Cannes 2024: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival is when I finally decided it's not worth debating whether a particular edition was "good" or "bad." Truth is, every Cannes is filled with triumphs, misfires, disappointments, underappreciated gems, surprises, and movies you liked a lot more (or a lot less) than your colleagues did. And because the festival doesn't necessarily front-load its strongest offerings, you really have no idea where the annual ebbs and flows will land. You have to take Cannes in its entirety, judging it not by one day but by the whole two-week experience. There's no festival like it because it's longer and, therefore, harder to process as it's happening. Only distance will tell you for sure -- and even then, you may be shocked to catch up with a few films you missed (or revisit ones you saw) and discover what a great year it had actually been. There's no such thing as a "bad" Cannes, just degrees of good.

That said, do I think I found a film this year that could match 2023's twin stunners in The Zone of Interest and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell? No, but looking over my rankings, I'm pleased by how many strong films I saw, with the possibility of more bangers to come. (I wish I'd had time for The Balconettes, The Kingdom, Armand, Black Dog, Flow, Santosh, Viet and Nam and others. And I wish my screening of Universal Language had had English subtitles like it claimed it would.) 

Here's a list of everything I saw at Cannes, from worst to best, with links leading to individual reviews. And please note that I'm not including the first half of the restoration of Abel Nance's extraordinary Napoleon, which I saw and was completely blown away by.

34. Megalopolis
33. The Surfer
32. The Second Act
31. The Apprentice
30. Oh, Canada
29. Beating Hearts
28. Emilia Perez
27. Wild Diamond
26. Rumours
25. The Shrouds
24. Visiting Hours
23. Misericordia
22. Being Maria
21. I, the Executioner
20. Motel Destino
19. The Substance
18. It's Not Me
17. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point
16. Elementary
15. The Girl With the Needle
14. Bird
13. Three Kilometers to the End of the World
12. Blue Sun Palace
11. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
10. Eephus
9. Good One
8. The Invasion
7. All We Imagine as Light
6. Anora
5. Grand Tour
4. Caught by the Tides
3. Kinds of Kindness
2. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
1. September Says

A few words about my No. 1 film. I went into Ariane Labed's directorial debut basically blind. (I knew the plot description, plus who had worked on the movie.) And from the first moment, I was enraptured, its spell never breaking. September Says (pictured above) was part of Un Certain Regard, but it crushed me more completely than anything in the Competition, although Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig got awfully close. When I review movies at a festival, I go home straight from the screening and write -- I don't talk to anyone or check online reactions. So I'm basically in a bubble, unaware of how others feel, and what I quickly discovered was that I was higher on September Says than, basically, anyone else. (As one colleague, who hadn't seen it, put it derisively, "It sounds like a Toronto film.") Maybe a second viewing will diminish the film in my estimation -- maybe revisits of The Seed of the Sacred Fig or Caught by the Tides or Anora or All We Imagine as Light will vault them up the rankings. But for now, this tale of two peculiar sisters -- too delicate and strange for this world -- earns the top spot.

Because I am historically awful at predicting the Palme d'Or winner, my guess is worth nothing. Nonetheless, I'm with the consensus that it's going to be either All We Imagine as Light or The Seed of the Sacred Fig. It's impossible to know what a Cannes jury will go for, but my gut tells me that All We Imagine as Light's gentle beauty will win out over The Seed of the Sacred Fig's darker, more challenging tone -- although filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof's emotional appearance at the latter's premiere may be too much for the jury to resist. Could Anora pull off the upset? Emilia Perez? Absolutely. But I'm going with All We Imagine as Light, which premiered late this year and has all the momentum going into the weekend. Not that you should bet your mortgage on my hunch.  

My 2024 Cannes Preview

What are the films I'm most intrigued by this year at the world's most prestigious festival? Take a look.

Your 2024 Cannes Competition Preview

This was very fun: For RogerEbert.com, I wrote about every film that will be screening in the Official Competition at Cannes. (A few more movies are expected to be added in the next couple weeks.) Which movie, sight unseen, do I think has the best chance of winning the Palme d'Or? Read on.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Reviewing 'Haunted Mansion,' 'Talk to Me,' 'War Pony' and 'Sympathy for the Devil'

Katie Walsh and I were on KCRW Thursday to discuss this weekend's new releases. It's always fun being on with her. You can hear our conversation down below. 

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: The Wizarding World, Bayhem and 'Cow'

After taking a week off, we're back with reviews of three new movies. We weren't fans of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, but we both liked Ambulance and Andrea Arnold's latest, which is her first documentary. 

Hear the whole thing down below.

Cannes 2021: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

For most of the year, I assumed I wouldn't be attending the 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Partly, that was because I figured there wasn't going to be a festival due to the ongoing pandemic. (And if it was held, the odds were good that American journalists wouldn't be allowed to travel to it.) Well, all that changed in late May, and quickly I found myself throwing together plans to fly to France, which included figuring out Covid protocols that seemingly changed on a daily basis -- not just for air travel but for the festival itself. I was hardly alone in feeling a little discombobulated: The other U.S. critics I knew who were going were all trying to decipher confusing and contradictory information, too.

But I made it, and I'm so glad I did. I haven't traveled to a film festival since Sundance 2020, and it's remarkable how quickly muscle memory kicked in. I joked over the last several months about being out of festival shape, which isn't so much about physical conditioning as it is the rush-rush-rush, grind-grind-grind of doing a festival on a daily basis, which requires a lot of patience, stamina and a willingness to be flexible. Considering we were taking part in an international event in the midst of a pandemic, not to mention enduring a new press ticketing system and an unpredictable Covid testing program, the ability to go with the flow was crucial. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Because this year's Cannes was super-sized, packed with more films than usual, it was inevitable that I wouldn't be able to see everything on my wish list. The 2021 edition may have featured more options, but there's still only a finite amount of time to see films, and with reviewing responsibilities taking priority, I had to make peace with the fact that I would have to let promising movies like Vortex, Petrov's Flu, The Velvet Underground, Ali & Ava and Paris, 13th District slip away. I'll get to them eventually. 

So, let's get to the rankings. Links lead to individual reviews....  

29. Flag Day
28. Where Is Anne Frank
27. Stillwater
26. The Stronghold
25. Nitram
24. Annette 
23. Benedetta
22. Supremes
21. The French Dispatch
20. Ahed's Knee
19. Everything Went Fine
18. Belle
17. Cow
16. Val
15. Deception
14. Titane
13. Murina
12. Compartment No. 6
11. Bergman Island
10. A Hero
9. The Story of Film: A New Generation
8. After Yang
7. Hit the Road
6. Drive My Car
5. The Souvenir Part II
4. The Year of the Everlasting Storm
3. Red Rocket
2. Memoria
1. The Worst Person in the World

As I was putting together my list, I knew what my top two would be, but not in what order. Festival rankings are always a bit arbitrary, and picking a favorite often comes down to deciding between two very different films, and different impulses. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's return to the Cannes official competition for the first time in 11 years is an absolute triumph: a big, bold artistic stunner. It's the kind of film that invites "Masterpiece" hosannas. On the other side, there's Joachim Trier's thoroughly lovely and wise story of turning 30 and trying to figure yourself out. Hardly as formally inventive and singular as Weerasethakul's landmark, The Worst Person in the World nonetheless moved me beyond words and, for this moment anyway, wins by a photo finish. But it's worth pointing out that my Cannes rankings tend to shift over time: In 2013, Blue Is the Warmest Color beat out Inside Llewyn Davis, and in 2019, I slotted The Lighthouse higher than Parasite. By the end of their respective years, those films' placement had flipped. I would not be surprised if Memoria eventually reigns supreme.

My own indecision reflects that of my peers. There was no clear-cut critical consensus, with a wide range of films enjoying their own niche of support. Some people raved about The French Dispatch. Benedetta, Annette and Titane had their passionate champions. Everyone generally really liked Drive My Car and A Hero. Outside of Flag Day, another absolute stinker from Sean Penn after his The Last Face face-planted at Cannes five years ago, critics tended not to be too hard on the Competition films. And even Penn's folly inspired a few rave reviews. 

What was largely not commented on, at least among the people I was with, was the fact that ... we were watching movies in theaters again. A lot of movies in theaters. After basically avoiding theaters for more than a year, I was inside them for the last week and a half. That return couldn't have started better than by seeing the latest installment in Mark Cousins' The Story of Film series, which is no doubt why Cannes programmed it to open the festival. If it's perhaps a little too self-conscious about reminding everyone that, yes, movies still matter, A New Generation is stuffed with clips of the best and brightest films from this century, including a list of helpful suggestions for under-the-radar titles worth seeking out. Soon that initial giddy buzz went away and we went back to the grind of covering a film festival, as always. But, my god, the fact that we were there at all was a miracle I don't think enough of us paused to acknowledge.

I have a spectacular failure rate when it comes to predicting what will win the Palme d'Or, so I'm tempted not to even make a guess. But I'm going with A Hero over Titane or Drive My Car. Asghar Farhadi has never won, so the jury (headed by Spike Lee) may decide he's due. Plus, the film is seen as a return to form for him after the disappointing Everybody Knows. It wouldn't shock me if Lee went for something a little stylistically bolder, but it's always a risk to assume that the movie that most resembles the jury president's M.O. will win. So let me put it this way: If he gives it to The Worst Person in the World or Memoria, you won't hear me complaining.

Cannes 2021: 'Cow' Review

What if Andrea Arnold spent a whole film just observing a cow? That's the hook of her first documentary, which ends up being a fascinating continuation of her great theme: the plight of individuals living on the margins in a hostile world. My review is right here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: The Best Films of 2021 (So Far) and My Cannes Preview

This episode is jam-packed with goodies. First, we each pick our six favorite movies from the first half of this year. (There are a few I haven't gotten to yet, sadly.) And then, I talk about a bunch of films I'm excited to see at Cannes. (I'm heading off tomorrow.) Hope you enjoy.

Some Thoughts on 'Hellboy'

Why is Hellboy so bad?

How can Hellboy and I both be the same zodiac sign?

And what is Sasha Lane doing in this?

I answer all that, and more, over at MEL.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'American Honey' and 'Barry Lyndon'

Do you like discussions about lengthy movies? Then this week's Grierson & Leitch podcast is for you. I sing the praises of American Honey, and in our Reboot section we tackle the mighty Barry Lyndon. Also, we've got reviews of Deepwater Horizon and Crisis in Six Scenes. You can hear the whole thing here.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Talking 'Deepwater Horizon' and 'American Honey'

I was on KCRW's Press Play on Friday alongside Amy Nicholson to discuss this weekend's releases. This allowed me another chance to tell the world how dumb Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is. Amy reviews Masterminds, and the two of us weigh in on Deepwater Horizon and American Honey. You can listen to the whole thing here.

My Interview With Andrea Arnold

As you may have gathered, it's American Honey week around these parts. For Rolling Stone, I spoke with writer-director Andrea Arnold about her remarkable film. Hope you enjoy.

Bruce Springsteen - "Dream Baby Dream"

Bruce Springsteen's cover of "Dream Baby Dream," which appeared on his 2014 album High Hopes, is having a moment. Alan Vega, the co-founder of the band Suicide that wrote the song, died this summer, which prompted Springsteen to pen a eulogy for the musician, which brought more attention to his version of this song.

Also, the cover is used prominently in American Honey, which opens this weekend. The movie is fabulous, and so is the placement of the track within the film.

On the Great 'American Honey'

When I saw American Honey at Cannes, I walked out and tweeted this:

AMERICAN HONEY: Utterly absorbing and deeply moving, this is the culmination of everything Andrea Arnold has been building toward. #Cannes

— Tim Grierson (@TimGrierson) May 14, 2016

For The New Republic, I make the case for this great film. Read all about it.

Cannes 2016: 'American Honey' Review

There are still two days left in the festival, but my favorite film at Cannes is the most divisive. Andrea Arnold's American Honey is a big, sprawling, ambitious, these-are-the-times-we-live-in epics. I loved it, as I explain over at Paste.

Cannes 2016: The Preview

I'm here in France for my third Cannes Film Festival. So, for The New Republic, I highlighted 10 films I'm very, very curious to see while I'm here. They include two from Romanian masters, the latest Andrea Arnold and, of course, the new Dardenne brothers joint. Take a look.

Nas (featuring AZ) - "Life's a Bitch"

From Illmatic, which of course you know. If you haven't seen Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank, she incorporates "Life's a Bitch" quite nicely into the film's final moments. A great example of placing a song from one context into a completely different context without sacrificing the underlying meaning.

'Wuthering Heights' and Andrea Arnold

Director Andrea Arnold has made three films, each of them distinctive and resonant. Her latest, an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, impressed me greatly when I saw it in Toronto a year ago, so I was looking forward to seeing it again closer to its release. I was just as enthralled the second time. For IFC Fix, I discuss what makes Arnold's films so special.

(P.S. This was, I believe, the very first still made available to the press last year when Wuthering Heights was playing the fall festivals. I love this, in part because its murky, bleak mystery just feels appropriate to the film.)