Do standing ovations at film festivals mean anything anymore?

Aside from the jaw-dropping red carpet looks and the unveiling of career-defining films, there’s another major fixture in film festivals that gets all the buzz: standing ovations. Or to be exact, the length of these standing Os.

Call it herd mentality, a physical manifestation of celebrity worship culture or just sheer wonder—but the ‘clapathons’ are here to stay and getting longer by the minute. Trade papers such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline even have their own timekeepers taking note of each applause down the second.

While the gesture is usually reserved as a sign of great respect and acknowledgement of one’s work, their tradition in film festivals has led its significance to be diluted over time. The fact that every film gets its own standing ovation—paired with head-scratchingly lengthy runtimes—makes the action less special. Not to mention, netizens have grown desensitised to the point of thinking that a film receiving a five-minute standing ovation would count as a lukewarm response. 

This is not to say that standing ovations no longer have any meaning. Sure, it can indicate some form of interest and quality but it’s not a fair judgement. Several reasons affect it: people don’t want to be seen as the first to stop clapping, actors may leave the theatre early effectively cutting the applause short, and publicists can even include ‘ringers’ in the crowd in the hopes of running up the ovation time (The Paperboy, we’re looking at you).  

And lest we forget, just because a movie receives a long standing ovation doesn’t mean that it’s destined for commercial success. Last year, Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1 premiered with a 10-minute standing ovation and was praised by critics at the Lido. However, the epic went on to bomb at the box office, earning only $36.1 million on a $100 million budget. 

In the age of social media, this tradition of long standing ovations is not going anywhere, especially when its very existence continues to generate discussions online. Will we be seeing more of these draggy ovation times in the future? Yes. But is it signalling the death of cinema as we know it? No.

Most discerning people know that it’s ultimately a marketing tool for festival buzz and nothing more. The idea that an auteur’s work can be reduced to the minutes and seconds of a standing ovation is fun to casual viewers at best and silly to serious cinephiles at worst. 

Perhaps keeping time on them during film festivals is a little silly but it’s silly good-natured fun—so long as we remember how arbitrary it is and that the real success of a film isn’t measured by the sound of our rapturous applause but how it makes us feel within. Standing ovations are hardly a quantifiable metric to define a film’s success and the sooner we all know that, the better.

Here’s a look at the duration of standing ovations of 10 highly-anticipated films that premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival and the (equally dubious) critic scores they received. Is there a correlation or is it all random? Read on to find out.

 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – 3 minutes

While Tim Burton’s return to the Lido is not in competition, the Venice Film Festival kicked off in campy fashion with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. With that being said, the sequel recorded the shortest standing ovation during its world premiere at the Sala Grande Theatre at three minutes. The applause could have gone longer but programmers dimmed the lights as Burton and cast members Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega and Catherin O’Hara were escorted out, as per Variety. 

The film sees the Deetz family return to their old family home and trouble quickly ensues when Lydia’s rebellious daughter Astrid discovers a model of the town in the attic that opens the portal to the afterlife, releasing Burton’s iconic anti-hero on the loose. The film is currently at 77 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Horizon: An American Saga— Chapter 2 – 3 minutes

Compared to the lengthy standing ovation of his first film, Kevin Costnner’s Horizon 2 earned a three-minute standing ovation in Venice. However, trade papers do report that it could have lasted longer as Costner was escorted out by security when fans crowded the filmmaker and actor during the three-minute mark. 

Costner returns to direct and star in Chapter Two alongside returning cast Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone and Danny Huston. The film is said to be a “multi-faceted depiction of the Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West,” according to the official synopsis. Currently, the film has no score on Rotten Tomatoes but has received an 8.5/10 on IMDb.

 

Wolfs – 4 minutes

We would love for Brad Pitt and George Clooney to reunite for another Oceans movie but Wolfs comes pretty close. Audiences were eating up their chemistry for four minutes while the Hollywood icons danced in their seats to Sade. However, the film started 30 minutes late which might have shortened the ovation time, as per Variety. The action comedy currently sits at 69 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. Wolfs is available to stream on AppleTV. 

 

Babygirl – 7 minutes

Coming in at seven minutes, the applause for Babygirl was thunderous for the leading star Nicole Kidman. Much like Horizon 2 and Wolfs, it may have lasted longer if Kidman had not been escorted out while the crowd was still cheering, according to Deadline.

Kidman won the Best Actress award for her role as a CEO who has a scandalous affair with a young intern. British actor Harris Dickerson’s breakout performance is also getting plenty of buzz (the list of internet boyfriends grows!). The film is now at 94 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. Babygirl is set for a December theatrical release.

 

Maria – 8 minutes

Hollywood darling Angelina Jolie is no stranger to being showered with adoration. Such was the case at the Venice Film Festival when Maria premiered at the Sala Grande Theatre. The actress was visibly emotional and shed tears during the eight-minute standing ovation.

Maria is the third instalment in Pablo Larraín’s series of films about iconic women and chronicles the life of Greek opera singer Maria Callas. The film will be released on Netflix at a later date and has a 73 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

The Order – 8 minutes

Jude Law delivered a captivating performance in The Order as an FBI agent who discovers that a series of violent robberies and car heists are the work of a group of dangerous neo-Nazi terrorists. Nicholas Hoult also earned praise for his depiction of radical leader Bob Matthews. Trade papers report that the ovation duration ranged from seven to nine minutes and perhaps could have gone longer had Law and his co-stars not exited the theatre amidst the cheers.

Justin Kurzel’s historical crime thriller has been receiving rave reviews since its world premiere at the Lido and has scored 83 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is scheduled to be released in theatres on 6 December 2024.

 

Queer– 10 minutes

Luca Guadagnino is fast becoming a director to watch at film festival circuits and his latest feature, Queer, is no different. The sweaty and erotic film premiered at the Lido, receiving a standing ovation that ranged from nine to 11 minutes, according to trade papers. Daniel Craig and Outer Banks star Drew Starkey’s explosive chemistry was felt throughout the theatre.

Based on the novel by William S. Burroughs of the same name, Queer follows a gay American expat living in 1950s Mexico City. The 50-year-old meets a young student and quickly forms a strong connection. It currently has a 77 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score.

READ: 7 Asian Boys Love dramas that define the genre

 

Joker: Folie à Deux – 11 minutes

After winning the Golden Lion in Venice last year and Joaquin Phoenix bagging Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance as the iconic villain, the sequel to Joker had big shoes to fill. Trade papers recorded different timings for the standing Os that ranged from 10 to 12 minutes, which puts the musical thriller as one of the longer applauded films in Venice. 

Following the events of the first film, Joker: Folie à Deux sees Arthur Fleck meeting the love of his life, Harley Quinn (played by Lady Gaga) at Arkham State Hospital. Upon his release, the two embark on a doomed romantic misadventure. The film is scheduled to release in theatres on 3 October 2024 and has earned 61 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

 

The Brutalist – 13 minutes

Clocking in at an impressive 13 minutes, The Brutalist held the record for the longest standing ovation at Venice this year before The Room Next Door broke the record the next day. Brady Corbet was honoured as Best Director for The Brutalist, a sleeper hit that tells the harrowing story of László Tóth, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who moves to the United States in the hopes of a better life.

Actor Adrien Brody was in tears as he took in the cheers whilst Guy Pearce’s performance has him billed as the favourite for the Oscar. As of the time of writing, the film sits comfortably on Rotten Tomatoes with a 97 per cent score.

 

The Room Next Door – 18 minutes

Clocking in with the longest-standing ovation recorded in the history of the Venice Film Festival is The Room Next Door at 18 minutes. It’s an unfathomable amount of time to be standing there and clapping—just pull out a stopwatch and see for yourself; you’ll be bored or itching to sit back down after the two-minute mark. Maybe it’s herd mentality at its finest or perhaps audiences were truly that impressed by the Pedro Almodóvar feature. 

After all, the Spanish director’s first English-language film debut won Venice’s Golden Lion award and stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore in career-defining performances. The Room Next Door follows a pair of former colleagues who reconnect after one becomes a best-selling author while another is battling cancer. The film touches on topics such as euthanasia and climate change. It currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94 per cent.

 

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