I owe my 2025 Cannes Film Festival journey to Wade, the other Flickcharter that attended, who informed me about the “3 Day in Cannes” experience. I was accepted after a month of silence following my submission, and I’ve been pinching myself ever since. As a cinema lover, I had made it my life’s mission to go to the festival at some point in my life. To my surprise, it happened a lot sooner that I ever would have expected. After a disastrous flight delay in Nashville and withering away in the Philadelphia airport hotel with the trip’s fate hanging in the balance, my girlfriend and I were able to book a last-minute flight, with Iceland Air coming in clutch. We made it to the French Riviera and were ready for some indulging. I notched eight films in total throughout the three days, ranked below:
Sentimental Value (dir. Joachim Trier)
Of those eight films I managed to see, the Grand Prix Winner was my personal favorite. Joachim Trier, coming off the massive critical success of The Worst Person in the World (2021), delivers another pensive, invigorating drama. Stellan Skarsgård plays an aging director who attempts a comeback with his first film in years. Renate Reinsve is his daughter who’s offered the lead role, but after she declines, it’s picked up by Elle Fanning’s Rachel Kemp, an illustrious American actress. Trier is a phenomenal director of actors. Everyone here gives exceptional performances, especially Skarsgård and Reinsve; be on the lookout for them when the Academy Awards roll around at the end of the year. The editing is a big crafts standout, as it connects the past and the present like nothing I’ve seen in recent memory. It’s intimate, intuitive, and just plain unforgettable.
The Mastermind (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
This was my most anticipated of the festival, so I’m glad I was able to snag an open ticket on the final day. This is Kelly Reichardt in full control. It runs at the languid flow her films usually do, which always works tenfold for the period pieces. Josh O’Connor is an exceptional fit within her patient compositions, which evoke a Hopper-like sense of urban atmosphere and depression. He plays a family man turned art thief in 1970s Massachusetts, who commits a risky robbery that could very well be his last. I noticed a handful of negative reactions when it premiered, and mostly all of them called out the slow pace, but it’s very much deliberate and no different from anything Reichardt has done in the past with films like Meek’s Cutoff (2010) and Night Moves (2013). Alana Haim, John Magaro, and Gaby Hoffmann round out the supporting cast, among others. I adore the note that it ends on, which gave me the feeling of a Bresson.
Die My Love (dir. Lynne Ramsay)
Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson are married with a baby, and all hell breaks loose! Almost entirely set at a rural homestead, this deranged postpartum tale is amplified by the central duo, who’ve never been more unhinged. Lawrence is the real standout as she dominates almost every frame with a fearless unpredictability, leaving the audience guessing as to what she’s going to do next. Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek aren’t in it for long, but their presence is tremendous. This feels like Ramsay doing her best take on a Tracy Letts-esque play, and it’s as memorable as that sounds. It’s destined to be held alongside mother! (2017), Aronofsky’s Biblical rager also starring Lawrence. I’m fond of both films, and the comparisons are apt.
Sirât (dir. Oliver Laxe)
One of the great things about Cannes is that nobody knows what’s going to be good and not good. In the case of Sirât, I don’t think it was anywhere to be found on many film prognosticator anticipation lists going into the festival. It certainly wasn’t on my radar, after not loving Laxe’s previous film, Fire Will Come (2019). Then, the acclaim exploded, and the film tied for the Jury Prize with Sound of Falling. The film follows a father and son looking for their daughter/sister at a rave within the Morroccan mountains, and it’s as stressful as it sounds. It’s a sublime blend of Sorcerer and Climax, with sprinkles of dried-out delirium from any Mad Max entry. The deep bass of Kangding Ray’s pulsing score is the showstopper, as well as the immaculate photography. I think this is going to be an international hit for the distribution company Neon.
Resurrection (dir. Bi Gan)
Bi Gan’s Prix Spécial winner is a 160-minute epic, devoted entirely to a deep love of cinema. It’s impossible to fit a film like this into a short paragraph, but the general conceit is that humanity has lost the ability to dream, but one being remains enthralled by the world’s fading illusions. A woman appears soon after and chooses to enter this being’s dreams to try and uncover a hidden truth. A basis like that is a perfect sandbox for Gan, who weaves through multiple time periods of China and works in his usual trademark: an arduous tracking shot. It’s a large undertaking but extremely worthwhile.
Woman and Child (dir. Saeed Roustayi)
My first film from Roustayi certainly won’t be my last due to some solid directorial flourishes here. It follows a middle-aged nurse trying to balance her family life amidst struggle and tragedy. Parinaz Izadyar is terrific as the lead mother. Payman Maadi is a great familiar face from Asghar Farhadi’s work. It can feel a little paint-by-numbers at times, but it’s still a good, engrossing drama.
Romería (dir. Carla Simón)
I walked away lukewarm on this one. It centers around a young orphan trying to find her paternal grandparents so she can get a scholarship signature. The directorial style from Simón is interesting with certain chapter breaks that cut up sequences silently. The whole approach just seemed somewhat pedestrian. It’s emotionally no different from other films of this nature, making it not completely stand out. Not a total miss, though.
Alpha (dir. Julia Ducournau)
Ducournau’s latest after her Palme d’Or-winning film Titane (2021) focuses on a girl that comes home from school one day with a mysterious tattoo on her arm. I agree with the consensus that this is Julia’s weakest movie yet. It’s competent on a crafts level, including some solid effects work, but just wasn’t effective for me anywhere else. Themes are apparent and there’s not really any nuance or subtlety. This isn’t a total disaster, but it is certainly a strange dud in what is looking like a promising genre career.
If we combine Wade and Conner’s Cannes lists, we get something like this:
1. Sentimental Value
2. It Was Just an Accident
3. The Mastermind
4. Eddington
5. Die My Love
6. Exit 8
7. Sirât
8. Resurrection
9. Two Prosecutors
10. The Phoenician Scheme
11. The Plague
12. Woman and Child
13. Romería
14. Alpha
15. Love on Trial
