Works to look forward to at Cannes Film Festival 2025

The Cannes Film Festival, which takes place from May 13 to 24, features many works by famous directors and actors. Hollywood brings projects by Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Emma Stone, and Jennifer Lawrence. The Film Stage and Vanity Fair magazine review the highlights of the 78th festival.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

The film, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, is part of the non-competitive film program. The content continues the events in the seventh part Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). At this time, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is on a mission to prevent assassin Gabriel (Esai Morales) from obtaining an artificial intelligence program called "Entity", which holds all known human knowledge, including top secret information of intelligence agents. In the film, Tom Cruise performs many dangerous stunts such as hanging from a plane, jumping into the sea and fighting with enemies, promising to stir up the atmosphere at Cannes.

Scene from the movie "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning". Photo: Paramount Pictures

Die, My Love

Jennifer Lawrence in "Die, My Love". Photo: Black Label Media

Eight years after You Were Never Really Here (2017), British director Lynne Ramsay returns with a new project called Die, My Love . The film is a black comedy and psychological horror, adapted from the novel Matate, amor by Argentine writer Ariana Harwicz. The script revolves around a woman battling a mental disorder in a remote countryside. Jennifer Lawrence plays the female lead, Robert Pattinson plays the husband. LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte also join the cast.

The Phoenician Scheme

Trailer "The Phoenician Scheme". Video : Focus Features

Following two Cannes premieres - The French Dispatch and Asteroid City , director Wes Anderson brings a comedy crime film competing for the Palme d'Or. Actor Benicio del Toro plays millionaire Zsa-zsa Korda, who survived six plane crashes. He has nine sons and one daughter - nun Liesel (played by Mia Threapleton), designating her as the sole heir. When Korda builds a new business, they become the target of gangs. The project also stars Michael Cera, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe.

Eddington

Joaquin Phoenix (left) and Pedro Pascal in the movie "Eddington". Photo: A24

The film is in the competition category, directed by Ari Aster - who has had success with Hereditary , Midsommar , Beau Is Afraid . The story is set during the social distancing period in 2020, actor Joaquin Phoenix plays the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico. He ignores quarantine regulations, confronts the incumbent mayor (played by Pedro Pascal) in an election that takes place during the lockdown. The film has Ari Aster's familiar surreal horror style, bringing together stars Emma Stone, Austin Butler and Michael Ward.

Highest 2 Lowest

Denzel Washington in "Highest 2 Lowest". Photo: David Lee

Directed by Spike Lee, the film was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (1963). Denzel Washington plays a New York music mogul at the height of his career who becomes the victim of blackmail when his chauffeur's son is mistakenly kidnapped. The non-competitive project marks Lee and Denzel Washington's first collaboration since Inside Man (2006).

Alpha

Scene from the movie "Alpha". Photo: Petit Film

Director Julia Ducournau - who won the Palme d'Or for her "shocking" Titane - returns to the top competition with her personal work. The story follows a 13-year-old girl who is shunned by everyone because she is suspected of having a rare disease. One day, she comes home from school with a tattoo on her arm, facing the anger of her mother.

The History of Sound

Director Oliver Hermanus and actor Paul Mescal on the set of "The History of Sound". Photo: Fair Winter

Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor, promising faces of world cinema in recent years, combine in the film directed by Oliver Hermanus. The content tells the story of the meeting between two men, then traveling together, recording folk songs in rural New England during World War I. The work opens up a slice of history, interwoven with traditional melodies passed down through the decades.

The Mastermind

Josh O'Connor in "The Mastermind". Photo: Mubi

American director Kelly Reichardt returns to Cannes three years after his 2022 film Showing Up . This time, the story is set in the 1970s, about a carpenter (Josh O'Connor) who turns to amateur art theft amid the social upheavals of that era. In addition to O'Connor, the cast includes John Magaro, Alana Haim, Hope Davis and Gaby Hoffmann.

New Wave

Guillaume Marbeck stars as director Jean-Luc Godard in "Nouvelle Vague". Photo: ARP Productions

Nouvelle Vague, in the main competition category, is director Richard Linklater's second film to premiere this year, following Blue Moon at the 2025 Berlinale Film Festival. The comedy explores the beginnings of the French New Wave art film movement in the 1960s, delving behind the scenes of Jean-Luc Godard's classic Breathless .

Resurrection

A scene from the movie "Resurrection". Photo: Huace Pictures

Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan's film was announced as a last-minute contender for the Palme d'Or. The story follows a woman (Shu Qi) trapped in an "eternal time zone" after surgery. She wakes up in the year 2068 to find herself the sole survivor of a devastated world. Throughout her dreams, she finds a half-human, half-robot corpse and attempts to awaken it with countless stories. As the robot gradually becomes conscious and awakens through the narration, the protagonist is faced with a decision: Return to reality or stay with the strange creature she has developed feelings for.

Sentimental Value

Actresses Renate Reinsve (left) and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in the film "Sentimental Value". Photo: Mer Film

Norwegian director Joachim Trier returns to compete for Cannes' top prize after The Worst Person in the World (2021). He reunites with star Renate Reinsve - winner of Best Actress at Cannes 2021 - in this project, along with Hollywood artists such as Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning. The content conveys a message about the reconciling power of art, telling the story of two sisters trying to mend their relationship with their biological father, a famous filmmaker, after the death of their mother.

In addition to the above films, brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne return with The Young Mother's Home ( Jeunes Mères ), which is in the official competition list. Actors making their directorial debuts include Kristen Stewart ( The Chronology of Water ), Scarlett Johansson ( Eleanor the Great ) and Harris Dickinson ( Urchin ).

Several Asian filmmakers have work at this year's festival, such as Filipino director Lav Diaz. with Magellan , Koji Fukada ( Love on Trial ), both in the Cannes Premiere section. After Plan 75 won a Special Mention in the 2022 Cannes Caméra d'Or section, Japanese director Chie Hayakawa returns with Renoir in the main competition. Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's A Useful Ghost , starring Mai Davika, is in the International Critics' Week.