Cannes 2017: 10 Films to Keep an Eye On
Today is the official start of the 70th Cannes Film Festival. Until May 28, movie lovers in France will have their choice of 49 films from 29 countries — including nine directorial debuts and 12 features from female filmmakers. The event’s big prize — the Palm d’Or — will be selected by a jury led by Pedro Almodóvar, and comprised of Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Agnès Jaoui, Paolo Sorrentino, Maren Ade, Park Chan-wook, and Gabriel Yared. Whichever film premiering on the French Riviera over the next two weeks wins their vote, even the “also-rans” figure to include some of the year’s very best. Here are the 10 — eight in competition for the Palm d’Or, two that aren’t — that we’re most hoping to see in the near future.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Colin Farrell and director Yorgos Lanthimos follow up The Lobster — along with Nicole Kidman and Alicia Silverstone — for this psychological thriller about a teenage boy who enters into a not-very-healthy relationship with a surgeon.
The Beguiled
Sofia Coppola directs a stellar cast (led by Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning) in this remake of the 1971 Clint Eastwood thriller, about a wounded Civil War soldier who’s taken in at an all-female boarding school.
Okja
South Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho’s latest — about a young girl who strives to rescue her giant-animal BFF after he’s captured by a corporation — has caused quite a fuss on the Croisette, thanks to the fact that it’s being released by Netflix (and thus runs afoul of French rules stipulating that movies must be given a lengthy theatrical window before arriving on home platforms).
You Were Never Really Here
Six years after We Need to Talk About Kevin, director Lynne Ramsay returns with this thriller about a war veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) on a mission to save a young girl from a sex-trafficking ring.
Happy End
Austrian provocateur Michael Haneke’s previous two films — 2009’s The White Ribbon, and 2012’s Amour — both won the Palm d’Or. Naturally, all eyes are on his upcoming film starring Isabelle Huppert, reportedly a family drama set against the backdrop of the European refugee debate.
Wonderstruck
Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Brian Selznick, this drama from director Todd Haynes (Carol) features two storylines — one in 1927 and one in 1977 — about young people running away from home in search of cherished adults. It boasts a cast that includes Haynes’s Safe and Far From Heaven star Julianne Moore, as well as Michelle Williams.
Good Time
Robert Pattinson is a NYC bank robber who finds himself desperately trying to raise cash in order to bail out his partner-in-crime brother in this latest drama from Josh and Ben Safdie (Heaven Knows What).
The Meyerowitz Stories
Adam Sandler takes a break from his Netflix comedies to once again try his hand at drama in this family saga from writer-director Noah Baumbach (While We’re Young), about a New York clan reuniting to celebrate the artistic career of their father. It co-stars Ben Stiller, Candice Bergen, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman.
Before We Vanish
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of Japan’s most unconventional — and fascinating — genre filmmakers, and for his latest (screening in the Un Certain Regard portion of the fest), he’s delivering an intriguing sci-fi film about three aliens who, in preparation for a mass invasion, take control of human bodies.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Eleven years after he first warned moviegoers about the escalating dangers posed by climate change, former Vice President Al Gore returns for a follow-up, which diagnoses the current state of the planet.
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