The 78^th Cannes Film Festival came to a close last weekend, winding down the annual French film fever which takes over the glamorous Côte d’Azur hotspot of Cannes throughout May. While the world’s biggest celebrities and actors took to the red carpet on the La Croisette – think Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence and Daisy Edgar-Jones (see our favourite looks here) – despite appearances, Cannes is first and foremost about the films, not the fashion. Established in 1946 – although initially scheduled for 1938 before the Second World War scuppered its plans – the festival is now the most prestigious cinematic gathering in the world, revered as a launchpad for many actors’ and directors’ careers. 

Beyond simply premiering, each film screened at Cannes is judged by an expert panel – this year including Juliette Binoche and Jeremy Strong – with the Palme d’Or being the highest prize, awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film. This year it went to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for his drama It Was Just an Accident. The equally prestigious Honorary Palme d’Ors were given to Robert De Niro during the festival’s opening ceremony and Denzel Washington before the world premiere of Highest 2 Lowest, which came as a surprise, last-minute decision. 

But which of the 22 films shown throughout the festival are really worth your time? We’ve rounded up the six most interesting, thought provoking and noteworthy movies – and when you can expect to see them landing on a screen near you. 

The Phoenician Scheme

Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton
Release date: In cinemas now

Wes Anderson fans are getting exactly what they want from his latest film: The Phoenician Scheme. A darkly comedic tale of espionage and business, the movie is set in the 1950s and follows wealthy business mogul Zsa-zsa Korda, played by Benicio del Toro, as he appoints his only daughter, a nun named Liesl (played by Kate Winslet’s daughter, Mia Threapleton), as sole heir to his estate after the sixth attempt on his life. 

As Korda embarks on a new business venture, father and daughter soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins, while Liesl is also on a mission to avenge her murdered mother. A mish-mash of personalities, aesthetics and character developments, The Phoenician Scheme has been dubbed a Wes Anderson masterclass and one of his best films in a decade. You heard it here first. 

Eddington

Director: Ari Arister
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix
Release date: 22 August 2025

Highlighting an era many would rather forget, director and filmmaker Ari Arister focuses on the 2020 pandemic in his new film, Eddington. Rather than setting the movie in a science lab or political hub, instead, Arister decided to hone in on a rural community in the fictional New Mexico town of Eddington. Renowned for his work on horror films such as Hereditary and Midsommar, Eddington follows Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), an anti-masker sheriff who has a stand-off with the charismatic mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), as he attempts to build a data centre in the small town. Set against a backdrop of building resentment towards Garcia’s plan and Covid restrictions, as well as the Black Lives Matter uprising, Cross decides to run against him. 

Eddington was a huge conversation starter at Cannes, with the BFI slating it as a “misguided pandemic satire” and criticising its ‘weak’ script. Make up your own mind when it debuts in UK cinemas this summer. 

Sentimental Value

Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgård
Release date: TBC 2025

Director Joachim Trier’s last film, The Worst Person in the World (2021), not only catapulted him into the Hollywood spotlight, but took its leading lady, Renate Reinsve, with him. The Norwegian actress returns in Trier’s latest work, Sentimental Value: a coming-of-age family drama centred around two sisters, a tyrant of a father and their tense Oslo home. Also starring Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning, it received rave reviews throughout the festival, with many naming it 2025’s best film. Given Trier’s aforementioned 2021 project was nominated for two Oscars, and the fact this film received a whopping 19-minute standing ovation at Cannes (in comparison, Parasite only got eight minutes), we’re predicting big things… 

Sirât

Director: Óliver Laxe
Starring: Sergi López
Release date: TBC 2025

One of the early noteworthy films of this year’s Cannes Festival came from Spanish director Óliver Laxe, whose inaugural competition entry turned out to be one of the most exciting. Described as “a charged meditation on grief and possibility in a world edging toward collapse” by The Hollywood Reporter, the premise follows Luis (Sergi López) who ventures into the Moroccan desert with his son in tow after his daughter disappears at a rave. What follows is a series of darkly comic twists and turns designed to take the audience by surprise. Shot on Super 16mm film, with Laxe admitting that the production team faced intense heat and sandstorms while filming in Morocco, Sirât is worth watching for the incredible cinematography alone. 

The History of Sound

Director: Oliver Hermanus
Starring: Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor, Chris Cooper
Release date: TBC 2025

Two of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors – Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor – star in this romping gay romance, an adaptation of Ben Shattuck’s 2024 short story of the same name. Set in Maine during the beginnings of the First World War, aspiring musicians Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor) embark on a secret relationship one summer while studying at the New England Conservatory. Directed by South African writer and director Oliver Hemanus, the film jumps through different time periods, with an older version of Lionel (Chris Cooper) reflecting on this carefree chapter of his life that comes to an abrupt end when David is drafted to fight and Lionel is summoned back to his family farm in Kentucky. 

The film certainly had its admirers at Cannes, but the BBC stated “the film could do with far more passion and urgency”, while the Guardian said “the love scenes are at half-throttle”. Unsurprisingly given its subject matter, however, The History of Sound may be worth seeing for the soundtrack alone, with many critics commenting it is as much about the music as it is about the love story. 

Urchin

Director: Harrison Dickinson
Starring: Frank Dillane
Release date: TBC 

The directorial debut of Harris Dickinson – a British actor famed for his appearances in Babygirl and Blitz, and who has just been cast as John Lennon in an upcoming Beatles biopic – Urchin was a bold competition entry that seems to have resonated (on the most part) with critics. The story follows Mike (Frank Dillane): a rough sleeper in London who is trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. It won serious praise for its tone and ability to humanise its hero instead of villainising him, and its cinematography. Perhaps we will see more of Dickinson’s work behind the camera – watch this space… 

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