Cannes 2019: the top 10 must-see films
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Dir Quentin TarantinoTarantino’s new black comedy-drama stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as a fading TV star and his veteran stunt double in late 1960s Hollywood, as Los Angeles is traumatised by the Manson family murders.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Dir Céline SciammaNoémie Merlant stars as a young painter who has been commissioned to create a portrait of a young woman (Adèle Haenel) without her knowledge – a project of artistic surveillance and reportage.
Little Joe
Dir Jessica HausnerEmily Beecham and Ben Whishaw star in Hausner’s eerie futurist parable about a plant breeder who develops a flower nicknamed Little Joe that can induce happiness in those who nurture it.
Sorry We Missed You
Dir Ken LoachThe director’s last film, I, Daniel Blake, won him a second Palme d’Or and electrified the UK debate on austerity. Now he returns with longtime screenwriter Paul Laverty with a tale of a hard-pressed delivery driver.
The Swallows of Kabul
Dirs Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobé MévellecBased on the novel by Yasmina Khadra, this animation is about Taliban-dominated Kabul in the late 90s – and the young love that struggles to survive there.
The Dead Don’t Die
Dir Jim JarmuschTheCannes regular offers the festival a bit of unwholesome confectionery with this opening gala: a zombie comedy-nightmare starring Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Adam Driver, and with an appearance by Iggy Pop.
An Easy Girl
Dir Rebecca ZlotowskiZlotowski directed the cult classic Grand Central, a romance set in a nuclear power station. Now she is at Cannes with a love story set on the French Riviera.
Frankie
Dir Ira SachsIt wouldn’t be lefestivalwithout Isabelle Huppert, and she stars in Ira Sachs’s film about a family on holiday in Portugal. The cast includes Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei and Greg Kinnear.
Sick, Sick, Sick
Dir Alice FurtadoA much-anticipated debut from rising star Alice Furtado, a young Brazilian director who has created a complex and painful highschool love affair, starring Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (from 120 Beats Per Minute).
Diego Maradona
Dir Asif KapadiaThe hand of God descends with this documentary from Asif Kapadia about the troubled football genius. Emir Kusturica has already done a film about him; Kapadia’s portrait promises a treasure trove of new material.