21 Films We Hope To See In The Cannes 2017 Lineup - Page 2 of 2

Colin Farrell'The Lobster' Director Yorgos Lanthimos To Helm Revenge Tale ‘The Killing Of A Sacred Deer’
“The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Synopsis: A brilliant surgeon takes a troubled teen under his wing, until the boy tries to bring him into the fold of his dysfunctional family.
What You Need To Know: The third Nicole Kidman movie on this list is also one of our very most anticipated of the year, and provided it’s ready there’s absolutely no reason we wouldn’t see it in Cannes. Yorgos Lanthimos’ brilliant “Dogtooth” played in Un Certain Regard, while two years ago the equally genius and more sprawlingly ambitious “The Lobster” picked up the Jury Prize in the main competition and was, as you probably recall, nominated for a Screenplay Oscar. His next, awesomely titled project will reunite him with Colin Farrell (who seems so attuned to Lanthimos’ Weird Wavelength in “The Lobster”, that he’s basically a revelation) alongside Kidman, and also features Alicia Silverstone, Bill Camp and rising young actress Raffey Cassidy. Between this and his Kirsten Dunst-starring AMC show “On Becoming a God in Central Florida,” we’ve an embarrassment of Lanthimos riches coming up, and to tide you over till then, you can just repeatedly watch his vignette for Radiohead‘s “Idenitikit” which is 30 seconds of Denis Lavant eating a non-existent sandwich and ranks among the greatest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

Lynne Ramsay Returns With'You Were Never Really Here' Starring Joaquin Phoenix
“You Were Never Really Here” (Lynne Ramsay)
Synopsis: A war veteran who has dedicated his life to combating sex trafficking becomes entangled with a powerful New York politician after an attempted rescue in a brothel goes badly awry.
What You Need To Know: Though it seemed at the time like a catastrophe, not least because of the damage we all feared it would do her future prospects, in retrospect the fallout following Lynne Ramsay’s sudden exit from “Jane Got A Gun” has not been too detrimental. If anything, it’s given Ramsay’s rep a bit of a rock-star edge — something her innate film-making talent and uncompromising vision can fully back up. And so we expect her back in Cannes (“Ratcatcher” played in UCR, “Morvern Callar” was selected in the Directors’ Fortnight and “We Need to Talk About Kevin” snagged a Competition slot) with a bang, with this very intriguing sounding thriller/drama based on the novella of the same name from New York-based “Bored to Death” creator Jonathan Ames. It stars the eternally watchable Joaquin Phoenix, alongside Alessandro Nivola and newcomer Ekaterina Samsonov, who also features in Todd Haynes’ “Wonderstruck,” and we are absolutely ready for Ramsay’s triumphant return.

In-Another-Country-Isabelle-Huppert-2
“Claire’s Camera” (Hong Sang-soo)
Synopsis: Details are scant regarding this story involving a part-time teacher and writer.
What You Need To Know: Korean director Hong Sang-soo is one of those filmmakers with such a prodigious work ethic that it can be hard to keep up, especially when some of his films feel so much slighter than others. But Hong is on a bit of a roll of late — 2015’s “Right Now, Wrong Then” was pretty special, his follow-up “Yourself and Yours” was a low-key charmer, and Berlin title “On the Beach At Night Aloneis terrific, featuring a showstopper central turn by “The Handmaiden” star Kim Min-hee. But it’s not form alone that suggests his next film will follow prior titles “Woman is the Future of Man,” “Tale of Cinema,” “Hahaha,” “The Day He Arrives” and “In Another Country” to Cannes: in a blatantly barefaced bid to get invited back, Hong’s new film not only features his reunion with newly Oscar-nominated French treasure Isabelle Huppert, it was actually shot during the festival last year. Also featuring his new muse Kim again, this is sure to be a performance powerhouse, inasmuch as that phrase ever fits the slippery, earthly enigmatic and highly singular approach of this most atypical of Korean auteurs.

maryshelley Elle Fanning
“Mary Shelley” (Haifaa Al-Mansour)
Synopsis: The story of the love affair between Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Percy Bysshe Shelley that informed the writing of “Frankenstein
What You Need To Know: If things pan out even a little as we hope, Elle Fanning could be the banner actress of the festival — which is fine by us. But all three of her potential inclusions have far more to recommend them than just her, and that’s certainly the case here, with the sophomore film from Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker. “Wadjda,” Al-Mansour’s terrific debut, picked up several awards in the Horizons sidebar in Venice, and even if a leap straight into the main Cannes competition might be regarded as a leap too far, the festival, which does not have a good track record of female director representation, should be jumping at the chance of including such a pioneer in the selection somewhere. If we have any hesitance it’s that Al-Mansour has chosen for her difficult second album a story that we’ve seen several times before, but with a cast that also includes Maisie Williams, Bel Powley, Douglas Booth and Tom Sturridge, and a heroine who was herself a pioneer, we’re keeping the faith she will overcome the familiarity of the tale.

Andrew Garfield Goes Noir With ‘It Follows’ Director David Robert Mitchell In ‘Under The Silver Lake’
“Under the Silver Lake” (David Robert Mitchell)
Synopsis: A billionaire’s daughter is kidnapped leading to a twisty series of events in this modern-day La-based crime noir.
What You Need To Know: “Under the Silver Lake”will only be David Robert Mitchell‘s third feature, and his first, “The Myth of the American Sleepover” was well received (even winning the top award in Cannes Critics’ Week) but largely underseen thereafter. So it’s a testament to the runaway success and acclaim he achieved with his sophomore title, cunning little horror “It Follows“, that we’re not discussing whether his latest will get a major festival premiere, but which one. ‘Sleepover’ and “It Follows” both played the Cannes-adjacent Critics Week, rather than the Official Selection, so there’s certainly room for promotion there, and the red-carpet friendly roster of Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace, Zosia Mamet, Jimmi Simpson and Callie Hernandez (who’ll also be seen in the upcoming “Alien: Covenant“) can only help his case. That said, it’s probably a matter of timing — this new film sounds a whole lot more ambitious than his last, and it’s possible that working with such a broad canvas may necessitate a longer post-production process, in which case fall is more likely. Still, if there is a chance of getting it prepped in time, we reckon A24 might push for Cannes, as might Mitchell himself, seeing as the town’s been good to him so far.

Halle Berry The Call
“Kings” (Deniz Gamze Ergüven)
Synopsis: The story of an LA foster family whose lives are shattered in the wake of the Rodney King trial verdict in 1992.
What You Need To Know: There aren’t many debut directors who enjoy the kind of meteoric success that Deniz Gamze Ergüven did with her first feature, “Mustang.” After winning the Europa Label award in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, it went on to be nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar (as France’s entry, despite its setting in Turkey) and became one of the breakout arthouse successes of the last couple of years. There is a question mark over whether she can possibly prep in time for inclusion in this year’s Cannes — she reportedly only wrapped in early February, but if she can, with its racially-charged setting, and with starry topliners in Halle Berry and Daniel Craig, not to mention Ergüven’s own rising profile,we imagine it will be an in-demand title. And any fears that might arise from observing that while “Mustang” was a personal, specifically Turkish story, “Kings” sounds like a less intimately observed, more overtly “important” US-set drama, should be allayed by the fact this script pre-existed “Mustang” by some years. It’s the passion project Ergüven had hoped to make her debut, so it will be fascinating to see how she tackles it now.

Lean on Pete
“Lean on Pete” (Andrew Haigh)
Synopsis: A lonely young boy embarks on a quest to find a new home with his aunt, accompanied only by the stolen racehorse Lean On Pete.
What You Need To Know: Not to insult the more equine-inclined, but if we’re honest, “horse drama” is not a genre of film we ordinarly get particularly excited about. But then neither does “wrenching portrait of late-life marriage” sound particularly sexy and yet British director Andrew Haigh took that outline and made the best film of 2015 with “45 Years“. So we’re going to just shut up and follow wherever he leads. In this case, the director of gay romance “Weekend” and TV’s “Looking” has taken another unexpected turn, and has switched the drizzly English fields of “45 Years” for full-bore Americana, and an adaptation of the deeply moving novel of the same name from alt-country musician and author Willy Vlautin. Starring Charlie Plummer, Travis Fimmel, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Buscemi and Steve Zahn, if it does make it, the film would be the first Haigh title to play in Cannes (“Weekend” went to Toronto, and “45 Years” picked up Best Actor and Best Actress when it competed in Berlin).

Radegund
“Radegund” (Terrence Malick)
Synopsis:The story of an Austrian conscientious objector who refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II..
What You Need To Know: There’s maybe no clearer sign of the crazy topsy-turvy world we live in now than that there’s even the slimmest possibility of Terrence Malick, previously known for taking his sweet damn time, debuting two features in one year. But while we’d assumed that “Radegund,” which stars August Diehl, Matthias Schoenaerts, Brunzo Ganz and Jurgen Prochnow would be more likely for Cannes 2018, producers claim that it’s going to be released this year, which makes us wonder if Malick might be able to finish post-production in time to bring it to the 2017 edition. The previous Palme d’Or-winner would almost certainly be assured of a warm welcome by the festival, and this film — which sounds like, in contrast to his last several titles, it actually has a compelling, dramatic story to tell — is one we’re more excited for than we have been for any Malick movie in a while. Of course, Malick’s name is such that he has his pick of festivals, and it might well be that Venice, where he debuted “Voyage of Time” will work better timing-wise, but with “Song to Song” playing SXSW, itself an immensely unlikely event, anything’s possible.

thelma
“Thelma” (Joachim Trier)
Synopsis: As she begins to fall in love, a woman realizes she has mysterious, frightening powers.
What You Need To Know: Not everyone loved Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s English-language debut “Louder than Bombs” as much as we did — it got a very mixed response on the Croisette in 2015. But his next title sees him return to Norway, while marking a departure of a different kind into slightly genre-tinged territory. Co-written with longtime collaborator Eskil Vogt, whose own directorial debut “Blind” was so terrific and starred the great Ellen Dorrit Petersen who also appears here (along with Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins and Henrik Rafaelsen) “Thelma” is nonetheless unlikely to head too far into supernatural territory. Trier’s peculiar talents lie in the infinite care and unsentimental, intimate insight he brings to real-world psychology and we’d expect the otherworldly aspects to be used merely as a lever for further exploration in that regard. His melancholic masterpiece “Oslo, 31st August” won the Un Certain Regard prize back in 2011, and “Louder than Bombs” played In Competition, so where it might land is anyone’s guess — indeed, with an October release slated in Norway, it’s not even guaranteed to be ready. If it is, we’ll be first in line.

Ruth Wilson
“Dark River” (Clio Barnard)
Synopsis: Following the death of her father, a woman returns home to claim the family farm after an absence of 15 years.
What You Need To Know: She may not yet be a household name, but that’s fairly inexplicable to anyone who saw Clio Barnard’s perfectly meticulous and totally devastating last feature, “The Selfish Giant.” That film played in Directors’ Fortnight, where it picked up a prize and was universally admired, so it would not be surprise to see “Dark River” gain a Cannes berth again, perhaps in Un Certain Regard. It is only Barnard’s third feature, but has an enviable cast in the great Ruth Wilson, Sean Bean and Mark Stanley (Grenn from “Game of Thrones“) and also teams her with Cary Fukunaga‘s “Sin Nombre” and “Jane Eyre” DP Adriano Goldman, which, given the lyrical-social-realist bent of her work to date, seems like an excellent fit. While Cannes is always stacked with returning big-name auteurs, it’s just as exciting to witness how the festival can nurture and nourish new talent, and Barnard certainly has the goods, and the singular vision, to suggest that soon enough she may be mentioned in the same breath as countrywomen Lynne Ramsay and Andrea Arnold.

zama
“Zama” (Lucrecia Martel)
Synopsis: Based on a 1956 novel, this is the 18th Century-set story of Don Diego de Zama, a Spanish officer in Asunción, who awaits his transfer to Buenos Aires.
What You Need To Know: We had a bit of an internal debate about including “Zama,” the new film from Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel — since it’s produced by Pedro Almodovar who is chairing the Cannes Jury this year, it is ineligible for the main Competition slot it almost certainly would have been up for. Whether that means it will go into a sidebar/non-competitive berth, or will wait to debut In Competition at a different major festival like Venice, is the question. But with Martel having a prior established relationship with the festival, where she debuted her last two terrific films “The Headless Woman” and “The Holy Girl” and with the timing of her finally finishing up the very drawn-out production of “Zama” suggesting she was certainly aiming for Cannes, there’s a possibility the film will play there. Which is what we’re hoping, because frankly it feels like we’ve been talking about this movie forever, the trailer has us sold already and the 9-year wait for Martel’s return after being so brilliantly unnerved by “The Headless Woman” has been long enough.

Honorable mentions: This is, of course, only the tip of the Cannes predictions iceberg, and only our own choices for the films we’d be most happy to see in the lineup — and with that in mind, thanks to the commenter who pointed out the omission of Andrey Zvyagintsev‘s “Loveless,” which, if it’s done, goes straight in near the top of the list. Among the other titles we are expecting to see in the mix are Woody Allen‘s 1950s-set Kate Winslet-starrer “Wonder Wheel”; “Sunset” from “Son of Saul” director Laszlo Nemes; “Les Fantomes d’Ismael” from Arnaud Desplechin, starring Marion Cotillard and Mathieu Amalric; Carlos Reygadas‘ undoubtedly lightweight and disposable “Where Life is Born“;  “War Machine“from David Michod starring Brad Pitt; “A Gentle Creature” from Sergei Loznitsa whose last fiction feature also played Cannes; “Based on a True Story” from Roman Polanski starring Emmanuelle Seigner and Eva Green; “Downsizing” by Alexander Payne, starring Matt Damon; animation “Where is Anne Frank” from Ari Folman; Michel Hazanavicius’ slightly dubious-sounding Jean-Luc Godard biopic/love story “Le Redoubtable”; and maybe Luc Besson‘s
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” could land a flashy gala prior to its July 21st release, due to its star power. By which we mean Rihanna.

Other possibles: “The Florida Project” from “Tangerine” director Sean Baker starring Willem Dafoe could land a sidebar slot; Matteo Garrone‘s “Pinocchio” could also pop up; “Racer and the Jailbird” from “The Drop” director Michael R. Roskam, starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Adele Exarchopoulos; “Submergence” from Wim Wenders with James McAvoy and Alicia Vikander; “Nos Annees Folles” from Andre Techine;Radiance” from Cannes regular Naomi Kawase; “Jeannette,Bruno Dumont‘s made-for-TV musical about the childhood of Joan of Arc; “Luxembourg” from “The Tribe” director Miroslav Slaboshpitskiy, though he is reportedly a fan of a very long post-production process so there’s no real telling when it will be ready;  “In the Fade” by Fatih Akin with Diane Kruger; and “Suburbicon” directed by George Clooney from a Coen Bros script, though that title somehow feels a bit more Fall festival likely.

Xavier Dolan has said he won’t be back to Cannes, but we’ll see if he changes his mind should “The Life and Death of John F Donovan” be ready. Meantime Stephen Frears’ Queen Victoria biopic  “Victoria And Abdul” starring Judi Dench could show up, as could: “Barbara” (Mathieu Amalric); “Les Gardiennes” (Xavier Beauvois); “The Workshop” (Laurent Cantet); “April’s Daughter” (Michael Franco); “When the Waves Are Gone” (Lav Diaz); “Strolling Invader” (Kiyoshi Kurosawa); “Une Saison en France” (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun); and “L’Insulte” from Ziad Doueiri, director of the terrific and underseen “The Attack.

Anything else you’re particularly expecting/hoping for in Cannes? Let us know below.