Casey Affleck's Gothic Mystery 'Company' Premieres in Venice Competition with Rare Nick Nolte Appearance
An 85-year-old Nick Nolte made a rare public appearance at the Venice Film Festival on 8 September 2026 for the world premiere of "Company," a gothic mystery written and directed by Casey Affleck that screened in the festival's main competition. The film received a four-minute standing ovation inside the PalaBiennale, and both Affleck, 51, and Nolte were visibly emotional as the audience responded (Variety; People).
"Company" is a Canada–United States co-production that runs a tight 92 minutes. It jumps across three time periods — 1975, 1953, and 1903 — weaving a story that the festival programme describes as a gothic mystery (La Biennale di Venezia; The Playlist). Nolte plays Tom, an old man living alone in an isolated cabin. Caylee Cowan plays Alice, a young woman Tom finds passed out in the snow outside (Variety).
The 1903 strand centres on a couple on an isolated farm, played by Adelaide Clemens and Scoot McNairy. Atticus Affleck plays Caleb, a young person rescued from the snow by a woman named Rebecca in that same timeline. The cast also includes Ben Mendelsohn, Emily Alyn Lind, and Indiana Affleck. Marcell Rév served as cinematographer (Variety; La Biennale di Venezia).
The film landed on the Lido as something of a stealth entry. Variety had flagged it as an "under-the-radar title from the U.S. indie trenches" when the Venice lineup was announced in July (Variety). It is one of up to 21 feature-length world premieres vying for the top prize in the Venezia 83 Competition, the festival's main slate (La Biennale di Venezia).
For Nolte, the Venice appearance was a noteworthy sighting of an actor who has largely stayed out of the public eye in recent years. He walked the festival red carpet and attended the screening, which was held in the original English version with Italian and English subtitles (People; La Biennale di Venezia).
The Tuesday-night premiere was not the end of the film's festival circuit. "Company" has also been selected for the 2026 Deauville American Film Festival in France, carried over as a Venice-bowing title (Variety).
