A pandemic-era, pitch-black comedy-meets-contemporary western from mind-melter Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid), this hotly anticipated entry casts Joaquin Phoenix as an ambitious sheriff in small-town New Mexico who flouts public health restrictions and goes head to head with the community’s incumbent mayor (Pedro Pascal) at a divisive election in the midst of the first 2020 lockdown. Still not ready to revisit this bleak period of recent history? I hear you, but with the likes of Emma Stone, Austin Butler, and Micheal Ward filling out this ensemble, and the director sure to infuse the film with the surreal humor and horror that’s become his trademark, I’m afraid it will be essential viewing.

Highest 2 Lowest

Photo: David Lee

Despite being left off the initial line-up announcement, Spike Lee has, thankfully, confirmed that his next thriller, an English-language reimagining of the 1963 Akira Kurosawa police procedural High and Low, will indeed be premiering out of competition at Cannes. Taking center stage is Denzel Washington—who’ll be coming to the Croisette for the first time, no less—as a New York music mogul at the height of his fortune who faces a crucial decision. Joining him is a fittingly eclectic troupe spearheaded by Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice, and A$AP Rocky.

Splitsville

In this fizzy comedy, Hit Man breakout Adria Arjona asks for a divorce from her good-natured husband (Kyle Marvin), prompting him to turn to his friends (Dakota Johnson and Michael Angelo Covino, also the film’s director) for support. The secret to their successful union, though? An open marriage—a revelation that shocks our leading man to his very core, and pushes him to make a very reckless move. Nicholas Braun and O-T Fagbenle provide support, too, in what is certain to be a juicy and fascinating examination of modern relationships, akin to the auteur’s last Cannes release, 2019’s The Climb.

Nouvelle Vague

If you, like me, grew up obsessed with the French New Wave films of the late ’50s and early ’60s, and Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking debut Breathless, in particular—the poetic, Parisian mood piece centered on a chain-smoking Jean-Paul Belmondo and a gamine, pixie-cropped Jean Seberg, still an enduring fashion reference—then you’re in for a treat: Richard Linklater’s much-buzzed-about new project is a behind-the-scenes look at that film’s creation and the cinematic movement it birthed, featuring Guillaume Marbeck as Godard, Zoey Deutch as Seberg, and Aubry Dullin as Belmondo. Where else could it possibly launch but at Cannes?

Sentimental Value

Photo: Kasper Tuxen / Mubi