It was all about the men, or almost. In this first week at the Venice Film Festival, it proved difficult to find leading female characters among the competition entries. Whether testosterone-fueled or intellectuals, politicians, artists or ordinary workers, the men dominating the screen all faced a fleeting crisis that challenged their sense of self.

In The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie's surprisingly tender solo feature debut, Dwayne Johnson plays Mark Kerr, a mixed martial arts pioneer who, after a long streak of victories, struggles with addiction and relationship troubles. His sense of balance falters as the possibility of defeat looms. A film about friendship, ups and downs, choices and sacrifice, The Smashing Machine seeks out the goodness in a damaged character beneath the muscle.

For Guillermo del Toro, it is only after finally realizing his dream of mastering death that Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) comes to realize the quest that defined his life may well have been a mistake. And that his creature (Jacob Elordi) is perhaps not everything he expected – or perhaps the reverse is true. With Frankenstein, a masterfully crafted two-voiced narrative, the Mexican filmmaker offers a compelling exploration that moves beyond the question of the monster to consider a wounded humanity.

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