One week into the 78th Cannes Film Festival, and the Croisette is still waiting for its knockout. The premieres are rolling out, the A-listers are here, and the buzz is building – but so far, no film has seized the spotlight with the urgency or undeniability of a future Palme d’Or winner. The general sentiment? Promising, but not electric. Then again, last year’s breakout didn’t emerge until late in the game – and Cannes has a habit of saving its strongest hand for the final act.
That said, the festival hasn’t been without its fireworks. Quentin Tarantino delivered the year’s most literal mic drop when he opened the proceedings with, “It’s my honour to declare the 78th festival open!” before tossing the mic. A fittingly chaotic start to a lineup that has so far leaned heavily into mood, madness, and moral crisis.
” Then again, last year’s breakout didn’t emerge until late in the game”
The buzziest title of Week 1 is unquestionably Die My Love, Lynne Ramsay’s fever- dream drama starring Robert Pattinson and a ferocious Jennifer Lawrence. Set in a rural purgatory, it’s a psychotic break turned prestige cinema. Critics have called it “devastatingly beautiful,” “an apotheosic return” for Ramsay, and “the best performance of Lawrence’s career.” Early word pegs her as the frontrunner for Best Actress, and Ramsay – already a Cannes favourite – may have her strongest Palme contender yet. MUBI certainly thinks so: the platform snapped up global rights for a reported $24 million, the first major deal of the festival and a signal that this one’s headed for a long campaign trail.
If Ramsay’s film is Cannes at its poetic peak, Eddington is the year’s most polarising provocation. Ari Aster returns with a scorched-earth western about pandemic paranoia starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler. The reviews range from Cannes’ signature five-star raptures to one-word takedowns. It’s being called everything from “irresponsible” to “the definitive film on the pandemic.” Love it or loathe it, Eddington has lodged itself squarely in the conversation.
Oliver Laxe’s Sirât, meanwhile, maybe the under-the-radar gem that slowly builds momentum. A hallucinatory father-son road trip through a Moroccan apocalypse, it’s being described as “an existential shotgun to the chest.” Not subtle, but possibly unforgettable. With echoes of Mad Max and The Road, Laxe’s debut in the main competition is raw, unnerving, and very much in the Oscar international feature conversation.
Elsewhere, the vibes have ranged from absurd to ambitious. Michael Angelo Covino’s Splitsville is the rare Cannes comedy that’s actually funny – uproariously so. It’s also refreshingly modern in its take on marriage, masculinity, and the chaos of emotional entanglement. If there were a Palme for best ensemble chemistry, this one would have it in the bag.
Julia Ducournau’s Alpha, by contrast, feels like a miss. The Palme-winning director returns with a stripped-down, allegorical coming-of-age story that has critics scratching their heads. The consensus: the weakest of her three features. Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme delivers exactly what you expect, which may be the problem. More accessible than some of his recent work but ultimately lost in abstraction, it feels like a mid-tier entry from a master spinning his wheels – until a surprisingly moving final act pulls it back from the brink.
Debuts have been strong. Charlie Polinger’s The Plague, set in a 2003 water polo camp, has all the hormonal intensity and social cruelty of Lord of the Flies with a distinctly modern dread. Meanwhile, Pillion, a queer love story between a man and his enigmatic biker saviour, is already building cult buzz.
Then there’s Sound of Falling, a slow-burn, century-spanning German farm tale that has entranced some with its lyrical power while trying others’ patience. Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut The Chronology of Water, though screening out of competition, has made a significant impression, particularly for its visual intimacy and emotional honesty. Stewart may have just made the leap from actor to auteur.
Beyond the premieres, the festival has already seen a few industry-shaking moments. Denzel Washington was honoured with a surprise Palme D’or following his performance in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest – a morally thorny thriller that reimagines Kurosawa for contemporary New York. It’s being called vintage Spike, showcasing a powerhouse turn from Washington and a surprisingly effective supporting role from A$AP Rocky. The film could easily ride its way into awards contention.
Robert De Niro received his own honorary Palme d’Or at the opening ceremony (delivered by Leonardo DiCaprio, no less), and Nicole Kidman accepted the Kering Women in Motion Award, celebrating her quietly trailblazing commitment to working with female directors, 27 since 2017. As Kidman put it in her speech: “I’m so happy to be here supporting women’s voices in cinema.” So are we.
And while the big acquisitions haven’t quite started flooding in, MUBI’s splashy Die My Love pickup sets a tone. With A24 backing Eddington and Apple in the mix with Highest 2 Lowest, distribution players are flexing early.
So, where does that leave us? In a festival still searching for its masterpiece. But if Cannes has proven anything over its 78 years, it’s that everything can change in the final stretch. The standing ovations, the walkouts, the late-breaking sensations—we still have five days to go, and one Palme d’Or to crown.
Stay tuned. The Croisette hasn’t had its final say.
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