From Ari Aster’s genre-bending satire to Harris Dickinson’s directional debut: as Cannes Film Festival kicks off its 2025 edition, Wonderland round up the most hotly-anticipated features.
It’s that time again! Cannes Film Festival is back for its 2025 edition, with the most acclaimed directors in arthouse cinema and all-new, exciting presences alike set to screen their opuses across the next fortnight. Only one can come up trumps and follow Sean Baker’s Anora in winning the big prize for Best Film, the Palme d’Or, but there’ll be a multitude of future classics on offer for the industry’s brightest to judge and champion.
From first-time actor-turned-directors to returning heroes, Wonderland picks out 12 of the best films taking to the picturesque city on France’s South East coast.
Nouvelle Vague
Who’s Behind The Camera: Richard Linklater
Who’s Starring: Zoey Dutch, Alix Bénézech, Paolo Luka-Noé
Why We’re Excited: A director of humanism and humility, Richard Linklater has delivered some of the most authentic films of the last 30 years—see Boyhood, Dazed and Confused and the breathtaking Before trilogy. His latest is a love letter to the French New Wave, a moment that his lens and lyrical scripting is deeply indebted to, and is shot entirely in French.
Eddington
Who’s Behind The Camera: Ari Aster
Who’s Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler
Why We’re Excited: Ari Aster’s trio of genre-bending and divisive noirs—Hereditary, Midsommer and Beau Is Afraid—have shifted and augmented the horror landscape indefinitely. His latest A24-backed opus, Eddington, is perhaps his most anticipated effort to date, with an all-star and eclectic cast, a satirical take on both small town America and the Coronavirus pandemic, and the gorgeous promise of the unexpected.
Honey Don’t
Who’s Behind The Camera: Ethan Coen
Who’s Starring: Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans
Why We’re Excited: One half of the legendary brotherly duo responsible for Fargo, True Grit, Inside Llewyn Davis and so many more, Ethan Coen continues to shape his sole cinematic vision with crime comedy caper Honey Don’t. Whilst his prior 2024 effort Drive-Away Dolls received mixed reviews, this follow up feels like a winning formula. Margaret Qualley as a detective, Aubrey Plaza are her love interest, and, to top it all off, Captain America himself Chris Evans as a deranged Reverend? Count us in.
The History Of Sound
Who’s Behind The Camera: Oliver Hermanus
Who’s Starring: Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor, Chris Cooper
Why We’re Excited: Two of the internet’s most compelling heartthrobs join forces for a sweeping World War I set romantic drama. Expect period costumes, direction full of thought and and beauty from Oliver Hermanus, and a duo of considered, pensive performances from Mescal and O’Connor.
Urchin
Who’s Behind The Camera: Harris Dickinson
Who’s Starring: Frank Dillane, Amr Waked
Why We’re Excited: After swiftly becoming an A-list leading man with towering, mercurial showcases like Babygirl and Triangle of Sadness, Harris Dickinson steps behind the camera for the first time for Urchin. A Metropolitan-set drama that follows a homeless person’s struggles to escape his tumultuous circumstances, the inaugural Dickinson spectacle suggests gritty realism and heart-rending poise.
Sorry, Baby
Who’s Behind The Camera: Eva Victor
Who’s Starring: Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges
Why We’re Excited: A promising new polymathic presence, Eva Victor shares her debut-full length feature Sorry, Baby, with the A24 stamp of approval. Written, directed and starring the Parisian, the film deals with trauma and adulthood with a personal, witty, and wistful posterior.
Highest 2 Lowest
Who’s Behind The Camera: Spike Lee
Who’s Starring: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky, Ice Spice
Why We’re Excited: Maven of the movies Spike Lee tends to make a totemic statement every time he blesses us with a new film, and Highest 2 Lowest appears to me no different. With Denzel Washington leading the cast with Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky and Ice Spice (the latter two making their big screen debuts) all supporting, this reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s classic crime thriller High and Low will excite, intrigue and probably blow your socks off.
The Chronology of Water
Who’s Behind The Camera: Kristen Stewart
Who’s Starring: Imogen Poots, Earl Cave, Tom Sturridge
Why We’re Excited: From Twilight fame to avant garde auteur, Kristen Stewart takes matters into her own hands with her ambitious directional debut, The Chronology of Water. A biographical depiction of an Olympic swimmer hopeful who battles addiction and abuse, Stewart’s flick looks set to challenge, captivate and uplift.
Fuori
Who’s Behind The Camera: Mario Martone
Who’s Starring: Valeria Golino, Matilda De Angelis, Elodie
Why We’re Excited: Acclaimed Italian filmmaker Mario Martone has always offered a unique and potent reflection on personage across his sprawling filmography. His latest picture, Fuori, follows an imprisoned writer on a journey of friendship and self-discovery, and stars fellow countrywoman and globally renowned singer-songwriter Elodie.
The Phoenician Scheme
Who’s Behind The Camera: Wes Anderson
Who’s Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera, Mia Threapleton, Riz Ahmed
Why We’re Excited: By this point, we know what to expect from Wes Anderson. His latest oeuvre, The Phoenician Scheme, will be no different. Staple cinematography, laugh out loud humour, subtle writing, and an all-star cast (this time around it is Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks and a boatload of other Hollywood heavyweights) will all, undoubtedly, be on show.
Die, My Love
Who’s Behind The Camera: Lynne Ramsay
Who’s Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattison, Nick Nolte, LaKeith Stanfield
Why We’re Excited: This could be a corker. From Lynne Ramsay, the scintillating mind behind We Need To Talk About Kevin and You Were Never Really Here, Jennifer Lawrence makes her return to the leading limelight as a mother who attempts to remain sane amidst psychotic turmoil on a remote island. Also starring the king of reinvention Robert Pattison, Die My Love promises to be blackly comedic, engrossingly sinister and deftly artistic.
Alpha
Who’s Behind The Camera: Julia Ducournau
Who’s Starring: Emma Mackey, Golshifteh Farahani, Tahar Rahim
Why We’re Excited: French director Julia Ducournau’s films find a way to infiltrate your comfort like few others. The latest trailblazer in her nation’s extreme horror movement, Alpha follows Raw and Palm d’Or-winner Titane in the filmmaker’s canon, and is apparently her most grotesque so far — and first in the English language. Starring Sex Education’s Emma Mackey like you’ve never seen her before, this 1980s New York-set shocker will not be for the squeamish.
Honourable mentions: Arco, The Mastermind, Sentimental Value, Homebound, Pillion
Words – Ben Tibbits
