Climax and Klansmen: Cannes films we’re most hyped about seeing

Now that the Cannes Film Festival is done for another year, we’re left dissecting the movies that competed for prizes and stunned audiences at the prestigious French film festival, for better or for worse. Every publication might have their own take on the movies they’re most excited about seeing from Cannes 2018, but here at Film Daily these are the Cannes movies we’re most hyped about seeing.

10. Burning

Full of a stunning visual flair and following a story adapted from a short by legendary writer Haruki Murakami, Chang-dong Lee’s (Secret Sunshine) mysterious looking thriller follows the strangeness of an obsessive love and it looks staggeringly captivating.

9. Under the Silver Lake

David Robert Mitchell’s follow up to It Follows might have been one of the most divisive films of the festival but we’re still hyped as hell for this Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) slice of surrealist LA noir, regardless of the combative reviews.

8. Happy as Lazzaro

Alice Rohrwacher’s distinctive drama is said to be a fusion of “Earthy folkloric storytelling, time-traveling magical realism, and fact-inspired social drama,” focusing on a meeting between a young nobleman and a young peasant who form an improbable and fantastical alliance. The trailer alone is enough to ignite even the most tepid of imaginations and hearts.

7. Shoplifters

Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or, Hirokazu Koreeda’s (Nobody Knows) drama about a poverty ridden family of small-time criminals informally adopting a homeless girl looks meticulous in its character studies and full of deep cuts of emotion. Shoplifters looks like it has the power to not only steal our hearts, but to also shred them into tiny little pieces.

6. The House That Jack Built

Described by Variety as being “not just a prestige sadomasochistic exploitation film” but also “a drama that leaves you shaken yet detached, chilled and a little numb,” Lars von Trier’s controversial serial killer drama sparked mass walkouts at screenings. Regardless of whether you think he’s a horrifying genius or a misogynistic hack, the film will remain a hugely divisive talking point and one you’ll likely be dying to see or avoid.

5. Girl

The only film in the Cannes Film Festival’s official selection that was eligible for both the Caméra d’Or (for the best debut feature) and the Queer Palm award for best gay themed film, Girl and first-time director Lukas Dhont have been called “the true discoveries of this year’s festival.” Following a 15-year-old transgender girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina, the movie sounds like it may be a bold teen drama offering a vital and complex examination of transgender identity.

4. Cold War

Described by The Independent as being “a film made with a verve and lyricism which rekindles memories of the glory days of European New Wave cinema,” Pawel Pawlikowski’s black and white romantic drama looks bursting with passion and playfulness. Set against the background of the Cold War in 50s Poland, the film strikes an intimate balance between a fatal romantic mismatch and the social tensions unfurling around them.

3. Climax

It’s a horror musical from the often shocking and divisive Gaspar Noé (Irreversible) about a troupe of hip-hop dancers experiencing a nightmarish trip after accidentally ingesting psychedelics. If that brief synopsis doesn’t have you springing to life with excitement, we don’t know what to tell you. In its review for Climax, Variety called the film “the most buzzed about movie at Cannes” and described the experience of the movie as being “a descent into hell that’s both gripping and numbing.”

2. Knife + Heart

Looking outstandingly trashy and featuring one scene in which a “murder weapon turns out to be a black dildo armed with a switchblade,” Yann Gonzalez’s murder mystery looks like an unmissable slasher thriller. Starring Vanessa Paradis (The Girl on the Bridge) as a heartbroken porn producer investigating the mysterious deaths of her actors, the film is set in the late 70s porn industry and delves deep into the darkness of the snuff movie industry.

1. BlacKkKlansman

The latest Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing) joint is based on the incredible true story of an African American detective (John David Washington) serving to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. It missed out on winning the Palme d’Or but it did win the esteemed Grand Prix, with Thrillist sharing in its review that an end montage “left the Cannes audience in stunned silence, which preceded an avalanche of cheers.” Judging from the trailer, Blackkklansman looks as though it offers an entertaining and sharp rebuke against racism with a supporting cast including Adam Driver (Paterson), Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Alec Baldwin (The Departed), and Topher Grace (In Good Company).