Ellen Burstyn and Dakota Johnson as Marilyn Monroe: first images from Flesh Impact

Maggie Gyllenhaal changes register with this short film which will be presented at the 2026 Venice Film Festival.

After the failure of The Bride at the cinema this year, Maggie Gyllenhaal returns with a much more intimate project. The director, who will be president of the jury for the 2026 Venice Film Festival, will also unveil her new short film on the Lido, Flesh Impact.

Vanity Fair unveils online the first images of this 17-minute film which pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe on the occasion of the centenary of her birth. He imagines the alternative lives the actress could have had if she had had more time away from the spotlight.

“I find his playing fascinating, strange, wild and profoundly joyful, while being terribly moving”explains Maggie Gyllenhaal. “I wondered what might have happened if she had 60 years ahead of her. What would have been different about the work she would have done?“

To answer this question, the director stages two versions of Marilyn, played by Ellen Burstyn, Oscar winner for Alice is no longer hereand Dakota Johnson, star of the saga 50 Shades of Gray.