Is everyone ready to get your clap on? Venice International Film Festival 2025 began on August 27, and with it comes breathless reportage of just how long the applause lasts for each premiere. Since nothing can capture the magic of cinema quite like an Excel spreadsheet, we take the reported times and average them together. Why? Because we’re meanies (math pun). And because the times can vary wildly outlet to outlet; Variety is stingiest with its times, while Deadline is often quite generous.
Although not as claphappy as the Cannes Film Festival, Venice still has quite the history of showing appreciation. But does it actually translate to wider acclaim post-festival season? Last year, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door broke Venice’s record (previously held by The Banshees of Inisherin) with 17.5 minutes, but the movie wasn’t even in the awards conversation for that long. However, the second-most-applauded film of Venice 2024 was The Brutalist, for which Adrien Brody ultimately won the Best Actor Oscar. MFL players, take note of the Venice Film Festival 2025 Standing-O-Meter.
La Grazia started the fest off with 5.17 minutes of applause
Paolo Sorrentino’s fable about a detached yet highly moral Italian prime minister opened the festival. Its ovation was restrained and respectable, much like the film’s protagonist. Variety clocked the ovation at four minutes, while Deadline was more generous with six minutes and 20 seconds.
5.75 minutes of clapping after After the Hunt
The latest from Luca Guadagnino only got between five and six minutes of applause — which is a little surprising given that Julia Roberts was in the room. Big-name celebs tend to up the applause length. Everyone wants another moment like Brendan Fraser tearing up at The Whale screening.
Venice bugged out for Bugonia for 6.28 min
Venice liked Emma Stone’s turn as a bald alien (allegedly) in the Yorgos Lanthimos thriller Bugonia. Stone, Lanthimos, and 2023 Vulture Comedian You Should Know Stavros Halkias basked in applause for either six minutes 50 seconds, per Deadline, or six minutes flat, per THR and Variety.
Jay Kelly leads the pack with a 9.5 O
It’s official: Every country loves to see Adam Sandler bro out. Jay Kelly, the new film from Noah Baumbach starring Sandler and George Clooney, has topped the Standing-O-Meter so far with 9.5 minutes of applause. Deadline and THR both clocked the applause at ten minutes, while Variety thought it merely 8.5 minutes of ovation.
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