‘The Rock’ Dwayne Johnson’s turn as UFC icon Mark Kerr in A24’s The Smashing Machine sparked a whopping 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, placing it squarely among the most celebrated screenings in modern festival history.
The Rock and The Smashing Machine
Dwayne Johnson weeps during the 15-minute #Venezia2025 standing ovation for ‘The Smashing Machine.’ This was the most emotion we’ve since on the Lido since Brendan Fraser launched his Oscar campaign here four years ago for ‘The Whale.’ pic.twitter.com/BzAjB4v6uk
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) September 1, 2025
15-Minute Standing Ovation
At Venice on September 1, the audience rose to applaud The Rock Johnson’s gritty performance, alongside director Benny Safdie and co-star Emily Blunt. The ovation stretched uninterrupted for a full quarter of an hour, a rare feat outside Cannes and Venice’s most lauded premieres.
Film festivals typically reward premieres with applause lasting two to five minutes. At Sundance, for example, indie revelations often earn three-minute cheers before dispersing. Venice has seen longer bursts – Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door recently held an 18-minute record on the Lido – but festival gold still glitters brightest on the Croisette.
Here is a countdown of the longest standing ovations in festival annals:
22 minutes – Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) set the bar with a fairy-tale horror that merged folklore and historical trauma.
20 minutes – Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) captivated with its blend of polemic and provocation.
19 minutes – Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (2025) brought audiences to their feet in Cannes’s Grand Théâtre Lumière.
18 minutes – Jeff Nichols’s Mud (2012) delivered youthful adventure and metaphorical depth.
17 minutes – Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon (2016) fused style and subtext.
The Smashing Machine follows Kerr’s rise from amateur wrestling standout to UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, chronicling his battles with addiction and personal turmoil. Benny Safdie’s script and direction pull no punches as the film blends raw fight choreography with intimate domestic struggles. Emily Blunt portrays Dawn Staples with guarded compassion, balancing Kerr’s volatility with quiet strength.
After its Venice debut, The Smashing Machine will screen at Toronto on September 8 before landing in U.S. and Canadian theaters on October 3, 2025, via A24. Its festival reception suggests both critical acclaim and audience excitement poised to carry the film into awards season buzz.
In an age when cameras time applause and trade rags tout ovation lengths as prestige metrics, Johnson’s latest effort proves that a wrestler-turned-actor can still slam a cinematic performance to the mat—and keep viewers standing long after the credits roll.
Pan’s Labyrinth held its applause record for nearly two decades, but now Dwayne Johnson’s portrayal has joined that legendarium, reminding us that sometimes the loudest accolades come from the simplest human gesture: a hearty, sustained ovation.
