First look at Gia Coppola’s Venice entry ‘Mainstream’ with Maya Hawke and Andrew Garfield
The Venice Orizzonti section film also stars Nat Wolff, Alexa Demie and Jason Schwartzman
Just above Hollywood boulevard, lives Frankie (Maya Hawke) a young woman in her early 20s trying to navigate who she wants to be. With the death of Frankie’s father still lingering, Frankie knows she wants to do something of meaning but isn’t sure how and with the world in a current state of so much content and narcissism, it’s hard to not “compare and despair.” Stuck working as a bartender at a corner comedy club with her best friend Jake (Nat Wolff) Frankie questions what people today really value.
It isn’t until she has a few cosmic run ins with the mysterious Link (Andrew Garfield), a man that seems to live life without rules that it inspires Frankie to film him and upload his anti-mainstream rants onto the internet. Together, with the help of Jake, this unlikely band of outsiders rise to internet stardom.
However, it’s hard to stay sane when the pressure of relevancy becomes important and new characters, like manager Mark, (Jason Schwartzman) start making demands to bring in money. To make matters more complicated, Frankie and Link start getting romantically entwined. Frankie watches as Link becomes the epitome of everything he once denounced. It isn’t until Link publicly humiliates a young fan Isabel (Alexa Demie) and Jake quits the team that Frankie really questions if she is also becoming the monster she helped create.
A love story of being in love with someone who doesn’t love themselves set against the new emerging culture of today’s world.
Mainstream is an official selection of the 2020 Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti section. It is directed by Gia Coppola, written by Coppola and Tom Stuart and produced by Fred Berger p.g.a., Gia Coppola, Lauren Bratman p.g.a., Andrew Garfield, Siena Oberman p.g.a., Jack Heller p.g.a., Enrico Saraiva, Francisco Rebelo de Andrade, Alan Terpins, Zac Weinstein.
The 77th Venice International Film Festival runs September 2-12 in a limited format due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2026 Tribeca Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary with World Premieres of ‘Hadestown: The Musical,’ ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ Doc - April 16, 2026
- ‘Beef’ Season 2 Review: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton Sink Their Teeth Into Lee Sung Jin’s Meaty Morality Tale [A-] - April 16, 2026
- George Clooney to be Honored at 51st Chaplin Award Gala by Stephen Colbert, Sam Rockwell and More - April 15, 2026
2026 Tonys: Laurie Metcalf (‘Little Bear Ridge Road,’ ‘Death of a Salesman’) May Join Elite Group of Double-Nominated Performers 
2026 Tribeca Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary with World Premieres of ‘Hadestown: The Musical,’ ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ Doc 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 149 – ‘Killer of Sheep’ (Charles Burnett, 1978) 
‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ Review: Careful the Spell You Cast, Children Will Listen (and Sometimes Kill) [C]