Because the lights go up on the final of the 22 movies in Competitors this yr, Deadline’s critics replicate on the potential winners in what should be the strongest lineup lately…
PETE HAMMOND
I don’t suppose I’ve seen a Cannes Movie Pageant with so many enthusiastic evaluations from the press. Solely a handful of movies appeared to get completely damaging notices and none of them throughout the board. I walked out on a pair, together with Resurrection, the Chinese language movie. Life is simply too brief. I additionally didn’t make it by way of Sebastian Lelio’s The Wave, or the Italian girls’s jail flick Fuori regardless of liking Italians and its star Valeria Golino. I simply wasn’t feeling it.
In any other case, I’ve to say the whole lot else I noticed was above common however a few of it overpraised in different quarters. Relax! I imply, The Secret Agent was good, however not that good. It wasn’t solely within the Competitors the place gems might be discovered. Iraq’s first movie ever right here, The President’s Cake — the Individuals’s Alternative winner over at Administrators’ Fortnight — was an early favourite of mine, as was Scarlett Johansson’s directing debut — Eleanor the Nice in Un Sure Regard — starring the incomparable June Squibb, a powerhouse at age 95.
Additionally, in UCR I used to be impressed with Nigeria’s first-ever Cannes entry My Father’s Shadow. In Cannes Premiere I admired Religion Akin’s Amrum, and in addition Splitsville, the hilarious follow-up to The Climb from Michael Angelo Covino. However listed here are my predictions for the massive prizes in the principle competitors. Simply be mindful the truth that juries are virtually unimaginable to foretell and — infinite standing ovations and important reward apart — we don’t actually know which means the winds are blowing. You may take a look at the UCR winners right here.
Palme d’Or: Sentimental Worth (Joaquim Trier)
The buzziest risk. It simply feels like a winner
Grand Prize: It Was Simply an Accident (Jafar Panahi)
The backstory of his two imprisonments in Iran apart, this film was nice.
Jury Prize: The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonca Filho)
I simply determine the jury may react the way in which critics did — however not give it the highest award.
Director: Richard Linklater (Nouvelle Imprecise)
That is extra wishful considering as a result of it was the perfect movie I noticed in Cannes.
Screenplay: The Sound of Falling (Mascha Schilinski)
The primary movie proven for Competitors. Critiques had been ecstatic, so it is going to most likely get one thing. I wasn’t overwhelmed.
Actor: Sergi Lopez (Sirat)
Nice film. This veteran actor is due — plus, what an emotional heartbreaking efficiency!
Actress: Parinaz Izadyar (Girl and Youngster)
Sorry, Jennifer Lawrence. You gave it your all, however this efficiency has Greatest Actress written throughout it.
DAMON WISE
This has definitely been the strongest Cannes for a few years, and it’s tempting to suppose that a few of the movies singled out for a panning (Julia Ducorneau’s Alpha for one) had been within the firing line just because the critics had been struggling to seek out an out-and-out dud to unload on. Personally, I preferred Alpha; it didn’t all the time work, however its hallucinogenic high quality has stayed with me. Likewise, I went in opposition to the stream with Ari Aster’s Eddington — I like movies that purpose excessive, and this one, although it’s positively means too lengthy, didn’t fall so far as many claimed. Ditto Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love; that lady can do no incorrect for me.
As soon as once more, this pageant is all the time an astonishing showcase for performing, and 2025 was no exception. The massive distinction this yr was that so many actors grew to become administrators for the 78th version, all of ’em in Un Sure regard, this yr’s starriest part. Scarlett Johansson pulled off an achieved indie with Eleanor the Nice, however I most well-liked Harris Dickinson’s very good character examine Urchin, a terrific showcase for Frank Dillane as a homeless man in London. I’m additionally considering lots about Kristen Stewart’s courageous debut Chronology of Water, which makes me consider her as a Beatnik born after her time.
As Pete says, juries virtually actually reside on one other planet, being sequestered from the likes of us and our soothsaying. However, for what it’s price, listed here are my guesses…
Palme d’Or: Sentimental Worth (Joaquim Trier)
Joachim Trier has by no means made a nasty movie, and now he’s gone forward and made a masterpiece that might make Henrik Ibsen’s sideburns curl. It’s brilliantly directed, written and acted; simply excited about it makes me cry!
Grand Prize: Sirât (Oliver Luxe)
The grand slam of the pageant; everybody both loves this apocalyptic techno drama, or loves the start, or loves the ending.
Jury Prize: Sound of Falling (Mascha Schilinski)
That is a tremendous movie, finish of. I noticed it twice and look ahead to seeing it once more.
Director: Bi Gan (Resurrection)
It drove me mad, however there’s a lot brilliance on present right here.
Screenplay: Two Prosecutors (Sergei Loznitza)
After Navad Lapid’s incendiary Sure in Administrators’ Fortnight, that is essentially the most political movie within the pageant, a Kafkaesque nightmare about Soviet life underneath Stalin that, by some means, we’re all now residing by way of.
Actor: Guillaume Marbeck (Nouvelle Imprecise)
Every part about Richard Linklater’s glowing white wine of a dramedy deserves a prize, however Marbeck’s efficiency as Jean-Luc Godard is the one which stands out most for me.
Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Die My Love)
Sorry, Parinaz Izadyar. Pete’s proper; you are terrific in Girl and Youngster, however Lawrence’s efficiency right here has bought to be her greatest to this point. And that’s some excessive bar.
