Cannes Film Festival 2025: The mark of women

The Palme d'Or jury was launched in Cannes on May 13.

Taking place from May 13 to 24 in the southern French city of Cannes, this year's Cannes Film Festival is marked by famous actors trying their hand at directing for the first time with films competing in the Unique Perspective category (9/20 films in this category are debut works).

The phenomenon of actors becoming directors

The most anticipated is the lovely star Scarlett Johansson with the drama Eleanor the Great. Scarlett Johansson invited the actress born in... 1929 June Squibb (95 years old) to play Mrs. Eleanor, a woman who longs to make friends and build new relationships at an old age. This role is predicted by critics to be nominated for an Oscar in 2026.

Leonardo DiCaprio presents the honorary Palme d'Or to legend Robert DeNiro at Cannes 2025.

Twilight series beauty Kristen Stewart brings to Cannes 2025 the romantic biographical film The Chronology of Water, which she directed and co-wrote based on the memoir of the same name by Lidia Yuknavitch. The film revolves around an ambitious swimmer Lidia (played by Imogen Poots) who, after losing her scholarship, begins to write and explore herself to overcome her troubled past.

Meanwhile, rising young actor Harris Dickinson (Carl in 2022's Palme d'Or winner Triangle of Sadness and Samuel in 2024's Babygirl) makes his directorial debut, writing and co-producing Urchin. Like other narrative indies, Dickinson centers on a protagonist named Mike (Frank Dillane), who is trying to escape his homeless and depressed life in London.

Cannes 2025 stars include Scarlett Johansson, Tom Cruise...

The Unique Perspective category also includes films such as Pillion by director Harry Lighton starring Alexander Skarsgard; The Plague by Charlie Polinger which deals with the issue of children being discriminated against leading to psychological disorders...

Women's Film Festival Season
The highlight of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival is the overwhelming support for women when the host country's silver screen star Juliette Binoche (61 years old) is the Head of the jury for the most important competition category, the Palme d'Or. Other female judges include Hollywood star Halle Berry, Indian film producer Payal Kapadia, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan female journalist Leïla Slimani...
In the Un Certain Regard category, British director and cinematographer Molly Manning Walker (31 years old) was also invited to be the Head of the Jury. In the Caméra d'Or category for the best debut feature film, Italian director and screenwriter Alice Rohrwacher (43 years old) was invited to be the Head of the Jury. The short film and La Cinef categories also have female director and screenwriter Maren Ade (48 years old, German).

Talented people meet

More than 20 films competing for the Palme d'Or this year are fierce competitors between new works from veteran filmmakers: The Mastermind by Kelly Reichardt (USA), Die my love by Lynne Ramsay (UK), Affeksjonsverdi by Joachim Trier (Denmark), The history of sound by Oliver Hermanus (South Africa)...

Eva Longoria, Bella Hadid and Heidi Klum on the red carpet at Cannes 2025.

Besides, there is a new breeze from rising filmmakers: La Petite Derniere by female director Hafsia Herzi (France), Renoir by Hayakawa Chie (Japan), Resurrection (Wild Age) by Bi Gan (China) starring Shu Qi...

Notably, the contemporary comedy Eddington by director Ari Aster (USA) and the famous film studio A24, set in the Covid-19 pandemic era in a small town. Eddington promises to stir up the red carpet when gathering an all-star cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler...

IndieWire, a film critic site, has praised the work Alpha by French female director Julia Ducournau (who won the 2021 Palme d'Or with the shocking psychological horror film Titane). With the strength of exploiting the status of women in society, Ducournau's new film tells the fierce path of maturity of the main character of the same name, played by young actress Mélissa Boros.

Tom Cruise "takes a plane" to Cannes 2025
The premiere of the Hollywood blockbuster Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning by director Christopher Mcquarrie, starring Tom Cruise as spy Ethan Hunt, is the most anticipated entertainment blockbuster at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, even though it is not in the competition category.
At the age of 62, the “King of Action Movies” Tom Cruise still takes on the most daring action scenes – such as hanging from a plane in the air while filming without a stunt double or abusing CGI effects – to bring authenticity and satisfaction to the audience who have loved this series since 1996. There are even opinions that Tom Cruise deserves to be nominated for an acting award at the 2026 Oscars.
CNN believes that the final film in the Mission: Impossible series, after its premiere at Cannes 2025, could reap billion-dollar box office revenue, similar to the film Maverick that Tom Cruise premiered at Cannes 2022.

Khanh Kien

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202505/lien-hoan-phim-cannes-2025-dau-an-cua-phai-dep-a4c2d91/