Screen International critics select some of their favourite titles from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Compiled by Screen’s chief critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan.
Competition
Armageddon Time
Dir: James Gray
Our critic said: “A mournful study of our collective failure to see our own prejudice.”
Worldwide distribution: Focus Features/Universal Pictures
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Broker
Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Our critic said: “By Kore-eda’s gentle standards, Broker is a more suspenseful, plot-driven affair than usual, but the enormity of his compassion and melancholy air remain undiminished.”
International sales: CJ ENM, filmsales@cj.net
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Boy From Heaven
Dir: Tarik Saleh
Our critic said: “A ’Name of the Rose’ style murder mystery transposed to Cairo has the potential to travel further.”
International sales: Memento International, sales@memento-films.com
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Close
Dir: Lukas Dhont
Our critic said: “The disintegration of a friendship between two boys on the cusp of adolescence in rural Belgium triggers a tragedy, in the quietly devastating sophomore picture by Lukas Dhont.”
International sales: The Match Factory, info@matchfactory.de
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Decision To Leave
Dir: Park Chan-wook
Our critic said: “With this seductive, serpentine neo-noir, Park Chan-wook raises the bar on the 2022 Cannes competition programme and reasserts his position as a peerless visual stylist.”
International sales: CJ ENM jm.park24@cj.net
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The Eight Mountains
Dir: Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch
Our critic said: “A rich, gentle story about a lasting friendship with conventional arthouse appeal”
International sales: Vision Distribution catia.rossi@visiondistribution.it
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EO
Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski
Our critic said: “A potent emotional charge, very contemporary eco-consciousness, and film-making that at its best fairly sizzles in its
strangeness mark out EO as an animal film that stands defiantly on its own hooves.”
International sales: Hanway Films, info@hanwayfilms.com
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Holy Spider
Dir: Ali Abbasi
Our critic said: “Audiences of tough crime drama – those who flocked to Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, perhaps — will find themselves ensnared.”
International sales: Wild Bunch International, ediederix@wbinter.eu
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Showing Up
Dir: Kelly Reichardt
Our critic said: “A beautifully crafted, a modest gem that grows in impact the more one examines it.”
International sales: A24, sales@a24films.com
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Tori And Lokita
Dir: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Our critic said: “Characteristically taut storytelling and affecting performances from its young non-professional leads seem set to make this story of African migrant siblings, which won the special 75th anniversary prize at Cannes, the duo’s most visible success in a while.”
International sales: Wild Bunch International, feripret@wbinter.eu
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Un Certain Regard
The Blue Caftan
Dir: Maryam Touzani
Our critic said: “This Moroccan melodrama is clearly the sort of picture that’s likely to chime with people who don’t always gravitate towards foreign-language cinema – but saying this risks obscuring the maturity, complexity and rich simplicity of this superbly acted, emotionally resonant offering.”
International sales: Films Boutique, ruta@filmsboutique.com
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Burning Days
Dir: Emin Alper
Our critic said: “ A highly-charged suspenser, a savvy piece of tightly-enclosed world-building and a sharp critique of machismo, populism and their very tangible dangers.”
International sales: The Match Factory, sales@matchfactory.de
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Corsage
Dir: Marie Kreutzer
Our critic said: “Vicky Krieps is a ’chain-smoking self-absorbed uber-bitch’ in her performance of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.”
International sales: MK2 Films, intsales@mk2.com
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Godland
Dir: Hlynur Pálmason
Our critic said: It’s an accomplished, ambitious work which has a Herzogian fascination with vast, unforgiving landscapes, hubris and madness.“
International sales: New Europe Film Sales jan@neweuropefilmsales.com
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Joyland
Dir: Saim Sadiq
Our critic said: “Said to be the first Pakistani film to play at Cannes,Joyland should make an emotional connection with audiences on the Croisette and far beyond.”
International sales: Film Constellation, info@filmconstellation.com
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Return To Seoul
Dir: Davy Chou
Our critic said: “Like its central character, this film is unconventional, and at times abrasive, but it has a seductive, searching quality and a swell of melancholy which makes for an engaging, if unpredictable journey.”
International sales: MK2 Films intlsales@mk2.com
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Rodeo
Dir: Lola Quivoron
Our critic said: “Quivoron emerges as a formidably kinetic director, who could easily have a career making pedal-to-the-metal action movies.”
International sales: Films du Losange, a.lesort@filmsdulosange.fr
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The Stranger
Dir: Thomas M. Wright
Our critic said: “Joel Edgerton’s brooding performance anchors this intense Australian true crime thriller.”
International sales: Rocket Science, info@rocket-science.net
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War Pony
Dirs: Riley Keough, Gina Gammell
Our critic said: “For all the hardships it catalogues, War Pony is never despairing – there’s a real pride at play here, and some pungent playfulness.”
International sales: Protagonist, info@protagonistpictures.com
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Special screenings
The Natural History Of Destruction
Dir: Sergei Loznitsa
Our critic said: “Sergei Loznitsa’s seventh archival doc is an intense, conscience-stirring work
International sales: Progress Film, Bettina Offermann, offermann@progress.film
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Premiere
The Beasts
Dir: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Our critic said: “A terrific psychological thriller and a brooding, muscular piece of filmmaking which makes the most of both the Galician backdrop and the imposing physicality of Denis Menochet and, as his nemesis Xan, the remarkable Luis Zahera.”
International sales: Latido Films oalonso@latidofilms.com
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The Night Of The 12th
Dir: Dominik Moll
Our critic said: “A deft and satisfying police procedural in command of its unusual tone”
International sales: Memento International sales@memento-films.com
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Midnight
Moonage Daydream
Dir: Brett Morgen
Our critic said: “An electric audiovisual tour around the restless mind of renaissance man David Bowie, as cracked open by unfettered access to the late artist’s estate.”
International sales: Submarine/WME
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Directors’ Fortnight
Men
Dir: Alex Garland
Our critic said: “Gifted with sensational performances from Buckley, Kinnear and Paapa Essiedu, who makes a blistering impression in his few scenes, Men is a disorientating circular ride around Garland’s personal theme park.”
International sales: A24, info@a24films.com
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One Fine Morning
Dir: Mia Hansen-Løve
Our critic said: “Helped by a luminous performance from Léa Seydoux, this audience-pleasing French drama should reignite arthouse interest in the Paris-based director.
International sales: Les Films du Losange, a.lesort@filmsdulosange.fr
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Pamfir
Dir: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
Our critic said: “Ukraine’s Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk makes a stop-in-your-tracks debut.”
International sales: Indiesales, cchautant@indiesales.eu
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Under The Fig Trees
Dir: Erige Sehir
Our critic said: “[An] engaging depiction of summer flirtations and gentle exploration of sisterhood against a patriarchal backdrop.”
International sales: Jennyfer Gautier, Luxbox Films, jennyfer@luxboxfilms.com
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Critics’ Week
Aftersun
Dir: Charlotte Wells
Our critic said: “Wells draws an impressive performance from Paul Mescal in the central role, confirming the Irish actor’s abilities on a highly-challenging framework.”
International sales: Charades, sales@charades.eu
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Everybody Loves Jeanne
Dir: Céline Devaux
Our critic said: “Should be a title of interest for arthouse distributors looking for films which hit the sweet spot between credibility and upbeat, crowd-pleasing content. And it further confirms Devaux as a talent to watch.”
International sales: Elle Driver sales@elledriver.eu
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