Venice Film Festival 2025: Which film adaptation of a cult novel will shake up the festival?

par Jordan Bako.

Published on 2 September 2025. Updated on 15 September 2025.

The Stranger, a cult novel already adapted on screen by Visconti

Surpassing other classics by Hugo, Balzac, and Dumas, The Stranger is the world’s third most-read French novel and was translated into over 75 languages. In 1942, the publishing house Gallimard released The Stranger. It was the first novel Albert Camus completed after several autobiographical attempts published during wartime.

Both narrator and protagonist of the novel, the character of Meursault seems driven by a deep apathy. The now iconic opening lines of the novel perfectly capture his emotional detachment. Indeed, he is unable to feel any emotion as he receives a telegram announcing his mother’s death. Entirely alien to social conventions, the character allows Albert Camus to outline the foundations of his philosophy of the absurd – one of his most significant contributions to the history of literature.

Translating Albert Camus’s prose into images is no easy task. His style is so distinctive, able to conjure up deep reflections on the meaning of life in just a few words. During his lifetime, the author refused any cinematic adaptation of The Stranger. In 1967, Luchino Visconti attempted the first adaptation, with the approval of Francine Camus, the writer’s widow, on one condition – that the filmmaker remain as faithful as possible to the original work. Released in theatres four years after the triumph of the film The Leopard, starring Marcello Mastroianni, his film adaptation got a lukewarm reception from both the critics and the audience…

A rereading of the novel by François Ozon starring Benjamin Voisin

A risky undertaking, yet one that François Ozon will soon take on. After his latest film When Fall is Coming, which earned Hélène Vincent a César nomination, the prolific French director will helm a new feature-length film adaptation of The Stranger.

The director’s filmography includes many reinterpretations, some more faithful to the original works than others. 8 Women (2002) and Peter von Kant (2022) were originally plays. Summer of 85 (2020) and Everything Went Fine (2021) were novels. As for By the Grace of God (2018), it was based on real-life cases of child sexual abuse perpetrated by a priest.

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Venice Film Festival 2025: The Stranger presented in official competition

For this new adaptation, the director is relying on an actor who has already worked with him before. Benjamin Voisin plays Meursault, the protagonist in The Stranger. The latter was first known thank to Summer of 85, which earned him a César nomination for Most Promising Actor in 2021. An award he went on to win the following year for Lost Illusions by Xavier Giannoli.

By his side? Rebecca Marder, who will play Marie, Meursault’s lover. The French-American actress is reuniting with François Ozon two years after the drama-comedy The Crime Is Mine. Recently awarded the César for Best Supporting Actor for Anatomy of a Fall, Swann Arlaud is also part of the cast. Pierre Lottin and Denis Lavant also appear in the credits. The filming started last April in Morocco. The latest news? François Ozon’s feature will be presented in the official competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival.

The Stranger (2025) by François Ozon, to be presented in competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival.