The 2018 Cannes Film Festival: The 20 Most Anticipated Movies

“The Wild Pear Tree”
Turkish writer/director and sometimes actor Nuri Bilge Ceylan has become something of a controversial figure at Cannes. He’s been a mainstay at Cannes since 2002, and his morality-driven, existential, slowly-moving films, often dripping with dark ironies, are like mana for Cannes festival organizers. But we’re still hearing blowback from certain critics that were aghast that the nearly 3 and a half hours long “Winter Sleep,” a polarizing picture that some called turgid and wandering, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2014. His latest, “The Wild Pear Tree” is nearly 3 hour and 20 minutes and thus has the same possibility of dividing critics and audiences. His latest is about a man who is passionate about literature and has always wanted to be a writer. Returning to the village where he was born, he pours his heart and soul into scraping together the money he needs to be published, but his father’s debts catch up with him. Frankly, that reeks of dark tragedy and crushed dreams and well… Nuri Bilge Ceylan films. It’s either a masterpiece, a dud, or a bit of both and we can’t wait. – RP

“The House That Jack Built”
Lars von Trier is heading back to Cannes. The former Persona Non Grata who was previously banned from the prestigious film festival in 2011 after reportedly calling himself a Nazi and expressing sympathy for Hitler during a press conference, in what was later deemed some serious trolling (he was ahead of his time in that regard…), the controversial Danish filmmaker has, once again, been allowed to return to the high profile French film festival to premiere his latest film, “The House That Jack Built,” a sprawling, sure-to-be unsettling psychological horror film starring Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman, who previously worked with von Trier on “Nymphomaniac Vol. I and II.” Once conceived as a television series of some variety, it eventually became a movie, and the filmmaker considered his latest to be an immensely difficult shoot, which is telling, considering this is Lars von Trier we’re talking about. It follows a serial killer for 12 years between the ‘70s and the ‘80s. If nothing else, it’ll definitely provoke conversation. We’ll see if Lars von Trier is warmly welcomed to the French Riviera hotspot or not. You never know what will happen with him, but we expect to see a few headlines produced, at least. –WA

“Birds Of Passage”
Colombian wunderkind and writer/director Ciro Guerra made his first film, 2004’s “Wandering Shadows” at the ripe old age of 23. He’s not a huge international directing name yet, but his films have featured in the Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight sections so far and his 2015 breakthrough film “Embrace Of The Serpent” was the first Colombian film ever to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar. His latest drama, “Birds Of Passage” has been relegated back to the Directors’ Fortnight section and one has to wonder if it’s because it’s Cristina Gallego, his longtime producer who is the co-director on this movie, has the first billing of filmmaker. Are Cannes organizers looking at this of more of a first-timer’s work or was the film just not Competition-worthy? We’ll probably never know, but anything Guerra touches is worth paying attention to. The film, set in the 1970s, chronicles a Native American, Colombian family’s rise and fall in the drug trafficking trade. – RP

“Under the Silver Lake”
What with “Silence,” “Hacksaw Ridge” (ew) and his time spent onstage in the revitalized version of “Angels in America,” we’re kind of itching for Andrew Garfield to be allowed to cut loose a touch. Certainly, his team up with “It Follows” helmer David Robert Mitchell is no obvious laugh machine, with a synopsis that is much more neo-noir than it is an outright comedy, with missing girls and murky and morally gray underground of Los Angeles. However, the trailer along with the sheer, enthusiastic confidence that Mitchell debuted with his horror/STD romp enlivens the proceedings with a much yearned for vibrancy and electric color palette displayed in just the teaser and poster. Rounded out by a cast which includes Garfield, the always amazing Riley Keough, Zosia Mamet, Jimmi Simpson and, uh, Topher Grace, it will be one of the films to break up the blockbuster super dome of the summer. – AJ

“Burning”
Bless the fans who have sturdy enough a heart to continually put themselves through the emotional wringer that is a Lee Chang-Dong flick. Based on a short story “Barn Burning” by author “Haruki Murakami” (“Norwegian Wood”), “Burning” follows a woman who becomes entangled with two very different men, one rich and the other a struggling writer. After a mysterious event takes place all three lives are changed in unforeseeable ways. Starring Ah-in Yoo, Jong-seo Jeon and Steven Yeun in this three-hander, the film promises an intimate and tense experience from the teaser trailer alone. Yeun, in particular, is a draw considering the formidable charisma he displayed on “The Walking Dead” and “Okja,” especially when it’s juxtaposed to the sorrowful works that the director tends to embrace. With his last film, “Poetry,” having been released all the way back in 2011, the anticipation and expectations are high. – AJ

“Face Of An Angel”
Filmmaker Vanessa Filho isn’t a name yet. She’s directed a short feature (56 minutes), a proper short and “Face Of An Angel” is her proper, feature-length debut. But clearly she’s impressed a lot of people, including her star Marion Cotillard who decided to star in a project from a largely untested director (and Cannes was keen enough to put a debut in the Un Certain Regard section). Cotillard in the movie essentially plays a partying mom who can’t keep her shit together. She lives in a small town by the French Riviera with her 8-year-old daughter where they act out to relieve boredom and hide from social services. When Marlène (Cotillard) caves in to yet another night of excess, she chooses to leave Elli behind for a man she just met. The young child must confront her mother’s demons in order to get her back. Sounds pretty harrowing and when Cotillard stars in anything, we sit up and take notice. – RP