The annual Cannes Film Festival returned this month with, as always, a diverse slate of films that premiered with big crowds and minutes-long standing ovations. Some of them competed too for the prestigious Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest award, second only to a Best Picture Oscar in fancy-ness.
There were plenty of arty dramas on show, but Cannes often has early screenings of some of the most exciting movies slated to come out in the near future. Here’s all to know:
What were the biggest films at Cannes this year?
Emma Stone only just won an Oscar a few months ago for her performance as Bella Baxter in surreal comedy Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, but the duo have already debuted their next films at the festival. Kinds of Kindness, also an absurdist dark comedy, is an anthology film, unlike Poor Things and Lanthimos’ previous film The Favourite, following several different stories that are different but connected. The main cast, also consisting of Jesse Plemons (Killers of the Flower Moon), Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse), Margaret Qualley (Maid) and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), play various roles in each of the stories, and like Lanthimos’ previous films, received glowing reviews.
Another significant debut this year was Megalopolis, starring Adam Driver, and is the long anticipated next film from legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the man behind films like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. An epic sci-fi drama, it’s set after a devastating disaster in fictional version of the USA, with Cesar Catilina, an idealistic architect wanting to rebuild his city, New Rome, into a renewed Utopia. His nemesis is the corrupt mayor of the city Cicero (played by Giancarlo Esposito), while in between them is the mayor’s daughter Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel). The film has gotten some reviews praising it as bold and different, while other critics at Cannes found it confusing- but it certainly seems like one of the most interesting films to come out in recent years. Other stars include Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus), Shia LeBeouf (Borg vs McEnroe) and Laurence Fishburne (John Wick).
On the more traditional blockbuster side, this year also saw the debut of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as the apocalypse-surviving Furiosa, who first appeared in Mad Max Fury Road. Directed by George Miller, it follows Furiosa’s early years in the Wasteland, having been kidnapped from her community by crazed warlords. One of these is Chris Hemsworth’s character Dementus, who’s keen to keep her from escaping and finding her way back home. The action drama has gotten highly positive reviews from critics for its set pieces and for fleshing out the much acclaimed character of Furiosa, who was previously played by Charlize Theron.
What else released at Cannes?
Other debuts at Cannes that have been talked about include The Substance, a creepy body-horror film starring Demi Moore. Directed by Coralie Fargeat, the film has a somewhat topical feel to it with all the Ozempic talk latterly as it follows a celebrity (Moore), who decides to use an experimental drug to keep her youthful and in the spotlight- but of course, it has unwanted results. Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid also star, and there’s even been talk of Moore’s performance being an award-winning one.
The Apprentice, which stars Sebastian Stan (Fresh) tells the story of Donald Trump and his early years in the business world, as he rises to become one of the richest men in America. Stan stars as the future president, with Trump becoming close to New York prosecutor Roy Cohn (played by Succession star Jeremy Strong), who teaches him to become more ruthless and power-driven as he learns to make deals. The performances from Stan and Strong in particular were acclaimed by critics at Cannes.
Indian film All We Imagine Is Light, the first Indian film competing for the main prizes at Cannes for years, also emerged as a favourite of the festival. The film tells the story of two nurses, Prabha (Kani Kurusti) and Anu (Divya Prabha), who are both experiencing difficult relationships. Prabha is in an arranged marriage to a husband she hasn’t seen in a year, while Anu is unable to be intimate with her boyfriend. Set in Mumbai, it sees them take a trip to a beach town where they find a fresh breath of air in life. It also won the Grand Prix award.
What won the Palme d’Or?
Finally, the big winner of the two-week event was the film Anora, directed by Sean Baker, which scooped the prestigious Palme d’Or. It follows the story of a stripper, who ends up marrying the son of a super-rich Russian billionaire in New York. However, her romance and newly luxurious lifestyle is on the verge of being taken away from her when the parents of her new husband find out, and aren’t happy. They fly out from Russia to tell the two that they disapprove and that the couple must get their marriage annulled. The comedy drama got a lot of praise and critical acclaim in reviews, with director Greta Gerwig, president of the Cannes jury one of its outspoken supporters.
