The 2025 Cannes Film Festival is currently underway, and several of this year’s most anticipated films are being shown at the prestigious event. With world premieres including Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, there have been plenty of major releases at this year’s festival. These premieres have all continued the long-standing tradition of standing ovations from the audience, which can grow surprisingly lengthy.

The current record for the longest standing ovation at Cannes is held by Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which received an astonishing 22 minutes of clapping following its premiere in 2006. Since then, films like Fahrenheit 9/11 and Mud have come close to breaking the long-standing record, managing 20 minutes and 18 minutes respectively. While nothing has quite challenged this accomplishment this year, audiences have continued to show their respect and admiration for the Cannes premieres.

19

Sound Of Falling (3.5 Minutes)

Directed By Mascha Schilinski

Sound of Falling may not have received the longest standing ovation after its Cannes premiere (at just 3.5 minutes), but the film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from those critics in attendance (via Variety). The film marks Mascha Schilinski’s follow-up to her 2017 debut, Dark Blue Girl.

Sound of Falling follows the lives of four young girls on a farm in rural Germany, whose lives become intertwined when they discover important truths about their past. ScreenRant’s review of Sound of Falling mirrors the consensus that it’s one of the festival’s finest offerings.

18

Leave One Day (5+ Minutes)

Directed By Amelie Bonnin

The opening film of this year’s Cannes Film Festival was Leave One Day, the first-ever directorial debut to open the festival. The film centers around an ambitious chef who yearns to open her own restaurant in Paris.

The film received an impressive 5-minute standing ovation from the crowd after its premiere (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline). The film was preceded by the festival’s opening ceremony, in which Robert De Niro was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or for his contributions to cinema.

17

Eleanor The Great (6 Minutes)

Directed By Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson has starred in plenty of great films throughout the years, from Avengers: Endgame to Marriage Story, but now she’s decided to direct her own. Eleanor the Great follows June Squibb’s protagonist as she attempts to grieve the loss of her lifetime best friend.

Johansson’s movie received a six-minute standing ovation at Cannes, with the director offering a short thank-you speech afterward for her “very timely” film (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline). The movie has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with many critics praising its sense of humor and sincerity.

16

Highest 2 Lowest (6 Minutes)

Directed By Spike Lee

Starring Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright, Spike Lee’s newest movie is a modern adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, which follows a wealthy businessman who finds himself extorted when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped.

The film reunites Lee and Washington for the first time since 2006’s Inside Man, and the latter was awarded with an honorary Palme d’Or shortly before the screening. Afterward, audiences gave the film a six-minute standing ovation (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline).

15

The Chronology Of Water (6.5 Minutes)

Directed By Kristen Stewart

Best known for her performances in Spencer and the Twilight saga, actress Kristen Stewart has turned her attention to directing, with her debut feature The Chronology of Water receiving a 6.5-minute standing ovation at Cannes (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline).

The movie is adapted from Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir of the same name, which follows her journey growing up in the Pacific Northwest through complex relationships and difficult life decisions. Stewart described the film as “about iteration. Getting up and trying again. Repossessing your body, your desires, your ambitions and your dreams.”

14

Eddington (7 Minutes)

Directed By Ari Aster

Ari Aster’s latest feature also premiered at Cannes this year, with audiences giving a standing ovation of “nearly seven minutes” according to ᴅᴇᴀᴅline. Starring Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, and Pedro Pascal, this unique, COVID-era Western is described as one of Aster’s most singular projects to date.

Though Eddington’s reviews have been mixed, the film was among the most anticipated releases of the festival, and audiences clearly showed up to display their admiration for the cast and crew. Aster joked during the ovation that he was “sorry” for what he’d made everybody watch, while Phoenix was visibly moved by the reception.

13

Fuori (7.5 Minutes)

Directed By Mario Martone

Fuori is a powerful character drama inspired by Italian author Goliarda Sapienza’s 1983 autobiography The University of Rebibbia, and following her journey to get her novel The Art of Joy published after nearly ten years of writing.

The story is a fierce exploration of ambition, politics, and authenticity that landed a 7.5-minute standing ovation from audiences at Cannes (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline). The film stars Valeria Golino as the iconic writer.

12

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (7.5 Minutes)

Directed By Christopher McQuarrie

The final Mission: Impossible movie may have opened to mixed reviews, but that didn’t stop audiences showing their adoration for Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie at the film’s premiere. The movie received a 7.5-minute standing ovation after it screened out of compeтιтion, with Cruise and McQuarrie expressing their graтιтude to audiences after the film (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline).

The long-awaited sequel follows Cruise’s protagonist Ethan Hunt as he undergoes his ᴅᴇᴀᴅliest mission yet: infiltrating a sunken submarine to find the source code of a dangerous “enтιтy” that has the power to destroy the entire world.

11

The Phoenician Scheme (7.5 Minutes)

Directed By Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson’s latest feature was another highlight of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and the film seems to have been received just as positively as most were expecting. ᴅᴇᴀᴅline reports another 7.5-minute applause for the film, which sees Anderson reunite with long-time collaborators Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, and Willem Dafoe.

The Phoenician Scheme’s reviews have been mostly mixed, with most critics agreeing that it represents much of the same from the acclaimed filmmaker. This movie tells the story of a wealthy businessman whose enterprise quickly comes under fire when he appoints his daughter as the sole heir of his estate.

10

Dossier 137 (8 Minutes)

Directed By Dominik Moll

Dossier 137 may not have been the most anticipated release going into this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but it certainly had one of the best receptions. ᴅᴇᴀᴅline reports that the film received an eight-minute standing ovation, with the audience promptly ushered out of the theater to make room for the next screening.

Dominik Moll’s police thriller tells the story of a detective looking into the case of a young man who was injured during a violent demonstration in Paris, exploring themes of police brutality and the dangers of misinformation.