This year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival may be light on studio movies and American star power so far, but by day four, we\u2019ve already been hit with six films in competition that have varying chances at achieving a global profile. Some have North American distributors already, others are looking for a buyer. Some (like Asghar Farhadi\u2019s \u201cParallel Tales\u201d) were polarizing, for example, on the Screen International jury grid, but others (like Pawel Pawlikowski\u2019s \u201cFatherland\u201d) were more broadly revered.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at titles in the competition that are vying to win the Palme d\u2019Or, and where they stack up.<\/p>\n
The festival opened on Tuesday, May 12, with Pierre Salvadori\u2019s French farce \u201cThe Electric Kiss<\/a>,\u201d which is unlikely to make much noise among the jury led by Park Chan-wook, though it is in competition and technically eligible. That romantic comedy\u2019s journey likely ends here in France, where the film has already opened.<\/p>\n Jurors include Chilean filmmaker Diego C\u00e9spedes, Ivorian actor Isaach de Bankol\u00e9, Irish-Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, actresses Demi Moore and Ruth Negga, actor Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd, Belgian director Laura Wandel, and Chinese Oscar-winning director Chlo\u00e9 Zhao. Jurors year after year have mercurial tastes, which makes it an often fruitless effort to try and predict these things ahead of time.<\/p>\n The most divisive out of the competition so far, \u201cParallel Tales\u201d suffered mostly poor reviews in the trades, but its very French cast (including Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Cassel, and Virginie Efira) made it a logical competition entry. Farhadi has ceased making movies in Iran until the ban on showing women sans headscarf onscreen is lifted, but this loose Krzysztof Kie\u015blowski adaptation set in Paris played to a muted response in the Palais \u2014 and amongst reviewers. A Palme contender this one does not make; it is looking for a buyer.<\/p>\n Two Japanese films are earning warm reviews (and sizable standing ovations), with Koji Fukada\u2019s rural artist portrait \u201cNagi Notes<\/a>\u201d (acquisitions title) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi\u2019s immense story of unexpected friendship at the end of one\u2019s life, \u201cAll of a Sudden<\/a>\u201d (Neon); it also stars Virginie Efira, who\u2019s lined up as a potential Cannes Best Actress prize. Hamaguchi won the Best Screenplay award in 2021 for eventual Oscar winner \u201cDrive My Car.\u201d Re: Fukada, it\u2019s his first time in competition after debuting \u201cLove on Trial\u201d out of comp in 2025; back in 2016, he won the Un Certain Regard jury prize for \u201cHarmonium.\u201d<\/p>\n Isabelle Huppert at the premiere of \u2018Parallel Tales\u2019 at the 79th Festival de Cannes held at Palais des Festivals on May 14, 2026 in Cannes, FranceEarl Gibson III\/Deadline<\/p>\n Almost everyone\u2019s been on board for Pawel Pawlikowski\u2019s Thomas Mann postwar road trip movie \u201cFatherland<\/a>\u201d (MUBI), which stars Sandra H\u00fcller, one of the most celebrated European actors currently working (she won the Berlinale best actress prize this year for \u201cRose,\u201d also coming from MUBI). It earned glowing reviews and a strong response on Thursday. The Polish \u201cIda\u201d filmmaker won the Cannes best director prize in 2018 for \u201cCold War,\u201d his most recent narrative feature. Told in that film\u2019s starkly composed, black-and-white style that keeps generous emotions on reserve until they are unleashed by the end, \u201cFatherland\u201d is bound to win something out of Cannes unless every other movie that follows it is a masterpiece (we still have 18 competition titles to look at).<\/p>\n Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet\u2019s \u201cA Woman\u2019s Life<\/a>\u201d debuted early in the festival, and stars beloved French actress L\u00e9a Drucker as a surgeon who strikes up a middle-aged fling with a writer. Response has been mixed to good, and Drucker is always a candidate for a Cannes best actress prize (she\u2019s never won).<\/p>\n By the way, the buzziest films at Cannes haven\u2019t even been in the competition \u2014 two Un Certain Regard titles, Jane Schoenbrun\u2019s \u201cTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma\u201d and Jordan Firstman\u2019s directing debut \u201cClub Kid,\u201d heated up the first week of the festival. The latter comedy is seeking a buyer.<\/p>\n Next up, we have Marie Kreutzer\u2019s \u201cGentle Monster,\u201d Hirokazu Kore-eda\u2019s \u201cSheep in the Box,\u201d James Gray\u2019s \u201cPaper Tiger,\u201d and more to check out over the coming days. Below, here are the best odds for these films so far. Please remember these are educated guesses based on reviews and word of mouth \u2014 a jury\u2019s gonna jury, after all.<\/p>\n \u201cFatherland,\u201d Pawel Pawlikowski Still to come:<\/p>\n \u201cMinotaur,\u201d Andrey Zvyagintsev Sign up for Indiewire’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival may be light on studio movies and American star power so far, but by day four, we\u2019ve already been hit with six films in competition that have varying chances at achieving a global profile. Some have North American distributors already, others are looking for a buyer. 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Palme d\u2019Or Contenders Ranked<\/h2>\n
\u201cAll of a Sudden,\u201d Ryusuke Hamaguchi
\u201cNagi Notes,\u201d Kohi Fukada
\u201cA Woman\u2019s Life,\u201d Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
\u201cThe Electric Kiss,\u201d Pierre Salvadori
\u201cParallel Tales,\u201d Asghar Farhadi<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Beloved,\u201d Rodrigo\u00a0Sorogoyen\u00a0\u00a0
\u201cThe Man I Love,\u201d\u00a0Ira Sachs\u00a0
\u201cPaper Tiger,\u201d James Gray
\u201cMoulin,\u201d L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Nemes
\u201cHistoires de la Nuit,\u201d L\u00e9a\u00a0Mysius\u00a0
\u201cFjord,\u201d Cristian Mungiu
\u201cNotre Salut,\u201d Emmanuel Marre
\u201cGentle Monster,\u201d Marie Kreutzer\u00a0\u00a0
\u201cNagi Notes,\u201d Koji Fukada
\u201cHope,\u201d Na Hong-Jin
\u201cSheep in the Box,\u201d Hirokazu Kore-eda
\u201cGarance,\u201d Jeanne Herry
\u201cThe Unknown,\u201d Arthur Harari
\u201cThe Dreamed Adventure,\u201d Valeska Grisebach
\u201cCoward,\u201d Lukas Dhont
\u201cThe Black Ball,\u201d Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo
\u201cBitter Christmas,\u201d Pedro Almod\u00f3var<\/p>\n