2025’s Cannes Film Festival concluded on an unpredictable note, with a city-wide power outage adding to the surprises at the closing ceremony. As I stood there in Cannes, American actor John C. Reilly quipped, “You know, something unexpected always happens when I’m here.” For instance, few anticipated the widespread disappointment towards Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha,” the follow-up to her Palme d’Or winner “Titane,” which seemed to lose its charm on the red carpet. The anticipation was high for either Josh O’Connor’s gay love story, “The History of Sound,” or his feminist art heist film, “The Mastermind.” However, it remains clear that acting lessons won’t be sought from Shia LaBeouf anytime soon, according to the nine critics covering Cannes for EbMaster this year. Here are their picks for the best films at the world’s most prestigious and least predictable film festival.
Amrum
Fatih Akin’s poignant and thoughtfully minimalist World War II drama invites us to care about a 12-year-old member of the Hitler Youth, even feeling empathy for him. The movie “Amrum” is powerful due to an early insight that if this boy had grown up differently, he would have been just an ordinary child, doing good rather than harboring hateful thoughts. This realization, which only a particular type of perceptive art can evoke, reminds us that every act of evil has a human origin and the key to stopping it lies in understanding its source. (Tomris Laffly’s full review)
Bono: Stories of Surrender
In this visually captivating movie directed by Andrew Dominik, we follow Bono as he narrates his life story on stage during his 2022 solo performance. We delve into his aspirations, emotions, fame, charitable work, personal hypocrisies, and inner battles (his relationship with his father is one he’s been grappling with for a lifetime). Bono embodies the role of a poetic performer, and his portrayal of U2’s journey and their global rise is electrifying, providing a powerful emotional release. [Reference: Review by Owen Gleiberman.]
The Chronology of Water
Kristen Stewart’s first directorial venture is an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir, which details her upbringing in a home marred by sexual abuse and her subsequent struggles to break free from its influence. Stewart portrays this narrative through a collection of vivid, impactful scenes that resonate deeply within the viewer. Imogen Poots delivers an exceptional performance as Lidia, effectively conveying both her intense desire for escape and the emptiness left behind by her tumultuous past.
Eddington
Ari Aster’s daring sociological Western thriller challenges traditional art-house norms. The story unfolds in the desert city of Eddington, New Mexico, during the summer of 2020 when COVID-19 was prevalent, and one of the early indications that it will challenge common beliefs is that the city sheriff, Joe Cross (played by Joaquin Phoenix), chooses not to wear a mask. However, COVID-19 serves as more than just a catalyst. Eddington portrays a broader image of an enraged, conspiracy-driven America teetering on the edge of madness, mirroring a significant societal fracture that the film observes with a cautious, amused apprehension. (Owen Gleiberman’s review provides further insight.)
Highest 2 Lowest
Spike Lee has elevated Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low” to unprecedented heights, crafting a thought-provoking film that combines entertainment with a poignant warning about potential cultural directions. In this remake, the character of hip-hop mogul David King (portrayed by Denzel Washington) is compelled to reassess his values following a kidnapping incident. As the story reaches its climax, David takes a firm stand, reflecting Lee’s own convictions as a filmmaker, an advocate for truth, and a respected figure in the community. (This is a summary of Peter Debruge’s review.)
Homebound
For the first time in a long while, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Hindi-language production, “Homebound,” offers a sense of urgency and relevance. This story about struggling young men attempting to break free from their circumstances serves as both a poignant character study and a powerful critique of contemporary India. The film follows the conventions of traditional Bollywood social dramas, making bold political statements directly to the camera, but the characters breathe life into this familiar cinematic style with compelling, realistic depth. (Reviewed by Siddhant Adlakha.)
It Was Just an Accident
Similar to the five main characters in Jafar Panahi’s award-winning film, they had all served time in prison and were determined to challenge authority upon their release. Despite never laying eyes on the self-righteous one-legged prosecutor who tormented them during their imprisonment, each swore they could identify him if they met him. When this very man hobbled into the auto garage where Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) worked, it sparked a series of events: Vahid abducted the man, then gathered other survivors to verify his identity and administer justice. Remarkably, in this deliberately paced drama filled with lengthy driving sequences, their grim task combined elements of Samuel Beckett’s absurdist humor with one of Quentin Tarantino’s most vengeful films. The characters’ background stories were influenced by tales Panahi heard while he was imprisoned, implying that his personal experiences in prison played a crucial role in shaping this film. (Review excerpt by Peter Debruge)
The Love That Remains
In a spiral towards surrealism, Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason’s film “The Love That Remains” presents a collection of poignantly emotional, darkly comical, and progressively chaotic scenes from a marriage. While artist Anna (Saga Gardarsdottir) is eager to part ways rather than be apart from her seafaring husband Magnus (Sverrir Gudnason), he persistently remains in the household they share with their three children, even encroaching upon her bed at times – stubbornly holding onto a shred of domestic tranquility that Anna finds increasingly unsettling. [Review forthcoming from Guy Lodge.]
The Mastermind
The world doesn’t owe you anything, so if you take from it, be prepared for it to take back from you. (Adapted from Jessica Kiang’s review.)
My Father’s Shadow
The film titled “My Father’s Shadow” masterfully achieves a remarkable duality with a straightforward plot. This moving drama, penned by brothers Akinola and Wale Davies and helmed by the latter, follows the journey of two young boys and their father over the course of a single day as they leave a remote Nigerian village for the city of Lagos. Yet, what seems to be an intimate and authentic portrayal of everyday life, subtly belies the underlying turmoil and conflict. This unexpected revelation serves as a powerful twist that significantly transforms the film into a profoundly humanistic narrative. (Review by Murtada Elfadl.)
Nouvelle Vague
In Richard Linklater’s captivating and spellbinding documentary-drama about the creation of “Breathless,” it feels as though Jean-Luc Godard (played by Guillaume Marbeck) suddenly comes to life before us in a remarkably realistic way. This eerie quality permeates throughout the entire film, transporting us to Paris in 1959, many of the same locations where “Breathless” was filmed. Godard decides to improvise his movie as he goes along, and this is exhilarating because we witness Godard’s quest to capture the essence of reality on film, thereby pushing the boundaries of cinema. It’s a delightful experience to be able to travel back in time via this film, as Linklater skillfully recreates “Breathless” with a blend of formal elegance and spontaneous flair. (Credit for this review goes to Owen Gleiberman.)
Resurrection
Seven years following “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” Bi Gan is back at Cannes with a grand, multi-layered film of ambitious scope that can be seen as five or six distinct movies, each combining elements of playfulness and peculiarity while forming part of an overall melancholic ode to the dream of 20th-century cinema. The movie’s complex ambition may prove challenging for viewers conditioned to expect simpler narratives. However, for those who yearn for the way films used to move us, it is a stunningly cinematic lesson in the forgotten art of surrender. (Read the complete review by Jessica Kiang.)
The Secret Agent
As a film enthusiast, I found “Carnaval” in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s masterpiece to be more than just a backdrop for nearly 100 deaths and disappearances; it served as a perfect cloak for the rampant corruption that suffused every corner of 1977 Recife. The atmosphere was thick with mischief, though the word seems too innocent to encapsulate the daily rot that seeped into the very fabric of this 160-minute cinematic tapestry. Mendonça’s vivid recollections transport us back to those troubled times, instilling in us a strange yearning for an era marked by such darkness. (Peter Debruge’s review provides a more comprehensive analysis.)
Sentimental Value
Although it may not be as dramatically innovative as “The Worst Person in the World,” Trier’s family drama exhibits a similar knack for presenting novel perspectives on feelings that one might assume have been fully explored in cinema. It also features Renate Reinsve, who is as unpredictable as an actress hesitant to star alongside her estranged father (Stellan Skarsgård). The lead role was specifically tailored by Gustav for Nora, and it seems that taking on this role could potentially mend their relationship, if not save both of their lives. (Review by Peter Debruge)
Sirât
In a more simplified and conversational manner:
Oliver Laxe’s film takes us on an unusual and tense journey from one remote location to another distant place. Throughout this journey, it seems as though an unfeeling God is silently controlling events, gradually reducing the number of characters, dimming their spirits, and causing them to ponder the concept of life beyond hope. For the audience, Laxe might appear as a relentless force, surprising us in ways we didn’t anticipate and may not have deserved. (Credit for the original review goes to Jessica Kiang.)
Sound of Falling
Mascha Schilinski weaves a chilling tale of four generations of girls residing on a desolate farm in northern Germany across different eras, intertwining their lives intricately. This haunting narrative, presented as a film, is both structurally sound yet not cold or stark, featuring four distinct storylines filled with mysteries, uncertainties, and shifting viewpoints. These narratives, initially separate and enigmatic, are skillfully blended together in an impressionistic manner, gradually revealing intricate, meaningful similarities between them. (Read the full review by Guy Lodge.)
Urchin
In his first directorial venture, Harris Dickinson demonstrates a penchant for unconventional, indie, and art-house projects. His film, a raw and insightful snapshot of life in grittier London, sensitively tackles the widespread issue of homelessness. The narrative revolves around a young man (Frank Dillane) who navigates between prison, hostels, and the streets, without claiming to speak for an entire marginalized group. However, it carries a powerful emotional depth and political relevance in its intimate portrayal of one individual’s struggle. [Read the full review by Guy Lodge.]
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2025-05-25 18:20