The 2026 Cannes Film Festival is drawing to a close with a consensus that this has not been a vintage year, with some critics comparing it unfavourably to the infamous 2003 edition. The absence of major Hollywood studio films in the official selection has been noted, though the real disappointment has come from established auteurs who delivered average works.
Films from directors such as László Nemes, Pedro Almodóvar, Asghar Farhadi, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Cristian Mungiu and Ira Sachs were largely seen as mediocre. Notable exceptions included Andrey Zvyagintsev's 'Minotaur', a powerful exploration of Russia's collective trauma over Ukraine, and Paweł Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland', a historical drama about Thomas Mann post-war Germany.
Other praised entries include Rodrigo Sorogoyen's 'The Beloved', a harrowing look at emotional abuse in the film industry, and Marie Kreutzer's 'Gentle Monster', a brutal study of a married man's secret. The French films were variable, with Emmanuel Marre's 'Notre Salut' standing out as a study of Vichy France bureaucracy.
Critics have pointed to the 'Europudding' mix of co-productions as a problem, with films like Hamaguchi's 'All of a Sudden' and Mungiu's 'Fjord' failing to provide meaningful insights into their dual settings. The festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, remains wide open, with predictions favouring Zvyagintsev or Pawlikowski.
