ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Cannes 2026: 10 Must-See Films from Refn, Hamaguchi, and Kreutzer

festival-fair · 2026-05-07

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival, running on the Croisette, features a robust lineup despite a lack of Hollywood spectacle. Park Chan-wook heads the main competition jury. Notable entries include Lukas Dhont's World War I period drama 'Coward', Paweł Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland' starring Sandra Hüller as Erika Mann, and Marie Kreutzer's 'Gentle Monster' with Léa Seydoux and Jella Haase. Na Hong-jin returns with 'Hope', a horror set near the Korean DMZ starring Jung Ho-yeon. Kantemir Balagov's 'Butterfly Jam' follows a Russian migrant wrestler in New Jersey. Nicolas Winding Refn presents 'Her Private Hell', his first film in a decade. Jordan Firstman debuts 'Club Kid' in Un Certain Regard. Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Sheep in the Box' features a humanoid infant. Arie and Chuko Esiri reimagine 'Mrs Dalloway' as 'Clarissa' in Lagos. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'All of a Sudden' is a three-hour-plus drama set in Paris. Omitted works include Cristian Mungiu's 'Fjord', Pedro Almodóvar's 'Bitter Christmas', Asghar Farhadi's 'Parallel Tales', and Ira Sachs' 'The Man I Love'.

Key facts

  • Park Chan-wook heads the main competition jury at Cannes 2026.
  • Lukas Dhont's 'Coward' is a period drama about two men staging a revue in WWI trenches.
  • Paweł Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland' stars Sandra Hüller as Erika Mann, daughter of Thomas Mann.
  • Marie Kreutzer's 'Gentle Monster' was inspired by the Florian Teichmeister child pornography scandal.
  • Na Hong-jin's 'Hope' is a horror film set near the Korean DMZ, starring Jung Ho-yeon.
  • Kantemir Balagov's 'Butterfly Jam' follows a Russian migrant wrestler in New Jersey.
  • Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Her Private Hell' is his first film in ten years.
  • Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'All of a Sudden' runs three and a quarter hours and is set in Paris.
  • Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Sheep in the Box' features a humanoid infant.
  • Arie and Chuko Esiri's 'Clarissa' reimagines 'Mrs Dalloway' in present-day Lagos.

Entities

Artists

  • Nicolas Winding Refn
  • Ryusuke Hamaguchi
  • Marie Kreutzer
  • Tom Cruise
  • Cristian Mungiu
  • Pedro Almodóvar
  • Asghar Farhadi
  • Ira Sachs
  • Park Chan-wook
  • Lukas Dhont
  • Angelo Tijssens
  • Frank van de Eeden
  • Paweł Pawlikowski
  • Sandra Hüller
  • Erika Mann
  • Thomas Mann
  • Florian Teichmeister
  • Léa Seydoux
  • Jella Haase
  • Na Hong-jin
  • Julia Ducournau
  • Coralie Fargeat
  • Bong Joon Ho
  • Jung Ho-yeon
  • Michael Fassbender
  • Alicia Vikander
  • Taylor Russell
  • Kantemir Balagov
  • Barry Keoghan
  • Riley Keough
  • Harry Melling
  • Monica Bellucci
  • Sophie Thatcher
  • Charles Melton
  • Havana Rose Liu
  • Diego Calva
  • Jordan Firstman
  • Alia Shawkat
  • Sebastian Silva
  • Rachel Sennott
  • Cara Delevingne
  • Hirokazu Kore-eda
  • Haruka Ayase
  • Kazuho Ishiguro
  • Taika Waititi
  • Arie Esiri
  • Chuko Esiri
  • Virginia Woolf
  • Sophie Okonedo
  • Ayo Edebiri
  • Inidia Amarteifio
  • Virginie Efra
  • Mari Morisaki
  • Makiko Miyano
  • Maho Isono

Institutions

  • Cannes Film Festival
  • Sag-Aftra
  • Austrian government

Locations

  • Cannes
  • France
  • Croisette
  • Belgium
  • UK
  • Poland
  • Germany
  • Austria
  • Korea
  • Demilitarised Zone
  • Russia
  • US
  • New Jersey
  • Denmark
  • Lagos
  • Nigeria
  • Paris

Sources