The Italian World War II drama Comandante wasn’t supposed to open the 80th Venice Film Festival which kicked off today. That honor was supposed to go to Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, but it got pushed back to 2024 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike and gave up its plum spot.

Early word for Edoardo De Angelis’s submarine tale is pretty weak. There’s only five reviews at press time and only one is positive (meaning a 20% Rotten Tomatoes rating). Obviously that score could end up not being quite as underwater. However, I don’t envision Italy championing this as their selection for awards consideration. I wouldn’t look for it to contend in International Feature Film. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…