At the Venice International Film Festival, a jury of industry professionals decide on how to dispense the prizes to the movies in Official Competition, including the prestigious Golden Lion. This year’s group of nine includes filmmakers from across the world, with French actor Isabelle Huppert serving as Jury President. However, since I was Screen Rant’s sole representative at this year’s edition, the 81st, these awards are mine to hand out.

Unlike Huppert & Co., this jury of one isn’t limited to what was and wasn’t an official selection. Any of the 28 movies (and one complete miniseries) I saw in my time there is fair game. I’m also ditching the festival’s categories for five more standard ones, plus one that's just for fun. That said, I will be maintaining the tradition of awarding each film only once – if my pick for Best Film also has the best lead performance out of the bunch, tough luck. The more prestigious prize wins out, always.

In addition to the categories below, the Venice Film Festival also awards a Grand Jury Prize, indicating the second-best movie; a Special Jury Prize, indicating the third-best movie; and the Marcello Mastroianni Award, recognizing an emerging actor.

Best Screenplay: Justin Kuritzkes, Queer

Venice Jury's Winner: Murilo Ha & Heitor Lorega, I'm Still Here

Queer Review: Daniel Craig Does Career-Best Work In Luca Guadagnino’s Deeply Surreal LGBTQ Drama

Director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes’ first collaboration, Challengers, is already one of my favorite films of the year so far, so it’s only natural to expect that their second would also be quality work. But I’m excited by how completely different this is. There is once again insight into a complicated relationship dynamic, but Queer is much more interested in the psychology and self-perception of its protagonist, expertly played by Daniel Craig. It excavates him subtly at first, then with increasingly ambitious abstraction, tasking us with putting the pieces together.

I think it’s natural to experience Queer first as a visual achievement, given the way Guadagnino’s imagery ultimately takes over. But the depth of what the movie has to offer is there at the script level, from how the overall journey is structured to the very specific, occasionally underplayed use of language. Of all the films I saw at Venice, it’s the one I have been most compelled to mull over, and it only blossoms with further contemplation.

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, Babygirl

Venice Jury's Winner: Nicole Kidman, Babygirl

Babygirl Review: Nicole Kidman’s Electric Erotic Thriller Goes Far Beyond Fun

With a future prize taking a major candidate off the board, excellent work from Nicole Kidman rises to the top. In this erotic thriller (or perhaps more of a sexual coming-of-middle-age tale) from writer-director Halina Reijn, she plays a married CEO who’s secretly unsatisfied by her otherwise lovely husband, and begins an affair with Harris Dickinson’s naturally dominant intern. I ire Babygirl for its ability to balance tones, and Reijn’s vision doesn’t land without Kidman there to hold everything together.

The protagonist is more than repressed, she’s conflicted. The various social roles she occupies – boss, mother, wife, lover, mentor, sub – aren’t clearly defined hats that she can take on and off, but modes of behavior that are constantly at war within her. Babygirl wants to drop us into that murky headspace, which means Kidman must put that war on display for us in her expression, physicality, and intonation. An exciting, complex performance, worthy of recognition.

Best Actor: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Kill the Jockey

Venice Jury's Winner: Vincent Lindon, The Quiet Son

Kill The Jockey Review: Argentinian Sports Drama Delivers A Confounding Journey Worth Taking

Though I really like Luis Ortega’s Kill the Jockey (El Jockey), the Argentinian film wouldn't make my Venice Top 10, so this isn’t a case of awarding the next highest film on my list. This is me singling out a truly worthy performance from the film’s lead, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. Like Kidman, his performance is very tricky; the tone of the whole project hinges on his ability to embody the right feeling. The difference is that this movie metamorphizes before our eyes, and for a long time, the titular jockey is the only guide we have through that disorientation.

In my review, I compared his facial expressions to Buster Keaton, and I stand by that. Early on, he is an excellent comic presence that nonetheless seems to contain a world of sadness. What he becomes, and the extent to which he physicalizes it, is this movie. Without what he accomplishes, the film’s eventual meaning would never coalesce, and even if I have some complicated feelings about the work as a whole, Biscayart never puts a foot wrong.

Best Director: Walter Salles, I’m Still Here

Venice Jury's Winner: Brady Corbet, The Brutalist

My Best Director winner is also my second-favorite film of the festival. I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui) is a drama about the true story of Eunice and Rubens Paiva’s fateful experience with the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in 1971, centered primarily through Eunice’s perspective. The couple have five children together, and the movie’s effect hinges on how completely we understand the rhythm of this family’s life before the inciting incident. The love between them, and the ease of that love, is felt very deeply, and what happens next becomes an open wound that we cannot but share.

There is a clarity to Salles’ direction that gives him almost total control of our emotions as we watch. I’m Still Here is defined by the patience with which the story unfolds, as well as the willingness to limit our perspective when necessary. The lead performance by Fernanda Torres is extraordinary, though, truly, everyone is great, including the children. A wonderfully moving film.

Best Film: The Brutalist

Venice Jury's Winner: The Room Next Door

The Brutalist Review: Super-Sized Historical Drama Is A Colossal Triumph Worth Every Second Of Its Runtime

While all the movies listed here are great, The Brutalist was a clear standout for me. With a runtime of 3hr35 and a story spanning 30 years, Brady Corbet’s film is big on paper, and it is truly a grand experience. The structures designed by the protagonist are massive, after all. But this pursuit of size doesn’t come at the expense of closeness with the characters. The union of the historical forces at work in the world and the tempest of feeling within each individual is arguably the film’s primary objective.

It's an achievement everyone involved can be proud of. It’s impeccably directed and performed, with Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce giving potentially career-defining turns. Cinematographer Lol Crawley and editor Dávid Jancsó’s efforts combine to create The Brutalist’s affecting visual style, and I found the score by Daniel Blumberg to be not only essential, but truly exciting. And, as a testament to its writing, it delivers not one, but two of my favorite endings so far this year. A true cinematic knockout.

Biggest Surprise: Broken Rage

(Venice Doesn't Give This Award, But I'm Sure The Jury Would've Agreed With Me)

Broken Rage Review: Japanese Action Comedy Needs Only 62 Minutes To Bring The House Down

A fun one to close us out, worthy of the movie being recognized: Broken Rage was a surprise from its first announcement. The Japanese action comedy from acclaimed filmmaker Takeshi Kitano was a late, unexpected submission to the festival, and as such, there was no information about it to be found online ahead of time. All I knew heading in was the director/star and that it ran just 62 minutes, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I now know that there's no way I could've expected what we got: a fun but familiar crime movie, followed by an Airplane!-style parody of everything we'd just seen. The audience (of about 1000) was on board from the start, but once the second half began, the laughs just kept coming. It's also cleverly put together for a film so unabashedly silly, and I recognized that Broken Rage was earning laughs in multiple ways. I was certainly surprised to find it cracking my Top 5, ahead of many of the festival's more hyped titles.

My Venice Film Festival 2024 Top 10

1. The Brutalist
2. I'm Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)
3. Babygirl
4. Queer
5. Broken Rage
6. The Order
7. Disclaimer
8. Vermiglio
9. The Time It Takes (Il tempo che ci vuole)
10. Three Friends (Trois amies)