from war in the Middle East to the rising threat of AI — while finding a way to make existential despair feel entertaining. "Unfortunately, not much of the dystopia in this film is very fictional, a lot of it is very reflective of the real world," said Lanthimos in Venice. The streamer set a new record at the Venice Film Festival with three competition titles. But the most powerful film in Venice this year may be one of the smallest.