Cannes Day 5: ‘Club Kid’ and ‘Gentle Monster’ Break Out, John Travolta Gets a Surprise

We’ve hit the weekend! The 2026 Cannes Film Festival rolls on, and it appears we finally have a couple of breakout films after a sleepy start to the festivities. Plus plenty of reviews, a surprise Palme d’Or and more.

We’ve got it all, let’s break it down.

‘Club Kid’ and ‘Gentle Monster’ Get Warm Receptions

If you’re looking to figure out what’s poised to win awards at this Cannes Film Festival, it appears “Gentle Monster” and “Club Kid” are a pair of early contenders.

Léa Seydoux is earning raves for her performance as a woman whose husband is arrested for an unspeakable sex crime, in Marie Kreutzer’s “Gentle Monster.” The film itself earned strong notices too, including from our critic Ben Croll who said the “quiet” and “searing” drama was surprisingly emotional.

“Though Kreutzer never lets any adult character off the moral hook, she also refuses to shade these relationships with outright antagonism. Instead, they are all appraising one another, weighing others’ actions to balance their own ethical scales, and in doing so, trying to better understand themselves. That’s the same reason we turn to art,” he wrote.

Then there’s “Club Kid,” one of the most anticipated titles of the fest given its pedigree. Jordan Firstman, who burst onto the scene in HBO’s “I Love LA” last year, wrote, directed and stars in the film about a washed-up party promoter who suddenly realizes he has a son.

“It’s an earnest, heartwarming, and vivacious look at the realities of parenting and a celebration of the warmth and love in unconventional lifestyles,” our critic Zachary Lee wrote in his largely positive review.

Cara Delevingne and Diego Calva co-star in the film, which earned a six-minute standing ovation after its premiere and left Firstman visibly moved.

There’s already buzz about which distributor will land “Club Kid.” Stay tuned.

John Travolta Gets a Surprise Palme d’Or

John Travolta hit the Croisette to premiere his directorial debut “Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” but before the film’s screening, he was surprised by an honorary Palme d’Or.

“My God. This is a humbling moment, humbling moment, so thank you Thierry from the bottom of my heart,” he told the cheering crowd. “When I met with you in November, I had no expectation that my film would be accepted. And when Thierry said that it was making history as the first film ever accepted that early, I cried like a baby. I just couldn’t believe it, because, in my opinion, you are the most discerning person in the movie industry.”

“I was just happy to be here, I never expected this,” Travolta added, wiping away tears. “This is beyond the Oscar, really.”

Travolta’s film, however, had a less warm reception. The 60-minute “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” is “a disaster” our critic Chase Hutchinson said in his review.

“This adaptation of Travolta’s own 1997 children’s novel of the same name is a stiff, agonizingly lifeless affair. For all the ways it seems to be deeply personal and intent on exploring how people are shaped by the formative experiences of their youth, it feels like it may have actually been directed by an alien discovering human interaction for the first time,” he wrote. Ouch.

More Reviews!

Catch up on our latest reviews below.

• ‘John Lennon: The Last Interview’ Review: Steven Soderbergh Says All You Need Is Love… and AI
• ‘Sheep in the Box’ Review: Japanese Film About Grief and Parenting is a Lo-Fi Stunner
• ‘Clarissa’ Review: Sophie Okonedo Is Outstanding In Riveting Reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’
• ‘Gun-Che (Colony)’ Review: This Zombie Actioner Could Make a Great Video Game, But Is Instead a Disappointing Film 
• ‘Gentle Monster’ Review: Léa Seydoux Ponders Moral Duties in Chilling, Emotional Drama
• ‘Karma’ Review: Marion Cotillard Fights Her Way Out of Hell in Uneven Religious Cult Thriller
• ‘Club Kid’ Review: Jordan Firstman’s Sincere Yet Vain Dramedy Radiates Queer Joy

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