Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100 this summer, and the Venice Film Festival is marking the centennial with a short film that imagines her at two very different moments in life.

Maggie Gyllenhaal directed "Flesh Impact," a 17-minute short debuting in the Venice Open – Out of Competition section of Biennale Cinema 2026 this September, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Dakota Johnson plays Monroe at the height of her fame. Ellen Burstyn plays an imagined version of Monroe later in life — a woman the world never got to meet, since Monroe died on 4 August 1962 at the age of 36.

The casting carries its own symmetry. Burstyn will receive a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at this year's Venice festival, and the honour will be presented at the screening of Gyllenhaal's short film, Deadline and Variety reported. Burstyn also appears in Kornel Mundruczó's out-of-competition feature "Place to Be" at the festival. Gyllenhaal, meanwhile, serves as jury president for the Venice main competition — the panel that decides the festival's top prizes.

The project came together through an unusual route. Gyllenhaal said that Genesis, the automotive brand, first approached her with the idea for a Monroe centennial piece. Genesis presents the film. It was made, per The Hollywood Reporter, "with the blessings" of the Monroe estate holders Authentic Brands Group, the licensing company that controls Monroe's name and image rights.

The cast also includes Peter Sarsgaard and Sepideh Moafi. Behind the camera, the creative team draws heavily on names familiar to festival audiences and studio productions alike: cinematographer Lawrence Sher, editor Affonso Gonçalves, production designer Karen Murphy, costume designer Jennifer Johnson, and casting director Mary Vernieu. The film was produced by William Green for The Cut, Michelle Ross for Superprime, and Nicolette Spencer and Melissa Moore for INNOCEAN. Executive producers include Maddi Carlton, Brandon Boerner, Rebecca Skinner, David Webb, and Courtney Kivowitz.

The first look at "Flesh Impact" was reported by Vanity Fair. The film is officially listed in the Venice Open – Out of Competition section on the Biennale's own festival programme.

For festivalgoers, the short offers a compact but loaded proposition: one of America's most photographed women, reimagined by a director who is simultaneously running the jury that will judge the year's competition slate, with a lead performer sharing the screen with an actress receiving the festival's highest career honour. The centennial gives the project its occasion. The casting gives it its charge.