Our 20 Most Awaited Premieres at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival

      It’s the most thrilling time of the year for film enthusiasts: the Cannes Film Festival is set to begin next week, from May 13th to 25th. In anticipation of the events, we have compiled a list of our top picks to watch for, and while we expect plenty of surprises, as always, here are twenty films that should be on your radar. Check out our selections below and remember to subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest updates from the festival.

      **Alpha (Julia Ducournau)**

      Setting a high standard after winning the Palme d’Or for her previous film is quite the challenge, but it’s also one of the best dilemmas a filmmaker can face. Four years after Spike Lee’s jury awarded the prestigious prize to the first female director in Cannes's history with one of the most intense films ever to take home the Palme, the bold writer-director Julia Ducournau returns with her next project, a somewhat under wraps narrative featuring 13-year-old Alpha who returns home with a tattoo, provoking her mother's fury. While car babies may be absent, the single war-torn first-look photo released suggests that Emma Mackey's starring role may be just as thought-provoking as Titane, albeit in a different manner. – Luke H.

      **After (Oliver Laxe)**

      Oliver Laxe, whose earlier film Fire Will Come premiered in Un Certain Regard and had a successful festival circuit globally, is back with Sirat, also known as After. This film, which will premiere in the main competition at Cannes, tells the story of a father and son who travel to Morocco to find the daughter who goes missing at a rave. With an intriguing trailer, this film could become one of the standout features of the festival. – Jordan R.

      **Eddington (Ari Aster)**

      One of the most awaited films of the entire festival, Ari Aster and Joaquin Phoenix’s second collaboration seems to address the theme of pandemic-era fear. The chaotic teaser and tagline (“Hindsight is 2020”) certainly hint at this topic. Few subjects are less inviting, but Aster has proven to be a director of trust. With cinematography by Darius Khondji and co-starring Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal, and Austin Butler, among others, Eddington signals Aster’s return to mainstream cinema after his less conventional outing with Beau Is Afraid. – Luke H.

      **Die, My Love (Lynne Ramsay)**

      After eight years since the unforgettable experience of You Were Never Really Here, renowned Glasgow filmmaker Lynne Ramsay returns with the much-anticipated competition entry. Following a late-summer to early-fall shoot in 2024, Ramsay has expedited the post-production of her fifth feature, Die, My Love, based on Argentine Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel, Matate, amor. The Martin Scorsese-produced film explores a mother's struggle with her own psychosis in a “remote forgotten rural area” and has been categorized by Ramsay as a psychological horror-thriller and dark comedy. The cast includes Jennifer Lawrence as the mother, Robert Pattinson as her husband, and LaKeith Stanfield as her lover, with Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte in supporting roles. – Luke H.

      **Heads or Tails? (Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis)**

      Directors Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppi, known for their enchanting work The Tale of King Crab, are back with a new feature premiering in Un Certain Regard. Starring alongside Alessandro Borghi and Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Heads or Tails? features John C. Reilly as Buffalo Bill, recounting a real-life 1890 tour in Naples and Rome of his iconic “Wild West” show. Their previous film showcased a transporting, dreamlike vision, and we anticipate an expanded scope with Reilly. – Jordan R.

      **Highest 2 Lowest (Spike Lee)**

      Spike Lee’s first narrative feature in five years carries significant expectations. Highest 2 Lowest, his reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s crime classic High and Low, reunites him with Denzel Washington, following their collaborations on Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man. The film features Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, and A$AP Rocky, and follows Washington as a prominent music mogul involved in a ransom plot set in New York City. With Apple and A24 planning a late-summer release, it seems likely that this film will land in the popcorn entertainment territory reminiscent of Inside Man, while also making a significant impact at Cannes. – Jordan R.

      **The History of Sound (Oliver Hermanus)**

      The first of several features starring Josh O’Connor, supported by MUBI, this period drama from director Oliver Hermanus focuses on a gay narrative. The History of Sound, adapted