These Are the Films Everyone Will Be Fighting to See at Cannes 2026

If you ever feel a dip in your excitement for movies, Cannes arrives as an annual reset, a return to cinema at its most electric.

From May 12 to 26, the Croisette becomes a tightly controlled circuit of premieres and screenings, where sunlight sits outside, and cinema happens in the dark. The 2026 edition, selected from 2,541 feature submissions across 141 countries and presided over by Park Chan-wook’s jury, leans toward auteur-driven work rather than studio spectacle.

Below are some of the most anticipated films in the lineup.

READ ALSO: The Verdict Is In. Here’s What People Are Saying About Cannes’ Most Anticipated Films

HOPE (DIR. NA HONG-JIN)

Na Hong-jin returns a decade after The Wailing with Hope, a sci-fi thriller set near the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The story begins with reports of a tiger in the area, but shifts into a broader narrative about a village encountering a different and less visible threat.

The cast includes Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, and Taylor Russell. The film reunites Na with a cinematographic style associated with Burning, Parasite, and The Wailing, which suggests a focus on controlled escalation and atmospheric tension.

FJORD (DIR. CRISTIAN MUNGIU)

Cristian Mungiu, a former Palme d’Or winner, presents Fjord, a Norway-set drama about a couple, played by Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, who become entangled in escalating conflict with their neighbours.

The film marks Mungiu’s first collaboration with widely recognized Hollywood actors. While the setting shifts, the subject matter remains consistent with his previous work, focusing on social pressure and the way private disputes mirror larger structural tensions.

PAPER TIGER (DIR. JAMES GRAY)

James Gray returns to Cannes competition with Paper Tiger, a crime drama starring Miles Teller and Adam Driver as two brothers drawn into a scheme involving Russian organised crime. Scarlett Johansson also appears in a supporting role.

The film continues Gray’s long-standing interest in loyalty, family conflict, and moral compromise. It is his sixth entry in Cannes competition, where his films have often been noted for their classical structure and emphasis on character over genre innovation.

THE MAN I LOVE (DIR. IRA SACHS)

Ira Sachs shifts direction with The Man I Love, a musical fantasy set in 1980s New York. The film stars Rami Malek as a dying actor preparing for a final performance, with Rebecca Hall and Tom Sturridge in supporting roles.

ALL OF A SUDDEN (DIR. RYUSUKE HAMAGUCHI)

Ryusuke Hamaguchi presents a 196-minute film set in Paris, following a nursing home director, played by Virginie Efira, who implements a care philosophy known as Humanitude.

The film is loosely based on a published correspondence between a philosopher with terminal cancer and a medical anthropologist. It also features Tao Okamoto as a terminally ill playwright. Hamaguchi continues his focus on extended dialogue scenes and interpersonal observation, following Drive My Car and Evil Does Not Exist.

VICTORIAN PSYCHO (DIR. ZACHARY WIGON)

Maika Monroe leads this gothic horror set in 1858, playing a governess who arrives at Ensor House, where residents begin to disappear shortly after her presence is established. With Thomasin McKenzie and Jason Isaacs co-starring, Victorian Psycho sits comfortably within genre cinema but seems intent on testing its edges.

COWARD (DIR. LUKAS DHONT)

Lukas Dhont returns after Girl and Close with a First World War drama about Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia), a young Belgian soldier attempting to prove his heroism, and Francis (Valentin Campagne), tasked with sustaining morale at the front.

Dhont frames the film as “about love and death, creation and destruction,” but his cinema has always been more minimal than declarative.