‘Bunker’ Got a 15-Minute Standing Ovation at Venice, but Critics Are Telling a Very Different Story as Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Revealed

Standing ovations at the Venice Film Festival have a long history of generating headlines, but they don’t always predict how a film will actually be received once the reviews start rolling in. This year’s edition has already delivered one of its most dramatic examples of that disconnect.

Florian Zeller’s psychological thriller ‘Bunker‘ made its world premiere on September 8, bringing real-life married couple Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem together on screen as a couple whose marriage begins unraveling under mounting pressure. The film also stars Patrick Schwarzenegger and Paul Dano, rounding out a cast with serious awards pedigree behind it.

That premiere earned the film a 16-minute standing ovation, one of the loudest receptions of this year’s festival. Yet once the review embargo lifted, the response from critics told a noticeably different story, with only 47% of the 15 critics tracked so far expressing support for the film.

‘Bunker’ centers on Miguel, played by Bardem, a successful Spanish architect living in London with his wife Sofia, played by Cruz, and their two daughters. Miguel’s decision to accept a lucrative but morally questionable commission, designing a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire played by Dano, sets off a slow unraveling of the couple’s 17-year marriage.

As the project progresses, Sofia begins questioning whether the two still share the same values, while also growing closer to an American writer played by Schwarzenegger. The film runs 126 minutes and marks Zeller’s third feature as writer-director, following his earlier acclaimed drama ‘The Father’ and his more divisive follow-up ‘The Son.’

Much of the critical pushback has centered on the film’s execution rather than its ambition. Reviewers have described the film as uneven and schematic, with some calling it a disappointment that struggles to move beyond stating its themes outright rather than letting them unfold naturally through the story.

Several critics noted that ‘Bunker’ spends much of its runtime circling the same ideas about class, wealth, and inequality without ever fully committing to dramatic action, resulting in a film that feels more interested in hypothetical discussion than genuine tension. That criticism has been echoed across multiple reviews, with the film’s Metacritic score landing at a modest 46 as of this week.

Despite the mixed reception, one element of ‘Bunker’ has drawn consistent praise from nearly every corner: the performances from Cruz and Bardem themselves. Critics have repeatedly singled out the real-life couple’s on-screen chemistry as the film’s strongest asset, giving their fractured marriage a level of emotional authenticity that elevates otherwise familiar material.

That praise carries extra weight given both actors’ Oscar-winning pedigrees, with Cruz previously winning for ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ and Bardem for ‘No Country for Old Men.’ Zeller himself won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘The Father’ in 2021, giving the film serious institutional credibility even amid the tougher reviews.

‘Bunker’ is set to hit theaters in the United States through Sony Pictures Classics, while Spanish distribution will be handled by Elastica, though specific release dates for either territory remain to be announced. Given the film’s early buzz and starry pedigree, distributors will likely be watching closely to see whether audience reception mirrors the passionate Venice crowd or leans closer to the more skeptical critical consensus.

With awards season conversations already underway, both Cruz and Bardem have other high-profile projects generating buzz this fall, potentially giving them stronger paths toward recognition elsewhere even if ‘Bunker’ itself struggles to win over critics more broadly.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments.