The 78th Cannes Film Festival is set to kick off next week with some of 2025’s most anticipated films making their debut. Running from May 13 to May 24, the annual event is one of the cinema’s biggest in any given year. Of late, the Cannes Film Festival has proven more than ever that a strong debut on the Croisette means true staying power in the subsequent year’s awards season.

Since 2019, two films that have won the coveted Palme d’Or have gone on to snag Best Picture at the Academy Awards, while numerous others have been released to further critical acclaim and awards glory. In April, the official 2025 Cannes lineup was unveiled, confirming long-whispered rumors and revealing who will be competing for the Palme. The compeтιтion selection isn’t the only section to keep an eye on, though.

In addition to the main lineup, Cannes sidebars include Un Certain Regard, the Midnight section, Director’s Fortnight, out of compeтιтion selections, and premieres. This year, Cannes will be the home of many major Hollywood premieres, long-anticipated directorial debuts, and new features from beloved filmmakers. Below, we’ve ranked our nine most anticipated premieres of the festival.

9

The Phoenician Scheme

Wes Anderson’s Latest Will Debut In Compeтιтion

There’s no denying Wes Anderson’s mastery when it comes to building an ensemble or crafting a visual language that feels wholly unique, and The Phoenician Scheme looks no different. Described as an espionage thriller, the film will feature regular players like Scarlet Johansson alongside other recent additions to his roster, like Benicio del Toro, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, and Benedict Cumberbatch – and that’s not even half of it.

The film is co-written with regular collaborator Roman Coppola, who also ᴀssisted on The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom. With Asteroid City being one of Anderson’s most emotionally resonant films yet, one about grief and storytelling and the unknown, how the director will apply this ever-deepening sense of his thematic concerns to the spy genre should be a fascinating thing to witness.

8

The Mastermind

Josh O’Connor Stars In Kelly Reichardt’s Latest

Josh O’Connor is already this year’s Cannes MVP. He’ll be starring in two of the most anticipated premieres of the festival, the second of which also made this list and both of which will play in compeтιтion. O’Connor will star in The Mastermind as JB Mooney, an aspiring art thief whose life unravels after his first big heist.

Director Kelly Reichardt is known for her achingly poignant and contemplative character studies, but she seems to be shifting focus from her typical milieu of rural communities towards something a little more slippery. O’Connor will star alongside John Magaro, Hope Davis, Gaby Hoffman, and Licorice Pizza breakout Alana Haim.

This will be Haim’s first major role since the Paul Thomas Anderson film. Alongside this excellent cast, how Reichardt applies her intimate lens to something that sounds more expansive is one of the major reasons this film could make a splash.

7

The Chronology Of Water

The Film Marks Kristen Stewart’s Directorial Debut

Kristen Stewart has already proven to be one of the greatest actresses of her generation, and now she’s stepping behind the camera for the very first time. The Chronology of Water, which will premiere in the Un Certain Regard section, will be Stewart’s feature directorial debut, based on the memoir of the same name by Lidia Yuknavitch.

Imogene Poots will star as Yuknavitch, whose book tracks her escape from a troubled home environment, turning to swimming and the written words as an emotional outlet. Stewart has a keen sense for subtle but deeply emotional performances (see Personal Shopper or Certain Women), but she’s also not afraid to go big and bold (Love Lies Bleeding or Spencer).

As someone so in tune with those onscreen languages, it will be a treat to see what kind of performance Poots will give in collaboration with Stewart as they look to evoke the rage, resilience, and euphoria of the book. The Chronology of Water features a supporting cast of Thora Birch, Earl Cave, Kim Gordon, and Jim Belushi, all fascinating figures in their own right, making this one of Cannes’ most exciting premieres.

6

Alpha

Julia Ducournau’s Previous Film Won The Palme d’Or In 2021

тιтane was one of the weirdest Cannes debuts in recent memory, right down to jury president Spike Lee announcing its Palme d’Or win at the top of the closing ceremony. That film – about a woman who has Sєx with a car, becomes pregnant with its child, and is forced to go on the run after committing several murders – didn’t break through in a major way despite its Palme win, but it remains a memorably divisive achievement nonetheless.

Now, director Julia Ducournau is returning to Cannes with Alpha. Not much is known about the film, but it is reportedly set during the 1980s AIDs crisis in a fictional version of New York City. It will follow a young girl who finds herself affected by the virus when it hits close to home. Not much else is known about the picture, but it stars Golshifteh Farahani, Tahar Rahim, and Emma Mackey.

5

Eddington

The Hereditary & Midsommar Director Makes His Cannes Debut

Ari Aster’s first two flicks were deeply unsettling horror projects that helped the director rise to prominence on the “elevated horror” wave. His last film, Beau is Afraid, was a different beast entirely: a jaw-clenching odyssey about one man’s nightmarish journey home featuring a terrifying Patti Lupone and a giant penis. His latest is a neo-Western set during the COVID-19 pandemic featuring an all-star cast that includes former collaborator Joaquin Phoenix as well as Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal, and Austin Butler.

Aster will be looking to tap into contemporary issues in a way that he hasn’t before, and it’s certain to be as divisive as his previous projects. Phoenix and Pascal play the sheriff and mayor of the тιтular New Mexico town, and the movie is said to center around an ideological standoff between the two. The first Eddington trailer teased this battle before culminating in Pheonix doomscrolling through an absolutely cursed timeline, so needless to say, Eddington will be stirring up some entertaining discourse at the very least when it premieres.

4

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Ethan Hunt Needs Us To Trust Him One Last Time

The best ongoing action franchise (sorry John Wick) returns for another installment, with Tom Cruise set to return to the steps of the Grand Palais after debuting Top Gun: Maverick at Cannes in 2023. The Final Reckoning is the follow-up to 2023’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, which originally carried a “Part 1” designation. So, too, did this sequel, with its original тιтle ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning Part 2, but the film now goes by The Final Reckoning, with rumors swirling that this could be Ethan Hunt’s last chance to save the world.

Whether Cruise will really let the Mission: Impossible franchise pᴀss hands (my bet is he won’t) doesn’t really matter. The Final Reckoning looks to be another fittingly expansive adventure, with Ethan and crew hoping to stop The Enтιтy from destroying the world. As per usual, Cruise will be doing some death-defying stunts, including hanging from a biplane, something involving a submarine, and the fastest running this side of the Olympics.

3

Sentimental Value

Joachim Trier’s Follow-Up To The Worst Person In The World

Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World is one of my favorite films of the decade so far, a deeply affecting story about late-20s malaise and the self-destructiveness inherent in finding your own way when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. Renate Reinsve won Best Actress at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and she reunites with Trier for his latest film.

The film also stars Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Stellan Skarsgård, and Cory Michael Smith and is reportedly about the relationship between two sisters (Lilleaas and Reinsve) and their father, a formerly renowned film director who wants Reinsve’s character to star in his latest film. Like The Worst Person in the World, it seems like Sentimental Value will tackle the ways in which art and love intertwine, with this film focusing more on family dynamics rather than romantic ones.

2

The History of Sound

Internet Boyfriends Josh O’Connor & Paul Mescal Fall In Love

Long in the works, Oliver Hermanus’ The History of Sound will finally make its debut as it competes for the Palme d’Or. This will be star Josh O’Connor’s second in-compeтιтion film, and it has the chance to be another big hit for the star after Challengers thanks to its story and star power. Paul Mescal co-stars in the drama, which follows two men in the early 20th century as they set out across rural New England to record folk songs by their fellow countrymen.

Hermanus previously won the Queer Palme for his 2011 feature Beauty, but the director has said that, unlike his previous films with queer themes, this one is less focused on the tragedy that can often be found in films about these relationships. Instead, it sounds like The History of Sound will be a much more melancholic look at love between Mescal and O’Connor’s characters.

The pair have been attached to the film since late 2021, with scheduling conflicts and industry strikes preventing filming from commencing. Now, though, O’Connor and Mescal are two of the most popular actors working today, with 2024 being a banner year for both thanks to Challengers and Gladiator II. Anyone with a pulse should be excited to see these two real-life friends come together on screen.

1

Die, My Love

Jennifer Laurence & Robert Pattinson Star In The Late Addition

Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson will take to the Croissette for the premiere of Lynne Ramsay’s latest feature Die, My Love. The Scottish director takes her time with each film and this will only be her fifth after 2017’s You Were Never Really Here, which earned star Joaquin Phoenix Best Actor alongside Best Screenplay at the 2017 edition of the fest.

Any new Ramsay film is a cause for celebration, but Die, My Love has been described as a dark comedy-horror hybrid, following a woman who suffers from post-partum depression as her marriage falls apart. With Ramsay’s cerebral, upsetting style, she’s sure to tackle the subject in a deeply unsettling way. Add to that two of the best actors working today and when all is said and done, it’s possible that Ramsay, Lawrence, and Pattinson could walk away the talk of the festival.