It’s that time of year again when cinephiles all across the globe gear up for one of the most prestigious film festivals, Cannes Film Festival. Just like every year, there is an exciting line-up of anticipated releases set to premiere at the festival’s 76th edition, due to run from 16 to 27 May. From Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City to Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy, here are the most interesting films to look out for at this year’s festival
1. Kennedy
Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who is best known for such notable films as No Smoking, Dev D, and the Gangs of Wasseypur series, is set to make a comeback to his noir roots with his upcoming title Kennedy. The film stars Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhat in lead roles. It is the only Indian title to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. Kennedy will be screened in the Midnight Screenings section at the festival. For those not in the know, Cannes reserves midnight slots for interesting genre films or those with challenging content. Most of the details about the film have been kept under wraps, but Kennedy has been hitting headlines ever since the news of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 emerged.
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
Headlined by Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon recounts the true story of an oil-rich Native American community in ’20s Oklahoma whose members are murdered under mysterious circumstances. The film is an atmospheric adaptation of David Grann’s novel of the same name and has been in the making for more than two years. It also features Lily Gladstone, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Jesse Plemons, and Robert De Niro on the cast.
3. May December
Julianne Moore and Riverdale’s Charles Melton play central characters in Todd Haynes’ new film May December, which is competing for this year’s Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The story sees Portman play a Hollywood actress who, while researching her latest role, goes to stay with a woman whose affair with a much younger man once gripped the nation as tabloid news.
4. Asteroid City
With Asteroid City, Wes Anderson is back for a third time in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Jason Schwartzman, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Maya Hawke, and Margot Robbie and the plot revolves around the presumably whimsical goings-on at a junior stargazer’s convention in a fictional American desert town.
5. How to Have Sex
British director Molly Manning Walker makes her feature-length directorial debut with How to Have Sex, which is set to premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section. It follows a group of English teenage girls on a party holiday in Mallorca, encountering the vivid, terrifying environment in which the high-pressure rite of passage takes place. It stars Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, Samuel Bottomley, Enva Lewis, and Laura Ambler.
Cannes Film Festival 2023 is slated to run from 16 – 27 May 2023.
