Festival Favorites: 9 Standout Films from Cannes 2025
The 2025 Cannes Film Festival wrapped up last week, showcasing a fantastic selection of films from around the world. Here are 9 highly acclaimed movies that are definitely worth your attention:
It Was Just an Accident
This film won the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or. Iranian director Jafar Panahi had previously won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for The Circle and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015 for Taxi. This latest award makes him only the fourth director in history to win the top prize at all three major film festivals. The director's films have consistently been banned in Iran, and he was arrested by the Iranian government in 2010, prohibited from making any films for twenty years. As a result, this film was produced in secret.
What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.
Sentimental Value
Directed by Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World), this film won the festival's second-highest award, the Grand Prix. It stars Renate Reinsve (Cannes Best Actress for The Worst Person in the World), Golden Globe winner Stellan Skarsgård (Chernobyl), Elle Fanning (Maleficent series), and Cory Michael Smith (Saturday Night).
Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star. Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated relationship with their father — and deal with an American star dropped right into the middle of their complex family dynamics.
Sirât
Directed by Óliver Laxe and starring Sergi López (Pan's Labyrinth), this film won the festival's Jury Prize. A father (Sergi López) and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They’re searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.
Sound of Falling
Written and directed by Mascha Schilinski, this film also won the Jury Prize. Four girls, Alma, Erika, Angelika, and Lenka, each spend their youth on the same farm in northern Germany. As the home evolves over a century, echoes of the past linger in its walls. Though separated by time, their lives begin to mirror each other.
The Secret Agent
Written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, this film stars Wagner Moura (Civil War), Gabriel Leone (Ferrari), and Maria Fernanda Cândido. It won Best Director and Best Actor (for Wagner Moura) at the festival. Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. He arrives in Recife during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son but soon realizes that the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks.
Resurrection
Directed by Bi Gan (Long Day's Journey Into Night) and starring Jackson Yee (Better Days) and Golden Horse Award winner Shu Qi (Three Times), this film won the Prix Spécial at the festival. In a world where humanity has lost the ability to dream, one creature remains entranced by the fading illusions of the dreamworld. This monster, adrift in reverie, clings to visions no one else can see—until a woman appears. Gifted with the rare power to perceive these illusions for what they truly are, she chooses to enter the monster’s dreams, determined to uncover the truth that lies hidden within.
My Father’s Shadow
Directed by Akinola Davies Jr. and starring Sope Dirisu (Gangs of London). A semi-autobiographical tale set over the course of a single day in the Nigerian capital Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis. The story follows a father, estranged from his two young sons, as they travel through the massive city while political unrest threatens their journey home.
Yes!
Written and directed by Nadav Lapid, director of the Golden Bear-winning film Synonyms, this film stars Efrat Dor (The Flash) and Aleksei Serebryakov (Anora). A jazz musician and his dancer wife Jasmine offer their artistic talents to help their nation after the October 7 attacks, with the musician tasked with composing a new national anthem.
Die, My Love
Directed by Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), a Cannes Best Screenplay winner, this film's screenplay was written by Ramsay, Enda Walsh, and Alice Birch (Normal People). It stars Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Robert Pattinson (The Batman), LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah), Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner's Daughter), and Golden Globe winner Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides). In a remote forgotten rural area, a mother struggles to maintain her sanity as she battles with psychosis.
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Photo: Festival de Cannes
Source: Festival de Cannes、RogerEbert.com、Variety