David Rooney Picks 8 Must-See Cannes Films Led by Hamaguchi, Farhadi and Kore-eda
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · May 12
David Rooney Picks 8 Must-See Cannes Films Led by Hamaguchi, Farhadi and Kore-eda
8 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · May 12
Eight competition titles top David Rooney’s must-see Cannes list, with Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s French-language debut and Asghar Farhadi’s Paris-set Parallel Tales among the standout picks.
Rooney’s selection leans on auteur pedigree: Hamaguchi follows 2021’s Drive My Car, Hirokazu Kore-eda returns after his 2018 Palme d’Or for Shoplifters, and Christian Mungiu brings another socially charged drama.
Several films pair established directors with high-profile casts, including James Gray’s Paper Tiger with Miles Teller, Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, and Na Hong-jin’s Hope, billed as the most expensive Korean film ever made.
The lineup also spans war drama, postwar black-and-white road movie, sci-fi grief allegory and body-swap mystery, underscoring Cannes’ mix of prestige auteurs, star power and formally ambitious storytelling.
Will Korea's most expensive film ever, a genre-bending sci-fi, conquer Cannes and global audiences?
Can a film about a Nobel laureate's controversial past succeed at this year's Cannes Film Festival?
With one distributor backing six top contenders, is the race for the Palme d'Or already over?