By this time next week, Vanity Fair chief critic Richard Lawson and Hollywood correspondent David Canfield will be deep into the 2025 Cannes Film Festival—and will have already identified a few favorite titles. For now, though, they can still speculate about which films might pop most at a festival that has become not only the most prestigious on the international cinema circuit, but perhaps the most crucial in introducing each year’s Oscar contenders. (Just ask Anora.) Below, the 23 movies that seem most bound for glory—or at least, a lot of discourse.
Die, My Love
Beloved Scottish director Lynne Ramsay returns to the Croisette eight years after winning the screenplay prize for You Were Never Really Here. This time she’s bringing with her a drama-thriller about postpartum depression called Die, My Love. The film will have no trouble attracting attention at the festival—both because Ramsay is revered in the international arthouse world, and because it stars Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Lakeith Stanfield, Nick Nolte, and Sissy Spacek. This will no doubt be one of the hottest tickets this year.
Nouvelle Vague
While we love the laid-back Texas stylings of some Richard Linklater films, we also quite like it when he goes Euro, as he did to such memorable effect in his trio of Before films. Linklater’s latest honors the tradition that inspired those movies, examining the onset of the French New Wave in the 1960s—particularly the making of the Godard classic Breathless. The cast is largely French, though Zoey Deutch does appear as the actress Jean Seberg. (A figure once played in a biopic by Kristen Stewart.) Linklater’s deep affection for the art of film suggests that he’s an ideal craftsman to tell this story; we expect something gentle but insightful about the dawn of creative revolution.
Sentimental Value
Norwegian auteur Joachim Trier leveled up with his heartbreaking 2021 character study The Worst Person In the World, nabbing Oscar nominations for best international feature and, in a big surprise, original screenplay. He’s reuniting with that film’s star, Renate Reinsve—who won best actress at Cannes in 2021—for this new family drama, which also features bigger Hollywood names including Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning. Like Worst Person, the film is being distributed by Neon in the U.S.—the company that has backed the last five Palme d’Or winners, including best-picture Oscar winners Parasite and Anora. If Trier can maintain his momentum on the global cinema scene, watch out.
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson loves highlighting the same performers over and over. So the headline out of the Oscar winner’s latest intricately designed, star-studded romp may be that of its three leads, he’s only ever worked with Benicio Del Toro (in The French Dispatch). Del Toro plays a wealthy businessman with a long list of enemies who enlists his estranged daughter and Norwegian tutor—played by Anderson newcomers Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera, respectively—to secure his family’s future. Threapleton, whose mother is Kate Winslet, is poised to be the film’s discovery, nailing Anderson’s particular brand of deadpan heartbreak. “I remember this moment where I had Tom Hanks on my left, Bryan Cranston on my right, Riz Ahmed diagonally, Benicio in front of me, Wes at one end, and Michael to the other side,” Threapleton recently told Vanity Fair. “I just sat there and I put my hands under my legs.”
Pillion
From first-time writer-director Harry Lighton, this romantic drama stars Harry Mellon and Alexander Skarsgård as two men who enter into a sub-dom relationship. It wouldn’t be a proper Cannes without at least some taboo sex in the lineup, which Pillion seems to offer, what with its leather and pup-play. Though we probably shouldn’t expect something luring and exploitative. We’ve heard that Pillion takes the arch provocation of last year’s Babygirl (also from A24) and turns it into something more sincere, even poignant. Even so, there should be lots of post-premiere chatter about what is and is not seen on screen.
The History of Sound
Two men, played by rising stars Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, fall in love—and that’s only the start of this sweeping period drama, which opens in the midst of World War I. The movie’s initial romantic encounter reverberates over decades alongside the eclectic folk songs that light up the soundtrack. “We felt very boyish in each other’s company throughout,” Mescal told Vanity Fair of his dynamic with O’Connor. “I’ve always said this to Josh, but he brings out a childlike version of me. I haven’t felt that kind of degree of boyishness in myself for a long time.”
Urchin
Beware the movie-star-directed film that winds up on the Cannes lineup. We’ve learned that lesson the hard way over the years, with films like The Last Face and Lost River. Yet actor Harris Dickinson’s first feature has us curious anyway. The film stars Frank Dillane (of Harry Potter and Fear the Walking Dead fame) as a transient young man living in London, which sounds appropriately modest in scale for a debut effort. And Dillane is an intriguing actor, wiry and weird and unpredictable. Maybe Dickinson will buck tradition and deliver something worthwhile.
The Chronology of Water
Maybe Kristen Stewart will too! The actor’s debut feature film as a director is based on a 2011 memoir about a former swimmer experimenting with drugs and exploring BDSM sex. That has the makings of a buzzy Cannes envelope-pusher. It certainly won’t hurt Stewart’s chances that she is beloved by French cineastes—Stewart is one of only two American actors to have won a César award, France’s equivalent of the Oscar. The Chronology of Water could also mean good things for its star, Imogen Poots, though we’re more curious about her co-star Thora Birch—a former teen queen who doesn’t work much these days but is an arresting screen presence whenever she pops up.
Eleanor the Great
But wait, a third! Early word is positive on Scarlett Johansson’s feature directorial debut, which stars Oscar-nominated nonagenarian June Squibb as a retiree who relocates to New York after the death of her roommate and best friend. With distribution already secured via Sony Pictures Classics, the film’s launch in the festival’s Un Certain Regard section marks only the beginning of a hopefully long, splashy rollout for the dramedy, which Johansson has compared to throwback indies like Living Out Loud and Moonstruck.
Alpha
Julia Ducornau’s previous movie, Titane, won the Palme d’Or in something of an upset; a film that introduces a sexual relationship between a young woman and a car is never going to be an obvious slam dunk. So all eyes are on her follow-up, which we know centers on a 13-year-old girl but is otherwise shrouded in mystery. Despite having just two features under her belt—2016’s Raw also premiered on the Croisette—Ducournau has swiftly emerged as one of our most fearless, audacious filmmakers. That makes Alpha an instant event.
The Secret Agent
Kleber Mendonça Filho has been ruffling feathers in Brazil for years with his polemical, genre-defying social dramas, most recently Bacurau, which won Cannes’s Jury Prize. Coming off of that high, Filho returns to the Croisette with a higher personal profile, a bigger star (Narcos’s Wagner Moura), and another urgent examination of his home country. This one is set in 1977, and follows a technology expert on the run.
Vie Privée
The versatile French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski is no stranger to Hollywood stars, having directed Natalie Portman and a teenaged Lily-Rose Depp in Planetarium. That film was not as well-received as what the director has made in her native France, particularly 2022’s critical hit Other People’s Children, but Vie privée may thrillingly split the difference. It’s described as a French murder mystery, and it stars none other than Jodie Foster. Sign us up.
The Mastermind
Back in 2022, the great American indie director Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up was the last Cannes competition premiere on the schedule. Many journalists had already returned home, and the movie came and went largely unheralded. Which was a shame, given what a lovely film Reichardt made. This year, Reichardt returns with what is billed, quite compellingly, as a crime film. The Mastermind boasts an impressive cast of cool actors—Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffman—and a beguiling art-heist premise. Maybe this time Reichardt will get her Cannes due—though of course, they’ve scheduled the movie at the end of the festival again. Sigh.
The Plague
Perhaps some of us on the VF staff have traumatic memories of going to sleepaway sports camp in their younger years, and are thus particularly drawn to the premise of queer filmmaker Charlie Polinger’s debut feature. The film follows a 12-year-old boy at an all-boys water polo camp, where things quickly turn grim. We think The Plague is something of a horror film, though perhaps of the arty, psychological Cannes variety—more about ominous mood than jump scares. Either way, we can’t wait to relive our own troubled youths—safely in movie form, that is.
Dangerous Animals
This film, from Australian writer-director Sean Byrne (The Devil’s Candy), seems to be a more straightforward horror. Jai Courtney plays a serial killer whose weapon of choice is live sharks, a fun tweak on the genre that we don’t think we’ve seen before. There may not be much more to the film than that, though its presence in the often experimental Directors’ Fortnight sidebar suggests something a bit more textured than your standard B-movie. If it is just a basic fright fest, though, a little grimy entertainment is always welcome amidst the pomp and seriousness of Cannes.
Highest 2 Lowest
Spike Lee is conditioning us to expect the unexpected of his take on Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low—and that’s just in the delivery of the movie. Cannes didn’t include the film in its initial lineup announcement, but Lee posted on his Instagram that it was going to Cannes anyway; earlier this week, A24 posted on socials that a teaser trailer would land in about 24 hours, then Lee immediately leaked it. Here’s a guy who likes to keep us on our toes. How thrilling that anything seems possible for the project that marks Lee and Denzel Washington’s first collaboration since Inside Man, 18 years ago.
Sound of Falling
Every Cannes, a few under-the-radar films pre-screen and are promptly followed by enthusiastic whispers. This German drama connecting four generations of women is one of them. (For the record, neither contributor to this list has seen Sound of Falling.) This marks the first feature in eight years from director Mascha Schilinski, and her first ever to premiere in Cannes. So while there are a lot of unknowns about this title as of now, the one big known is rather compelling: It’s already getting people excited.
Enzo
Following the death of his friend, lauded French filmmaker Laurent Cantet, the also lauded French filmmaker Robin Campillo stepped into the role of director and co-writer for this drama about a teenage boy struggling to find his place in a world starkly divided by class. His family is wealthy, but Enzo has rejected their academic ambitions and sought out an apprenticeship in construction. While struggling with his family, Enzo develops a friendship with an older Ukrainian man on his work crew. That’s a compelling premise, and we trust Campillo—the director behind terrific films like Eastern Boys, BPM, and Red Island—to bring his own sensibilities to the film while honoring his departed friend’s vision.
Eddington
The main cast that Ari Aster has assembled for his latest, a Western set in the glorious spring of 2020, says all you need to know about just how excited Hollywood is by the rising filmmaker of Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler. Even when he’s divisive, Aster has proven unmissable.
My Father’s Shadow
Filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. brings us to 1993 Nigeria, where political and social tumult surrounds a contentious election and two young boys journey to Lagos with their furtive, distant father. African cinema has made a strong showing at Cannes in recent years (last year’s stunning On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, from Zambia, is available to watch in the US now), and we hope that Davies continues in that burgeoning tradition. We’re especially encouraged by the presence of Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, a rising British actor who was excellent in the 2020 horror film His House.
Manas
Screening on the market side, this small gem out of Brazil merits attention as it courts U.S. distributors. Marianna Brennand’s searing debut offers an unflinching, intimate, and deeply humane portrait of a 13 year old coming of age in the Amazon rainforest amid increasingly harrowing conditions. It’s one of the few titles on this list to have already earned an award out of Cannes: Brennand, who also won the Director’s Prize at Venice Days last fall, will be honored with Cannes and Kering’s prestigious Women in Motion Emerging Talent Award.
Lucky Yu
Director Lloyd Lee Choi has been making a name for himself on the short-film circuit, taking home awards out of major festivals like Berlin, SXSW, and Toronto. It’s no surprise, then, that his feature debut is slowly but surely generating buzz as a standout of the festival’s Directors’ Fortnight section. The drama tracks a Chinese immigrant over two days in New York, when his food-delivery gig is put into jeopardy just as the rest of his family is set to join him from abroad in their new home.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
Tom Cruise stars in this tiny independent drama about a man coming to terms with things. We can’t wait.
This story is part of Awards Insider’s in-depth Cannes coverage, including first looks and exclusive interviews with some of the event’s biggest names. Stay tuned for more Cannes stories as well as a special full week of Little Gold Men podcast episodes, recorded live from the festival and publishing every day.
Listen to Vanity Fair’s Little Gold Men podcast now.
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