CANNES, France 鈥 Attending the Cannes Film Festival this year was like parking for 12 days at a drive-in theatre.
With movies about a Cinderella sex worker (鈥淎nora鈥), a transgender Mexican drug lord (鈥淓milia P茅rez鈥) and combative Hollywood clones (鈥淭he Substance鈥) generating the most buzz on the Croisette, the world鈥檚 classiest film fest proved to be a feast for lovers of genre cinema.
These three films dominated the straw polls of critics here in Cannes. They might also find favour with the nine-member international jury led by 鈥淏arbie鈥 director Greta Gerwig, who will award the Palme d鈥橭r and other prizes when the festival concludes on Saturday.
Still unseen at time of writing is 鈥淭he Seed of the Sacred Fig鈥 by Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, a late-breaking challenger for the Palme d鈥橭r, the fest鈥檚 top prize. Rasoulof is defying his country鈥檚 moral and legal authoritarians with his film 鈥 word is, it鈥檚 a stunner 鈥 and by his expected presence at the fest.
In order of preference, here are my 10 favourite films from Cannes 鈥24, coming soon to a festival and/or theatre near you:
Anora
(3.5 stars out of four)
Sean Baker鈥檚 flair for rough-edged characters, as seen in 鈥淭angerine,鈥 鈥淭he Florida Project鈥 and 鈥淩ed Rocket,鈥 pays off handsomely in this high-voltage screwball comedy. Mikey Madison, who played a Manson Family killer in Quentin Tarantino鈥檚 鈥淥nce Upon a Time in Hollywood,鈥 brings seen-it-all chutzpah to the role of Anora (she prefers 鈥淎ni鈥), a potty-mouthed Brooklyn sex worker having a cockeyed Cinderella moment. She meets babyfaced Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the spoiled son of a wealthy Russian oligarch, and after much partying and spending, the two have a quickie wedding in Vegas. After Vanya鈥檚 furious parents dispatch three stooges to bust up the couple, this speedster of a tale takes turns we can鈥檛 see coming. Madison keeps us loyal to her character and awestruck at her knack for getting in and out of tough scrapes.
Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger star in David Cronenberg鈥檚 鈥淭he Shrouds,鈥 a graveyard thriller in competition for Cannes’ top prize.
Courtesy Cannes Film FestivalThe Shrouds
(3.5 stars)
How dark are you willing to get and how far would you go to continue a relationship with a loved one who鈥檚 died? These are the questions 海角社区官网writer-director David Cronenberg provocatively poses in this stylish and moving addition to his lengthy horror oeuvre, a film partly inspired by the 2017 passing of his wife, Carolyn. Diane Kruger plays the deceased spouse of graveyard owner Karsh (Vincent Cassel), a free-thinking inventor who processes grief in a shockingly tangible way. He鈥檚 created a high-tech shroud that allows mourners to watch their loved ones decompose in real time. It鈥檚 the next step in Cronenberg鈥檚 long fascination with body horror, advanced technology and high paranoia. Simultaneously futuristic, frightening and all-too human, Cronenberg鈥檚 most personal film is possibly his best yet.
The Apprentice
(3.5 stars)
Shark meets snake in Ali Abbasi鈥檚 terrific brothers-in-smarm drama, a Donald Trump origin story showing how New York lawyer Roy Cohn turned Trump into a ruthless power seeker in the 1970s and early 1980s. It鈥檚 like a scene out of 鈥淕oodfellas鈥 when the two first meet in 1973 and the callow, hungry and 27-year-old Trump (Sebastian Stan) recognizes Cohn as a father figure and mentor. Cohn teaches Trump the three rules of winning聽鈥斅犫渁ttack, attack, attack,鈥 鈥渁dmit nothing, deny everything鈥 and 鈥渃laim victory and never admit defeat鈥 鈥 slogans that will resonate decades into the future. Abbasi tracks the Faustian deal between the two men while also pulling back the curtain on Trump鈥檚 stormy relationship with model Ivana (Maria Bakalova), who soon becomes his wife. It鈥檚 hard to know where the facts blend into fiction, but none of it is hard to believe. Convincing lead performances 鈥 Stan captures Trump鈥檚 cadence and tics; Strong鈥檚 Cohn ooze bile and bombast 鈥 give 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 genuine heft.
Emilia P茅rez
(3.5 stars)
Can a sex change alter a person鈥檚 true nature? This crime musical by Jacques Audiard, whose 鈥淒heepan鈥 won聽the Palme d’Or in 2015, answers the question with Audiard鈥檚 usual urgency. It adds another twist beyond the film鈥檚 novel show tunes: a Mexican drug kingpin wants to swap genders while also going straight. Crime boss Manitas del Monte will become social activist Emilia P茅rez, with both roles played by trans star Karla Sofia Gasc贸n. Manitas hires change-seeking lawyer Rita Moro Castro, played to perfection by Zo毛 Salda帽a, to arrange for the sex-swap surgery and also to relocate his wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), and their kids to Switzerland. The plan proceeds like clockwork until ego, ambition and jealousy throw a monkey wrench into the works. Nobody will likely buy the bizarro soundtrack album, but stellar performances make this quirky tale work.
Selena Gomez in a scene from “Emilia P茅rez,” a musical crime thriller by Jacques Audiard competing for the Palme d鈥橭r.聽
Courtesy of Cannes Film FestivalThe Substance
(3 stars)
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley go to extremes 鈥 and screams 鈥 to share a perfect Hollywood body in a cautionary tale for the Ozempic era. Using a mysterious drug plan called the Substance, Moore鈥檚 aging star, Elisabeth Sparkle, can co-exist with a decades-younger clone of herself, Qualley鈥檚 Sue. The catch is they have to follow a strict weekly body-sharing regimen or dire complications will ensue 鈥 and do they ever, once Elisabeth and Sue begin sparring for control. This masterful manifestation of cinema grotesque from Coralie Fargeat (鈥淩evenge鈥) hat-tips and then one-ups David Cronenberg for body horror gross-outs. Midnight movie programmers and fans, start your engines 鈥 and just try to get the film鈥檚 big reveal out of your minds.
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley go to extremes to share a perfect Hollywood body in Coralie Fargeat鈥檚 horror film 鈥淭he Substance.鈥澛
Courtesy of Cannes Film FestivalRumours
(3 stars)
Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander and Roy Dupuis star in this wacky horror story about a group of world leaders stranded in a German forest during a G7 summit and global crisis. They鈥檙e forced to deal with masturbating zombies, procrastinating bloviators and a huge throbbing brain. It鈥檚 the funniest flick yet from Canada鈥檚 surreal satirist, Guy Maddin, who gets a huge assist from co-directors Evan and Galen Johnson. It also has the greatest commercial potential for a Maddin movie, which could be the weirdest thing about it. Among the many Canadian jokes are zingers about the Canuck PM, a Trudeau-esque figure played by Dupuis, who offers to make a land claims deal with those circle-jerking zombies. There鈥檚 also a sweet shout-out to Neil Young鈥檚 famous 鈥渂etter to burn out than fade away鈥 lyric.
Universal Language
(3 stars)
The everyday wonder of late Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami combined with the formal whimsy of Wes Anderson best describes this amusing and affecting second feature from Winnipeg鈥檚 Matthew Rankin (鈥淭he Twentieth Century鈥). Set in a resolutely grey and beige place we might call 鈥淭ehrannipeg,鈥 it has a mostly Iranian cast living in Winnipeg in a scenario that seems at once totally natural and completely nutso 鈥 people work at places called the 鈥淲innipeg Earmuff Authority鈥 and 鈥淜leenex Repository.鈥 There are also strange things happening with turkeys, an ice-encrusted banknote and a Tim Hortons where you can get Iranian tea. Director, co-writer and actor Rankin plays a man who returns home looking for his mom, only to find she鈥檚 moved in with another family. This sweet-natured head-scratcher premiered in the Directors鈥 Fortnight sidebar program.
The Surfer
(3 stars)
鈥淓at the rat!鈥 is destined to become the battle cry of discerning midnight moviegoers and drive-in denizens, once they get a gander at Nicolas Cage鈥檚 latest gonzo turn. He plays a dad driven mad by toxic surf punks in Lorcan Finnegan鈥檚 tribute to Aussie New Wave, which premiered in the Midnight program. Cage鈥檚 tightly wound title character just wants to close a house deal and do some surfing with his son in the beach neighbourhood where he grew up. But a violent group of entitled local surfers, led by a macho self-help guru named Scally (Julian McMahon), consider the returnee an outsider and they鈥檙e determined to get between him and the waves. Funny, disturbing and disarming, 鈥淭he Surfer鈥 is the best thing Cage has done in years.
Kinds of Kindness
(3 stars)
Fresh off his Oscar-winning comedy 鈥淧oor Things,鈥 which made his Greek Weird Wave aesthetic more palatable for the masses, Yorgos Lanthimos boldly risks alienating some of his newer fans by reviving dark old impulses. For this three-story saga featuring 鈥淧oor Things鈥 stars Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Joe Alwyn, Lanthimos snaps his 鈥淒ogtooth鈥 choppers back in and savages the perverse human desire to always do what鈥檚 expected of us, even if that means chopping a finger off and serving it for dinner. If there鈥檚 a beating heart in this twisted triptych, somebody would BBQ it. I almost feel guilty for liking it so much.
Bird
(3 stars)
There are distinct Frank Capra vibes in this brilliantly barmy dramedy from Andrea Arnold (鈥淎merican Honey鈥), set in a no-hope neighbourhood in England鈥檚 North Kent region. Nykiya Adams astounds as 12-year-old Bailey, the centre of every social hurricane. She鈥檚 the unhappy daughter of Barry Keoghan鈥檚 man-child Bug, who dreams of making it big as a seller of illicit drugs harvested from his pet toad鈥檚 psychedelic slime. Bailey鈥檚 problems have her in need of a divine assist, and it鈥檚 duly supplied when Franz Rogowski鈥檚 avian character Bird drops in, just like the guardian angel who helped a troubled George Bailey in Capra鈥檚 鈥淚t鈥檚 a Wonderful Life.鈥
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