Werner Herzog’s new film, “Bucking Fastard” — great title — was initially headed for a Cannes 2026 premiere, with hopes of landing a Competition slot, but it was ultimately turned down. It did, however, come close.
Cannes ultimately offered Herzog’s film a Cannes Premiere slot, a sidebar whose reputation—fairly or unfairly—is that it’s reserved for films that were denied Competition. Herzog reportedly wanted stars Rooney Mara and Kate Mara to be eligible for acting awards for their performances as twin sisters.
We now have our first clip from “Bucking Fastard,” which is set to screen in Competition at Venice this September, and it’s wild: the Maras are under oath in court, speaking in perfect unison with impeccable timing. Can you handle two hours of this?
“Bucking Fastard” follows sisters Jean and Joan Holbrooke, played by Rooney and Kate Mara, as they attempt to dig a tunnel through a mountain range in search of an imaginary land where true love exists. The ensemble cast also includes Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson.
As far as we know, no U.S. distributor has acquired “Bucking Fastard,” which means there’s still no release date.
“Bucking Fastard” will now compete for the Golden Lion, pitting itself against new works from the likes of Lee Chang-dong, Martin McDonagh, Danny Boyle, and Hirokazu Koreeda. Did Cannes make the right call? We’ll know soon enough.
Looking at Herzog’s output over the last 20 years, it has been dominated by documentaries. He delivered above-average narrative features in 2006 (“Rescue Dawn”) and 2009 (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”), but his last four narrative films have been fairly mediocre—and that’s coming from someone who absolutely bows down at the church of Herzog.
No surprise, “Practical Magic 2” is not doing well with critics. We all saw it coming. The first was also hammered with bad reviews. The only reason we’re getting a sequel is due to its cult base and ‘90s nostalgia.