“Blue Moon”
Prodigious like never before, the second Richard Linklater film at Telluride, “Blue Moon,” charts the relationship between the famous songwriting duo Rogers and Hart. The drama stars Ethan Hawke as lyricist Lorenz Hart on the fraught opening night of Oklahoma! in 1943. Slipping away to Sardi’s bar, Hart confronts loneliness, alcoholism, and memories of his fractured partnership with Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott). Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Jonah Lees, and Simon Delaney co-star in this portrait of a brilliant artist wrestling with decline.
“Bugonia”
Idiosyncratic Greek weird wave filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia” reimagines the Korean film “Save the Green Planet!” in his signature off-kilter style. In this thriller comedy, two conspiracy-obsessed young men (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) kidnap a powerful CEO (Emma Stone) whom they suspect is an alien intent on destroying Earth; Alicia Silverstone and Stavros Halkias also star. It marks Stone’s fifth straight Lanthimos collaboration, counting the short “Bleat.”
“Frankenstein”
Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” adapts Mary Shelley’s novel with Jacob Elordi as the Creature, Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, and Mia Goth as Elizabeth. Christoph Waltz appears as a secretive benefactor, Charles Dance as a stern professor, and Lars Mikkelsen as a priest who questions Victor’s ambition. The story tracks Frankenstein’s experiments in reanimation, the Creature’s search for acceptance, and the devastating consequences for all involved.
“The Mastermind”
Kelly Reichardt, known for her patient, detail-rich portraits of American lives in films like “Wendy and Lucy” and “First Cow,” turns to the heist genre in “The Mastermind.” Josh O’Connor leads the cast as a struggling suburban carpenter who conspires to steal several modern paintings from a small-town museum. Alana Haim, Hope Davis, Bill Camp, John Magaro, and Gaby Hoffmann co-star in this true-crime story about ordinary people stumbling into extraordinary mistakes.
“Sentimental Value“
Joachim Trier, the Norwegian filmmaker known for the Oslo Trilogy — “Reprise,” “Oslo, August 31st,” and “The Worst Person in the World” — returns with “Sentimental Value,” a family drama about two estranged sisters (Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) who reconnect with their father (Stellan Skarsgård), a once-famed director mounting an autobiographical project. When he casts a Hollywood star (Elle Fanning) to play a version of their mother, old wounds reopen; the ensemble also includes Cory Michael Smith, Catherine Cohen, and Anders Danielsen Lie.
Conclusion
From family tragedy in “Hamnet” to gothic horror in “Frankenstein,” this year’s Telluride Film Festival spans literary adaptations, Shakespearean reinterpretations, political documentaries, and offbeat satire. With filmmakers ranging from Chloé Zhao and Guillermo del Toro to Werner Herzog, Laura Poitras, Noah Baumbach, and Yorgos Lanthimos, the 2025 lineup promises an unusually diverse showcase of stories and storytellers.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2007. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
