10 Most Anticipated Cannes 2026 Films
The FOMO is strong with this one.
The 79th edition of the most prestigious film festival in the world is well underway, with nearly a third of the films in Competition already screened and on the grid. The ferocious pace of the Cannes Film Festival can only be matched by the nostalgic weight of the monstrous FOMO I’m feeling. It’s been almost a decade since I was last at Cannes myself, and while I don’t miss the grotesque queues, the unforgiving heat, the sleep deprivation or the ingrained elitism, I definitely miss watching new films from revered arthouse masters and discovering arthouse gems from new-to-me filmmakers.
This article is my way of coping. Personal life stuff has kept me away from the site and movies in general these past few months, so this could also be a good way to defibrillate the dormant cinephile in me. If I was at the Croisette this year, 10 movies vying for the prize more golden than the Oscar, and that still haven’t screened, would excite me the most. But first, a few confessions.
Confession #1: To make things easier, I’ve narrowed the scope to only the Palme d’Or nominees. I have no doubt that, just like almost every year, Cannes will deliver some knockouts from the other columns - ‘Un Certain Regarde’ is notoriously fertile ground for wonderful discoveries - but I wanted to get this piece out ASAP, so I’m only looking at the competition.
Confession #2: Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales was part of the original list because Farhadi is a bonafide master who rarely misses and A Separation (2011) is a masterpiece, but his latest opened to abysmal reviews before I had a chance to write this article so my anticipation fell off a cliff. The alternate came in at #10.
Confession #3: There are two films that were part of the original list from the start, but that have already screened, and that I couldn’t remove from the list for the same reason I removed Parallel Tales. Namely, the positive response to them have made me anticipate them even more and removing them would’ve felt disingenuous.
And so with that, my 10 most anticipated Cannes 2026 Palme d’Or nominees are…
10. Another Day (dir. Jeanne Herry)
Plot in a nutshell
A troubled Parisian actress battles alcoholism and anxiety and finds herself on a personal journey of self-renewal thanks to her devotion to her sick sister and a blossoming romance.
I deliberately wanted to pick a few wild cards because that’s a huge part of the beauty of festivals - pleasant surprises from unexpected films. This is giving me A Woman Under the Influence (1974) meets Smashed (2012) vibes, and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Colour) is a magnetic on-screen presence and with the right material can help you get get lost, and found again, in an ocean of emotion. Jeanne Herry would’ve been a discovery for me, but my Spidey sense is tingling around this being one of those hidden gems packing a powerhouse performance.
9. The Beloved (dir. Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
Plot in a nutshell
A legendary director casts his estranged daughter in a new film, reopening old wounds that neither want to address.
Another shot in the dark in terms of directors, but I simply wouldn’t be able to resist a film that basically sounds like Spanish Sentimental Value (a.k.a. the best film of 2025). To top it off it’s Javier Bardem in Spanish (a.k.a. the best Bardem) and it has all the makings of being a fascinating exploration of fragile family ties intertwined with the messy magic of making movies.
Extra brownie points for the film’s PR team, which has given download access to the film’s full press kit in English. Muy bien.
8. The Unknown (dir. Arthur Harari)
Plot in a nutshell
A photographer attends a crazy party and gets fixated on a mysterious woman only to wake up inside her body a few hours later.
This could really backfire on me because if not executed well it could end up as a poor man’s Black Mirror episode or some kind of failed ode to David Cronenberg. But Harari co-wrote Anatomy of a Fall for which he deservedly won an Oscar, so he knows how to execute to perfection. At least in the writer’s room. The cast led by the excellent Léa Seydoux also featured whacky Romanian director Radu Jude so that just makes me even more intrigued.
7. Fatherland (dir. Paweł Pawlikowski)
Plot in a nutshell
One of Germany’s most celebrated authors, Thomas Mann, takes a road trip with his daughter across post-WW2 Germany in 1949, where both national and familial wounds are exposed and confronted.
I didn’t love Pawlikowski’s Cold War (2018), and I adore crisp black and white cinematography as much as anyone, but this one has a few more things going for it despite my WW2 fatigue. For one, Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, Zone of Interest) is on a roll and she really knows how to pick them. And as a student of literature and history, with a copy of The Magic Mountain staring at me from my bookshelf dying to be read one day, I wouldn’t be able to resist.
Also, this is one of the films that have already screened to thunderously positive reviews, so of course I want to see it even more now.
6. Coward (dir. Lukas Dhont)
Plot in a nutshell
Two soldiers put on a theatre show to distract and provide escape from the brutality of the First World War.
Lukas Dhont’s Close (2022) is a magnificent film so his next one was always going to be on my radar. Coupled with the fact that this takes a look at WW1 - a far less beaten path than its more popular sequel - and that it tackles one of the most interesting psychological themes in my wheelhouse, coping with trauma through art, I was always going to be looking forward to this one. The only thing I’m not looking forward to is the amount of times critics will play with the phrase ‘theatre of war’.
5. Fjord (dir. Cristian Mungiu)
Plot in a nutshell
Tranquility in a close-knit fjord community is disturbed when a young girl from a Romanian-Norwegian family, the Gheorghius, comes to school with bruises and the family’s upbringing methods become questioned.
How anyone can look at Sebastian Stan in that still and not immediately want to watch the film, I don’t know. Of course it’s not just Stan, who is really putting all of his MCU buddies to shame with the projects and director’s he’s picking, but the mesmerising Renate Reinsve and the Romanian master Cristian Mungiu who together make up a truly impressive and exciting creative trio. The story and location are also ingredients for a potential masterstroke.
4. Paper Tiger (dir. James Gray)
Plot in a nutshell
Two brothers get involved with the wrong Russian mafiosos, and their entire world is tested and threatened as a result.
James Gray is easily one of the best American filmmakers working today. While Armageddon Time (2022) wasn’t anywhere near his best effort, everything that came before it - from Ad Astra (2019) to The Immigrant (2013) and beyond - is exquisite filmmaking, supercharged with emotional nuance and gravitas that’s quite unlike anything else. A new Gray film with a crime element and a cast featuring Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson is, therefore, a no-brainer for this list.
3. All of a Sudden (dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
Plot in a nutshell
A deep friendship between an elderly care-home director and a Japanese theatre director battling cancer informs the former’s desire to cling on to what is so rare these days: dignity and compassion.
Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car (2021) is one of the best films of the century, and this is the second film that has already screened at Cannes to rave reviews. What else is there to say, really?
2. Minotaur (dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Plot in a nutshell
In Russia in 2022, a successful business man’s meticulous life begins to unravel in unexpected ways under corporate pressure in an increasingly fraught world.
For those who may not know, Andrey Zvyagintsev - whom I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing twice in Cannes, once for Leviathan (2014) and again for Loveless (2017) - almost died during Covid. Plans for an English-language film were scrapped (or put on hold? Not sure) so he is now, thankfully, back with another scathing allegorical tale of corruption and violence in his own backyard. Set in the same year Russia decided to do something about NATO and American meddling with Ukraine, I’m sure the film’s politics will be obvious but I simply do not care. Zvyagintsev is too much of master, easily one of the best in the business, and I cannot wait to hear news about this one.
1. Hope (dir. Na Hong-jin)
Plot in a nutshell
A remote police outpost, local villagers and mountain folk all face a mysterious and terrifying beast in the wilderness, while communication to any reinforcement is cut off due to wildfires.
Finally, Na Hong-jin is back after The Wailing (2016) - one of the best horror films of the century - with Hope, which has all the markings of another insanely entertaining and chaotic ride. One of my proudest achievements as a critic was leading the buzz for The Wailing and getting a pull quote on the poster and trailer, so that sweet-n-salty wave of nostalgia is definitely playing a role here and bumping Hong-jin to number one.
Pull quotes or no, I would still be clamouring like a man possessed to get into the Palais on the day of this screening. To make things even more intriguing, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander are part of the cast, playing characters called Ma’veyyo and J’aur. I need this. Now.
For a full look at the Competition lineup - including films from big names like Pedro Almodovar and László Nemes that didn’t meet my high anticipatory standards - visit the Cannes Film Festival’s official website.