Cannes Film Festival 2024: 9 Films everyone is talking about
Cream of the Cannes crop
Selena Gomez in a drug cartel musical comedy. Cate Blanchett in the woods with a giant brain. The return of a legendary Hollywood director and his magnum opus after 40 years. We’ve only wrapped up the first week of the 77th Cannes Film Festival but until its finale on 25 May, there is still much for ravenous moviegoers to look forward to.
Indeed, this year’s Croisette is continuing to look like a fever dream for cinephiles. Considered the biggest event on the spring film festival circuit, the 77th edition boasts an impressive lineup of exciting new titles from burgeoning and seasoned filmmakers all over the world. On the French Riviera, whispers and fervent buzz around future cult classics and emerging directorial talents swirl, forming a baseline for favourites going into the upcoming autumn festivals and even to next year’s Oscars.
With 22 films competing for the coveted Palme d’Or, and cinema’s legendary auteurs gracing the steps of the Palais des Festivals such as Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Schrader, and Andrea Arnold, the calibre at Cannes could not be any higher. Ahead, we glean the most anticipated films premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival that you should keep your eyes out for.
Megalopolis
Arguably the film that has caused the most buzz, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis has turned into a sort of cinematic event at Cannes. After all, the lore of his decades-long passion project is well established. The iconic director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now has been dreaming of bringing his epic tale of utopias and empires to life since the idea first came to him in 1977. So much so that the auteur reportedly spent about $100 million of his own fortune from his winery to fund the production.
Now Coppola makes his triumphant return to the Croisette with his magnum opus Megalopolis, starring a stunning cast of Adam Driver, Laurence Fishburne, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza and Giancarlo Esposito. While early reviews have critics divided, there is no doubt that Coppola’s epic will be an unforgettable experience we hope to see on our screens soon. The self-produced film tells the story of an architect who has the gift of controlling time and his dreams of creating a utopia after his city falls.
Kinds of Kindness
We’re still reeling from Yorgos Lanthimos’ disturbing delight of a film, Poor Things, but the Greek director is wasting no time with his follow-up that reunites him with stars Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley. Described as a “triptych fable” of three separate yet connected stories, Kinds of Kindness retains Lanthimos’ off-the-wall style and absurdist comedy that will take audiences on a wild ride of emotions. The director’s competition entry at Cannes also stars Joe Alwyn, Hong Chau, Hunter Schafer and Mamadou Athie who will play different roles in the three narratives.
All We Imagine as Light
Director Payal Kapadia is no stranger to Cannes, having won the Golden Eye for best documentary for A Night of Knowing Nothing. This time, she returns to the Croisette with her narrative debut, All We Imagine as Light, and a tender story of two women dealing with love and desire. While the plot of the film is mostly kept under wraps, what we know of the Indo-French production is that it follows a pair of nurses—one who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband and one looking for a quiet spot to spend with her lover. Their road trips takes a turn when they encounter a mystical forest. As an Indian film in the competition slate for the first time in 30 years alongside Hollywood juggernauts, All We Imagine as Light already has our hearts.
Emilia Pérez
Feeling undervalued and overworked, Rita (Zoe Saldana) is a lawyer at a large firm who finds more joy in getting criminals off the hook than bringing them to justice. Her life takes a dramatic turn when a notorious Mexican drug lord hires her to help him withdraw from his business and start his sex reassignment surgery to “become the woman he has always dreamt of being”. Oh, it’s also a musical! With Karla Sofía Gáscon and Selena Gomez, this musical mafia comedy is poised to entertain and tug at the heart.
Bird
Another director who is well acquainted with Cannes is Andrea Arnold who won not one but three Jury Prize awards for Red Road, Fish Tank and American Honey. The British auteur is best known for her intimate female-focused narratives and coming-of-age tales through a socio-realist lens. Her new competition entry this year looks to be no different. In Bird, a 12-year-old girl (Nykiya Adams) living with her brother (Barry Keoghan) and father in a squat looks for attention and adventure elsewhere. She meets a vagabond named Bird (Franz Rogowski) and strangeness ensues in this surreal drama.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Cannes audiences had a treat as George Miller’s highly anticipated Mad Max: Fury Road prequel premiered at the French Riviera ahead of its world premiere. Diving back to the scorching universe of monster vehicles and desert chases of epic proportions, Furiosa chronicles the early life of Imperator Furiosa and her rise to influence with Anya Taylor Joy putting on Charlize Theron’s dusty boots and kohl-heavy makeup. Chris Hemsworth also stars as a warlord with the appropriately campy name Dementus. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to catch Miller’s high-octane thriller on screen as it premieres on 23 May!
Oh, Canada
At 77 years old, Paul Schrader has made a name for himself with bold projects such as Master Gardener and The Card Counter, and writing Taxi Driver. After two years, the acclaimed Hollywood director is back with a work based on the novel Foregone by Russell Banks. Titled Oh, Canada, the story follows a writer (Richard Gere) who flees to the Great White North to avoid the Vietnam War drafts. However, his decision to confess his past to his friends and loved ones doesn’t go as well as planned. Hollywood It boy Jacob Elordi plays the protagonist’s younger self alongside Uma Thurman and Michael Imperioli.
Rumours
It’s hard to look away from the still of Guy Maddin’s latest feature. After all, it’s not every day you see a giant brain in a forest next to Cate Blanchett. While the film is not in competition, Maddin’s work sounds entertaining enough: a group of world leaders who have come for the G7 Summit find themselves lost in an enchanted forest. We hesitate to gander what happens next. Sure, we love our serious and poignant stories but sometimes, we’re just craving good fun and Rumours looks right up that alley.
The Substance
List looking a little tame for a horror fan such as yourself? It’s time for Coralie Fargeat to enter the chat. Fun fact: her feature debut, Revenge, was so gorey and bloody that paramedics were called after an audience member felt ill during its screening at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. She knows her stuff and this time, she’s bringing it to the Croisette with her sophomore effort full of body horror. Entering into competition, The Substance stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid in a disturbing body swap spookfest. You’ve been warned!
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