Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Laura Dern, the 1950s-set drama that has been dubbed Anderson's "Scientology movie." The feature follows the relationship between a charismatic intellectual (aka, "the Master), whose faith-based group begins to gain a following in America, and a young drifter who becomes his right-hand man.
Also joining the Venice Film Festival lineup out of competition (with descriptions provided by the festival):
Como voglio che say il mio future? (To Know My Future?) by Ermanno Olmi and Maurizio Zaccaro (Special Screening) - The film offers a significant cross section of the expectations, hopes, disappointments and fears of young people today.
Convitto Falcone (Collateral Event) by Pasquale Scimeca - The film is dedicated to Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino on the 20th anniversaries of their death, but it also remembers the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Pio La Torre, of Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, and many others. The story is set in the present day, and the plot centers on young people who must come to terms with their sense of justice, even in their small everyday gestures.
Du Hase es Versprochen (Forgotten) the feature-length directorial debut of German director Alex Schmidt. The Midnight Horror centers on two childhood friends, Hanna (Mina Tander) and Clarissa (Laura de Boer) who meet after 25 years. They decide to return together to an island where they had once spent their vacations, but they will be haunted by the ghosts of the past.