2017 Cannes Film Festival: The 19 contenders for the Palme d’Or
The 70th Cannes Film Festival unfolded in May 2017 with a packed main competition slate. Nineteen films vied for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top honor. The lineup mixed returning auteurs, Netflix titles, and boundary-pushing narratives from directors who had already earned prior nods. Here is the complete record of those contenders.
Wonderstruck – Todd Haynes
Haynes arrived with a Cannes track record that included Velvet Goldmine in 1998 and Carol in 2015. Wonderstruck followed two deaf children whose stories intersect across five decades. Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions backed the project, which presented half its narrative in near-total silence. The film later received a limited theatrical run and modest awards attention.
Redoutable (Le Redoutable) – Michel Hazanavicius
Hazanavicius returned after The Artist competed in 2011. The biopic tracked Jean-Luc Godard during the making of La Chinoise and his relationship with Anne Wiazemsky. The black-and-white tribute opened the festival’s competition slate and later screened at additional European festivals.
The Day After (Geu-Hu) – Hong Sang-Soo
Hong brought his second film of the year after previously competing with Woman Is the Future of Man, Tale of Cinema, and In Another Country. Shot in stark black and white, The Day After examined memory and repetition in contemporary Seoul. Claire’s Camera screened out of competition.
Radiance (Hikari) – Naomi Kawase
Kawase’s earlier titles Shara, The Mourning Forest, Hanezu, and Still the Water had all appeared in prior competitions. Radiance centered on a writer who meets a visually impaired photographer and learns to perceive light through his images.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Yorgos Lanthimos
Lanthimos followed The Lobster with this unsettling tale of a surgeon entangled with a teenager’s family. Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell starred alongside Barry Keoghan. The film earned strong reviews and later secured wide distribution through A24.
A Gentle Creature – Sergei Loznitsa
Loznitsa’s third competition entry drew on Dostoevsky’s short story. A woman travels across rural Russia to deliver a package to her imprisoned husband and confronts systemic cruelty. The stark drama premiered to intense festival discussion.
Jupiter’s Moon – Kornél Mundruczó
Mundruczó returned after Tender Son: The Frankenstein Project and Delta. The story followed a young refugee who gains the power to levitate after being shot at the border. The film mixed social realism with supernatural elements.
Amant Double (L’amant Double) – François Ozon
Ozon’s third competition appearance after Swimming Pool and Young & Beautiful delivered a psychological thriller about a woman who discovers her psychoanalyst lover’s double life. The film later received French theatrical distribution.
You Were Never Really Here – Lynne Ramsay
Ramsay returned after We Need to Talk About Kevin. Joaquin Phoenix played a traumatized veteran hired to rescue a girl from trafficking. Amazon Studios acquired U.S. rights at the previous festival. The film later won the Cannes Best Actor prize for Phoenix.
Good Time – Ben Safdie & Joshua Safdie
The Safdie brothers made their competition debut with a neon-lit night in New York. Robert Pattinson starred as a small-time criminal racing to free his brother after a botched robbery. A24 acquired the film before the festival and released it theatrically on August 11, 2017.
Loveless – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Zvyagintsev followed Leviathan with a portrait of a disintegrating Moscow marriage. After their child vanishes, the estranged parents must cooperate. The film later earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Meyerowitz Stories – Noah Baumbach
Baumbach received his first Palme d’Or nomination for this ensemble portrait of adult siblings returning to their aging father. Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, and Emma Thompson led the cast. Netflix acquired the film and later released it in limited theaters and on its platform.
The Square – Ruben Östlund
Östlund’s first competition entry followed an art-museum curator whose latest installation sparks unintended consequences. Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, and Terry Notary starred. The film ultimately won the Palme d’Or at the 2017 festival.
Palme d’Or Winner and Key Awards
Ruben Östlund’s The Square took the Palme d’Or. 120 Beats Per Minute received the Queer Palm, recognizing its portrayal of ACT UP activists in early-1990s Paris. The awards confirmed the jury’s preference for formally rigorous films that addressed social fault lines.
Netflix Controversy at Cannes 2017
Two Netflix titles entered the competition. Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories faced protests from French exhibitors over the absence of a required theatrical window. Technical glitches and vocal audience reaction marked the Okja premiere. The friction highlighted an emerging divide between streaming platforms and traditional festival rules.
Long-Term Legacy of 2017 Competition Films
Several titles from the slate achieved lasting reach. Östlund became a two-time Palme d’Or winner with Triangle of Sadness in 2022. Loveless secured an Oscar nomination, while Good Time and You Were Never Really Here elevated their directors’ profiles in the American market. 120 Beats Per Minute continued to screen at retrospective programs focused on queer cinema and AIDS activism.
The Redesigned Palme d’Or Trophy
For the festival’s 70th edition, the Palme d’Or trophy was reimagined. The new design incorporated ethically sourced diamonds and a refined palm motif. The updated trophy remained in use for subsequent years, marking the anniversary edition as a distinct chapter in Cannes history.
The 2017 competition offered a snapshot of shifting industry dynamics. Streaming services tested festival protocols, established directors revisited familiar themes, and emerging voices introduced fresh formal experiments. The outcomes, from the Palme d’Or win for The Square to the continued circulation of many titles, confirmed the lasting influence of that year’s slate on both auteur cinema and broader distribution conversations.
