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The Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has identified Jung Han-seok as the preferred candidate for its new festival director, though the selection process remains ongoing. The final decision will be made at the festival’s second general meeting of the year, scheduled for March 20 at the Busan Cinema Center.

Jung has been a key figure at Biff since 2019, serving as the Korean Cinema programmer. His work has included highlighting trends in domestic filmmaking and strengthening connections between the Korean film industry and the festival. He has also been a jury member for the Buil Film Awards, Jeonju International Film Festival, and Seoul Independent Film Festival, in addition to advising international events such as the Florence Korea Film Festival and Hong Kong’s Asian Film Awards. Before joining Biff, Jung worked as a journalist and film critic for the Korean film publication Cine21.

The festival’s selection process for the director...

Paris-based Pulsar Content has boarded “The Velazquez Mystery,” narrated by Cannes and Venice best actor winner Vincent Lindon, which also marks the directorial debut of renowned French producer Stéphane Sorlat.

The third part of a doc feature trilogy — following José Luis López Linares’ “Bosch: The Garden of Dreams” and his “Goya, Carriere and the Ghost of Buñuel” — “The Velazquez Mystery” explores multiple questions raised by the painter.

One is how Velázquez could be so admired by great painters — “the only great painter in history,” said Salvador Dalí — but remain so often on the margins of collective memory.

Quoting Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Dalí, “The Velazquez Mystery” plumbs his genius. “Velázquez was a double genius, from a technical point of view, but also how he changed the rules, putting himself inside the paintings and creating labyrinths of meaning,” Sorlat told Variety.

“Guided by the symbolic thread of water, a metaphor for movement and reflection,...

Titane, Julia Ducournau's bizarre "vehicle horror" film from 2021, is coming to free streaming soon. Starting February 16, fans of the weird will be able to stream Titane on Tubi. They will only have to endure the occasional interruption of ads, although, with Titane, it's safe to say that you will probably need to take a break. Yes, it is that shocking.

In Titane, Agathe Rousselle gives life to Alexia, a model who works at a motor show as an exotic dancer. Her hair conceals a large scar on the side of her head, which is due to a metal plate that was installed after a car crash she was involved in when she was just a child. Alexia is a beautiful woman who draws the attention of car fanatics, and one of them tries to assault her. When Alexia fights back and brutally murders him, she celebrates by getting inside a Cadillac and.

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Hulu is one of the best places to find the best movies and TV shows you can watch on any streaming service. Every month, it adds hundreds of new titles to its content library, but with that, there are also some titles that have got to go. So, today, we are here to tell you about the best film you should watch before it leaves Hulu in February 2025.

The Beta Test (February 3) Credit – IFC Films

The Beta Test is a dark comedy thriller film co-written and co-directed by Jim Cummings and Pj McCabe. The 2021 film follows an engaged Hollywood agent, who has an intimate night with an anonymous woman but he soon becomes paranoid that his fiancée will find out about his infidelity. The Beta Test stars Jim Cummings, Pj McCabe, Virginia Newcomb, and Jessie Barr.

Spencer (February...

The 30th annual Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival, hosted by Film at Lincoln Center and Unifrance, is celebrating the work of acclaimed actor Vincent Lindon.

While the 2025 festival is not entirely honoring Lindon himself, the actor appears in a whopping trio of featured films and also will be onsite for Q&As and introductions. Lindon stars in Quentin Dupieux’s meta-comedy “The Second Act,” which opened the 77th Cannes Film Festival, as well as Gilles Bourdos’ dramatic thriller “Cross Away” and Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin’s “The Quiet Son” (Lindon won Best Actor at the 81st Venice Film Festival for that drama).

And Lindon isn’t the only beloved French star to join this year’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema: Actors Isabelle Huppert and Édgar Ramírez, plus auteurs Olivier Assayas and Bertrand Bonello are among those who will have features screening. Bonello, while known as a director, lent his composing skills to “Planet B.

From All Of Us Strangers to Hundreds Of Beavers to The Zone Of Interest, last year was by all metrics a banger of a year for cinema — just check out our 20 Best Movies of 2024 if you need any further reminder. And as your friendly neighbourhood Empire has pored over what the next twelve months has in store on screens both big and small, we've found a lot of movies that you simply must see in 2025. 133 to be exact.

In a year that's set to see James Gunn's Dcu take flight with Superman; Ethan Hunt take on quite possibly his last impossible mission; Yelena Belova return to our screens in Dark Av— er, Thunderbolts*; James Cameron whisk us away to Pandora in Avatar: Fire And Ash; Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan scare us up good and proper with Sinners; and new movies fly at us from seasoned auteurs, buzzy new filmmakers,...

It’s nice when promises are kept, nicer yet when those promises are a new Claire Denis movie shooting in a matter of months. Following September’s report that she’d roll cameras on Le Cri des Gardes (The Cry of the Guards) in January, Deadline informs us the previously involved Riley Keough has been swapped for Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex) as the project rolls cameras as soon as next week. She’ll be playing Leoné, mentioned in this plot description from autumn:

“As project supervisor Horn is welcoming his young partner Léone into the hut he shares with young and impetuous engineer Cal, a black man called Alboury appears outside the railings surrounding their quarters. Inflexible, hovering like a ghost in the darkness, he is determined to stay there until they return the body of his brother to him, who was killed on the site.”

Matt Dillon...

French films took an estimated €250.2m in overseas markets in 2024 from 38.1 million admissions, according to projected annual figures released by Unifrance today (January 13).

This represents an 11% drop from 2023’s final tally of €271.4m and 42.7 million admissions although the final 2024 figures won’t be announced until October. Last year’s January predicted figures for 2023 (€234m and 37.4 million admissions) ended up being surpassed by the final numbers.

Dramatic films led the way with 26.1% of ticket sales abroad, followed by comedies at 21.8%, and action and adventure films with 21.3%;animation – 2023’s top genre – dropped to 17.7%.

Europe remains the continent with the largest appetite for French fare,...

As is typically the case, France was one of the world’s biggest producers of movies in 2024, debuting a nonstop series of French features ranging from internationally acclaimed indies to locally embraced box office hits. Naturally, it’s the former category that tends to make the crossover to us non-local viewers every year, but this past year saw a particular crossover appeal for the films that made waves at home and saw a ripple effect echo across the seas. 2024 saw no shortage of French auteurs (re)staking their claims over the field, as well as fresh faces looking to earn their glory for the first time.

And while some of these names missed the mark, both old and new (Agathe Riedinger), a country like France could never get to its current position as one of Europe’s most consistent exports of cinema without a heavy supply of names eager to create on a yearly basis,...

Keanu Reeves has become one of the most celebrated franchise actors working today. He rose to prominence with the 1999 film The Matrix, which went on to become an entire series. His role as Neo remains one of the most celebrated parts of his career to date, as moments from the sci-fi film have become iconic elements in film. Fast forward 15 years and Reeves made a name for himself once again playing the eponymous hit man in the John Wick series. The Chad Stahelski series has become key in Reeves' career, and he will reprise his role in Ballerina.

In addition to his action franchises, Reeves has also spent time working with award-winning directors. This includes a role in Point Break, which was one of the earlier works by Kathryn Bigelow. Bigelow would go on to win an Oscar for her work directing The Hurt Locker, becoming the first woman to win the award.

Sf Studios has acquired Nordic distribution rights to Ruben Ostlund’s upcoming new film The Entertainment System Is Down, ahead of filming beginning in Paris in January.

Sf is planning for a Nordic theatrical release in autumn 2026.

“One of the highlights of Triangle of Sadness was the cinema tour around the country that we did together with Sf Studios,” said Ostlund. “Even before the new film is shot, we have already started discussions on how to make the tour even stronger. Among other things, I believe in offering the audience electric shocks when they get bored and hope to get...

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The Substance is a satirical body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. The 2024 film follows the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a popular star renowned for an aerobics show but on her 50th birthday, she gets fired from her boss for being old. She soon finds a laboratory that offers her a drug that promises to transform her into a better and younger version of herself. The Substance stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in the lead roles with Dennis Quaid, Hugo Diego Garcia, Oscar Lesage, Tiffany Hofstetter, and Alexandra Papoulias Barton starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the body horror, biting commentary, and compelling characters in The Substance here are some similar movies you should check out next.

The Neon Demon (Prime Video) Credit – Amazon Studios

The Neon Demon is a psychological horror film...

France’s Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 16th edition of its mountaintop movie marathon, taking place from December 14-21, 2024.

Eight European films will vie for the festival’s Crystal Arrow awards.

They include Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap, a comedy about titular west Belfast hip-hop trio that is Ireland’s entry for the best international feature Oscar race and leads the Bifa 2024 nominations, Runar Runarsson’s Icelandic drama When the Light Breaks that opened this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon about a former Austrian martial arts master hired to train...

Pan-European indie group Vuelta, which recently bought Telepool in Germany, has completed another strategic acquisition with WW Entertainment, one of Benelux’s largest distributors.

With offices in Amsterdam and in Belgium, WW Entertainment (previously eOne Entertainment Benelux) has consolidated a solid portfolio of local and international titles in the last decade. WW Entertainment’s recent hits include “Loverboy: Emoties Uit,” as well as “Hit Man” and “Bombini Bangkok Nights.”

The acquisition of WW Entertainment gives Vuelta a solid footprint in Benelux, a key European market for theatrical distribution, spreading from Belgium to the Netherlands.

The deal also fits into Vuelta’s strategy to build synergies with some of its other European distribution banners, including Scanbox in Scandinavia, SquareOne/Telepoolin Germany and Pan in France. The latter just scored big in France with the local dramedy “A Little Something Extra” which outperformed Hollywood blockbusters tops this year’s French box office,...

Ever since its predecessor in 2003, the Luther franchise has been a popular and well-respected storyline. In 2023, Idris Elba made his second appearance as John Luther, the incredible detective who has been locked behind bars, partly continuing the storyline of the television series titled ‘Luther’. In ‘Luther: The Fallen Sun’, John Luther must make his escape from prison to continue the pursuit of his nemesis - a diabolical serial killer - and prove himself worthy of being called a detective. Idris Elba stars alongside Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis, Dermot Crowley, Thomas Coombes, Hattie Morgan, Lauryn Ajufo, and Vincent Regan. Related article: Evolution: Every Ryan Gosling Role From 1995 to 2020, All Performances Exceptionally Poignant Related article: Evolution: Every Henry Cavill Role From 2001 to 2021, All Performances Exceptionally Poignant Related article: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | Hollywood Insider Related article: The 2022 NAACP Image Awards: Full List of Nominees, A History of the Ceremony,...

We can start our week extending thanks to Arte France Cinéma, who’ve given two of France’s greatest directors the cash flow to support immediate endeavors: per Cineuropa, Claire Denis and Arnaud Desplechin can soon begin production on new features. The former’s is Le Cri des Gardes (The Cry of the Guards), which sounds an awful lot like The Fence, a project she detailed in March. Matt Dillon, Riley Keough, and Denis mainstay Isaach de Bankolé will star in the feature, described in these very Denis-like terms:

“As project supervisor Horn is welcoming his young partner Léone into the hut he shares with young and impetuous engineer Cal, a black man called Alboury appears outside the railings surrounding their quarters. Inflexible, hovering like a ghost in the darkness, he is determined to stay there until they return the body of his brother to him, who was killed on the site.

The Rome Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 19th edition, which takes place from October 16-27.

Rome will present a lifetime achievement award to Johnny Depp, who will present Modi - Three Days on the Wing of Madness, about Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, at the festival.

Viggo Mortensen will also receive a lifetime achievement award, and will present The Dead Don’t Hurt, which he wrote, directed and stars in.

Francis Ford Coppola will also be in Rome for a special ‘pre-opening’ festival presentation of the Italian premiere of Megalopolis at Cinecittà Studios – the Rome studio that hosted him...

The Venice Film Festival wrapped on Saturday (September 7) night with key prizes for Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April and Maura Delpero’sVermiglio, while Nicole Kidman won best actress for Babygirl and Vincent Lindon best actor for The Quiet Son.

Screen rounds up key talking points from the festival.

Stars arrive in force…

Last year, the strikes kept the stars away. This year, Venice was brimming with big names, among them George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore and Jude Law.

Se trata de la primera película española en ganar el León de Oro en toda la historia del Festival de Cine de Venecia. © Getty Images

La 81 edición del prestigioso Festival de Venecia ha llegado a su fin, marcando un hito en la historia del cine español. La película La habitación de al lado, dirigida por Pedro Almodóvar y protagonizada por Tilda Swinton y Julianne Moore, el que es su primer largometraje rodado íntegramente en inglés, se ha alzado con el codiciadísimo León de Oro, el máximo galardón de la Biennale. Y, decimos que es historia, porque se trata de la primera vez que una película española obtiene este galardón.

Históricamente, Venecia ha sido un trampolín para las películas que aspiran a la gloria en los Oscar. De las diez últimas ganadoras del León de Oro, cuatro han sido nominadas al Oscar a la mejor película, y dos de ellas (La forma del agua...

Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore in ‘The Room Next Door’ (Photo Credit: Sony Classics)

The 2024 Venice Film Festival winners were announced on September 7th, with Oscar-winner Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her) earning the Golden Lion for Best Film for The Room Next Door. Almodóvar took home the coveted prize for this first English-language film, and he dedicated the win to his family. “It is my first movie in English but the spirit is Spanish,” said the acclaimed filmmaker.

Academy Award-winner Nicole Kidman was named Best Actress for her starring role in director Halina Reijn’s Babygirl. Kidman wasn’t able to attend the ceremony, and Reijn read a statement accepting the award. “Today, I arrived in Venice to find out shortly after that my brave and beautiful mother Janelle Ann Kidman has just passed. I’m in shock and I have to go to my family. But this award is for her.

This terrific character study by Delphine and Muriel Coulin comes at an apposite time in today’s climate, as far-right political groups all over the globe increasingly get their claws into the angry and dispossessed. It’s also an unusually inquisitive look at the bonds that exist between men: their tribes, rituals and — ultimately — their responsibilities. Central to its very primal depiction of the gulf between left and right is star Vincent Lindon as Pierre, a widowed father of young men in provincial France who tries in vain to stop his eldest son becoming radicalized by his friends and by online hate groups; Lindon’s soulful turn rightly snagged him the Venice Film Festival’s Best Actor award.

The boy’s name is Fus (Benjamin Voison), and the dynamic between father and son is established with incredible economy in the opening scenes. Pierre has been working all night on the railway track,...

Venice Film Festival jury president Isabelle Huppert expressed support for Nicole Kidman after the actress was unable to accept her Best Actress prize for Babygirl in person, due to her mother’s death.

Kidman had traveled to Italy to receive the award but had to get back on a plane shortly after landing.

“I just wanted to express my compassion to Nicole Kidman, who can’t be here tonight, who had to go back unexpectedly, and I just want to tell her that we really miss her and we love her,” Huppert told the jury press conference.

Isabelle Huppert expresses condolences to Nicole Kidman following her mother’s passing.

Huppert says “we love you, Nicole” and explains why the jury awarded Kidman the Best Actress prize #Venezia81 pic.twitter.com/FKdn5YTIFU

— Deadline (@Deadline) September 7, 2024

Earlier at the awards ceremony, Babygirl director Halina Reijn had read out a message from...

Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door won the Golden Lion for best film at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.

Almodóvar’s first English-language feature marks the first time he has won the top award at one of the three major film festivals. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star in the story of a woman who makes the decision to end her life, and the friend who re-enters her world around this time.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in the US on December 20, with Warner Bros handling multiple international territories including UK-Ireland.

Nicole Kidman won the best actress prize at Venice Film Festival for her performance in “Babygirl” on Saturday night, but was not on hand to accept the prize because of some devastating news.

After Kidman’s name was announced, “Babygirl” director Halina Reijn took the stage and delivered written remarks in place of Kidman, revealing that the actor had traveled to Venice to attend the ceremony but had to leave due to news of her mother’s death.

“Today, I arrived in Venice to find out shortly after my brave and beautiful mother, Janelle Anne Kidman, had just passed,” Kidman wrote. “I’m in shock and I have to go to my family, but this award is for her.”

The statement continued, “She shaped me, she guided me and she made me. I am beyond grateful that I get to say her name to all of you through Halina. The...

Pedro Almodovar‘s, “The Room Next Door,” just moved to the top tier of Oscar contenders with a big win at the Venice Film Festival. It picked up the top prize, the Golden Lion, on September 7. This recognition, from a jury headed up by French actress Isabelle Huppert, came just days after it debuted on the rialto to a rapturous reception.

The Oscar champ’s first English language feature tells the tale of Ingrid (Oscar winner Julianne Moore) and Martha (Oscar winner Tilda Swinton), who were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become a novelist while Martha was a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

This is the second English language film in a row to win this precursor prize.

Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” won the Golden Lion at the 81st Venice Film Festival. The Spanish auteur’s first feature in English took the top prize at the awards ceremony on Saturday, where he accepted the honor in person. Based on Sigrid Nunez’s novel “What Are You Going Through,” the film stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore as friends who reunite after several years.

Though Almodóvar’s latest was not reviewed as enthusiastically as most of his films (a high bar to cross), the drama was still favored to do well at the Venice awards. When it premiered earlier this week, it was met with a lengthy standing ovation of almost 20 minutes — a warm reception even for festival audiences. And few are the cinephiles in Europe who do not consider the director of “All About My Mother,” “Talk to Her,” “Volver,” “Bad Education” and “Parallel Mothers” a living great.

While last year’s strikes created a somewhat subdued energy on the Lido with very few talent able to be present, this year’s 2024 Venice Film Festival proved to hot and steamy. And we’re not just talking about the excessive heat movie stars and fan alike were subjected to. Films like Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller “Babygirl” and Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of William S. Burrough’s short novel “Queer” aroused audience interest with career-best performances from Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and highly revealing sexual interplay. However it was Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” that took home the coveted Golden Lion, marking the first time the filmmaker has won a top prize at any major festival throughout his career.

Brady Corbet returned to the Palazzo del Cinema with his four-hour post-wwii epic “The Brutalist,” which screened to rave reception and earned the director the Silver Lion,...

The 2024 Venice Film Festival awards ceremony has wrapped up after a sweltering week and a half on the Lido.

The prestigious Golden Lion award for best film went to Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door. The Spaniard’s first-ever English-language feature received a whopping 17-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the festival. Almodóvar said in his acceptance speech Saturday: “I would like to dedicate it to my family, who is here now… This movie The Room Next Door, it is my first movie in English.. but the spirit is Spanish.”

His film, an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel What Are You Going Through, follows best-selling writer Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) as they rekindle their friendship after losing touch. As they immerse themselves in past memories, anecdotes, art and movies, Martha, battling terminal cervical cancer, wants to die with dignity and asks Ingrid to be...

Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door has won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion main prize.

Jury president Isabelle Huppert and her jury were on hand to bestow the Golden Lion along with the other main prizes. Scroll down to see the list of laureates.

Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star in Almodóvar’s euthanasia drama, which marked the acclaimed filmmaker’s English-language debut.

The movie follows Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton) who were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme and bittersweet situation. Check out our review here.

Among other prize-winners on the night were Vermiglio by Maura Delpero, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and Nicole Kidman for Babygirl whose filmmaker Halina Reijn accepted the award on behalf of Kidman who she explained could not be there in...

“The Quiet Son,” a French film exploring family dynamics amidst far-right radicalization, has won the 2024 Collateral Impact Award at the 81st Venice Film Festival. The award, presented by Think-Film Impact Production and Impact Europe, recognizes films with significant societal impact potential.

Written and directed by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin, the cast features Vincent Lindon, Benjamin Voisin and Stefan Crepon.

A high-profile jury selected the winner, comprising Adjoa Andoh, Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”), Alia Shawkat, Mstyslav Chernov, and Misan Sagay. The jury cited the film’s urgency in sparking conversation about the rise of the far-right and its societal impact.

During a Venice Production Bridge panel, jury members shared their thoughts on cinematic impact. Ejiofor highlighted cinema’s role in communicating real-world situations, stating: “Cinema can inspire leaders and legislators and help facilitate genuine lasting change.”

Andoh added: “The notion of having an intentional organization like Think-Film Impact...

Set in a small town in northeastern France, The Quiet Son tells the moving story of a tight-knit family facing turmoil when the eldest son joins a radical far-right group. Directed by sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, the film had its world premiere at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, where it showcased the personal toll of rising political polarization.

We’re introduced to Pierre, a devoted father and railway worker, and his sons—the athletic but directionless Fus and the studious Louis. Despite tragedy in their past, the three share a strong bond. But this stability is threatened when Fus becomes involved with a gang of violent nationalists. As his beliefs grow in extremism, tensions rise with his father, a proud leftist who can’t comprehend what’s led his boy astray.

The directors handle this divisive subject with empathy rather than accusation. Through everyday scenes of the family quietly unraveling,...

If you’re one of those people whose first instinct in cases of youth violence is to blame the parents, “The Quiet Son,” the new Venice-competing title from directors Delphine and Muriel Coulin (“17 Girls”) has a valuable perspective, telling the believably downbeat story of a 22-year-old French guy who becomes embroiled in right-wing street politics, exclusively from the point of view of his loving but uncomprehending father. If, however, you’re already of the opinion that the issue is more complex than simple parental negligence, the solidly straightforward film has less to offer, as it states and restates the problem of rising, increasingly aggressive alt-right sympathies among young, working class populations, without providing any novel or particularly useful insights into it.

Adapted by the Coulin sisters from the book “Ce qu’il faut de nuit” by Laurent Petitmangin, the film’s main attraction beyond its torn-from-the-headlines topicality, is Vincent Lindon...

For the close-knit and loving French family at the center of directors Delphine and Muriel Coulin’s intensely intimate new drama, The Quiet Son (Jouer avec le feu), home is where the heart is, and politics are probably best left at the doorstep.

Unfortunately, the opposite winds up happening to hardworking single dad Pierre (Vincent Lindon) when his oldest son, Fus (Benjamin Voisin), veers far to the right, joining a band of radical thugs committing violent acts around the neighborhood.

How do you stop a child from pursuing political beliefs that are diametrically opposed to yours — beliefs that could be dangerous? Is it better to let them follow their own path, in the hopes that they’ll eventually come around? Or do you try and intervene at some point, with the risk of pushing them even further in the wrong direction?

Those are the questions guiding the Coulins’ gripping and well-performed fourth feature,...

Metal Baby

August has been a wild ride so far. Between art house discussions of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre (listen) and Paul Morrissey’s Blood for Dracula (listen), we squeezed in a look at screenlife sequel Unfriended: Dark Web (listen). Now we’re ready for more contemporary foreign content with Julia Ducournau‘s sophomore feature, Titane (2021).

In the film, after a run of poorly timed murders, serial killer Alexia (Agathe Rousselle) goes on the run from the police. After shaving her head and breaking her nose, Alexia disguises herself as “Adrien,” the long-missing son of aging fire captain Vincent (Vincent Lindon).

The distraught father pledges to protect his offspring from harm, but considering Alexia’s literal Cadillac ride (ie: sex) has resulted in pregnancy, how long can Alexia or Vincent keep up the ruse? And what happens if/when the truth comes out?

Be sure to subscribe to the...

The body horror genre thrives in modern filmmaking, offering disturbing and creative stories that push boundaries. Directors like Julia Ducournau and David Cronenberg redefine body horror with psychological elements and unique twists. Movies like Titane and Possessor showcase the evolution of body horror, leaving a lasting impact on audiences.

The body horror movie genre is alive and well in recent years and is still truly for the brave and ultimate horror movie fanatics. This specific sub-genre of horror is defined as grotesque mutilations or unnatural things that happen to the human body in a film. For movies in the genre, utilizing the human body in this way creates a stronger reaction for audiences as they can relate to it even more than something like a possession or otherworldly creature.

The modern era has absolutely been an interesting time for movies, and that includes those in the body horror genre. Recently,...

Las españolas ‘Una Ballena’ y ‘Apocalipsis Z: El Principio del Fin’ en competición.

El Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico de Sitges ha comenzado la cuenta atrás para su próxima edición con el anuncio de sus primeros títulos.

Entre las películas más esperadas se encuentran “A Different Man”, el thriller psicológico de comedia negra protagonizado por Sebastian Stan, “Cuckoo”, la película de Neon protagonizada por Hunter Schafer, “The Second Act”, la película de Quentin Dupieux que abrió la última edición del Festival de Cannes protagonizada por Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon y Raphaël Quenard, la película de la conocida saga de terror, “Terrifier 3”, el filme dirigido por Jang Jae-hyun “Exhuma”, o “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In”, la película que se proyectó en la sesión de Medianoche de la última edición del Festival de Cannes, llena de acción y artes marciales.

Las producciones españolas que competirán en la sección...

Illustrations by Maddie Fischer.For more Cannes 2024 coverage, subscribe to the Weekly Edit newsletter.The Second Act.There is a filmmaker who makes movies that are above all conceptual, with the story but a brittle skeleton barely holding the thing together. He makes at least one movie a year, all under 90 minutes, all modestly casual affairs with various doses of drollness; and all feature a philosophical premise or metaphysical quandary at their core. He writes, directs, shoots, and edits the films himself. Dissenters tend to think he isn’t funny and that all his movies are tedious and basically the same; fans, of course, hold the opposite opinion. He opened the Cannes Film Festival this year, but despite what you may assume, this filmmaker isn’t Hong Sang-soo; rather, it’s Quentin Dupieux, who also shares with Hong a cinema of welcome brevity and levity. These might be the reasons...

The Cannes Film Festival is many things: A prestigious platform for the best of world cinema, a massive industry event where film acquisitions get made, a testament to the French film industry’s classism and rampant sexual abuse. But more than anything, it’s one of the world’s greatest photo opps.

Sure, sure, everyone wants the Palme D’or. But even more people would kill to get seen on the iconic Cannes red carpet, and get their picture snapped by the hordes of press that camp on the Croisette. Some of the world’s most glamorous and beautiful celebrities can be seen on the steps outside the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès every year posing for the cameras, and while it’s not quite the fashion moment that the Met Gala is, it still offers a great opportunity for us pleebs to gawk at some particularly shiny stars in all of their finery.

Chinese filmmaker Zou Jing has won the €2,500 Next Step Hildegarde award from Cannes’ Critics’ Week for her upcoming debut feature A Girl Unknown. Didar Domehri of France’s Maneki Films has come on to co-produce the film with Yan Wang of China-France production house Memoria Films.

The film is a coming-of-age tale about identity that follows the journey of a young Chinese girl from age six through her thirties who lives with three different families.

It explores how China’s one-child policy affected generations of abandoned girls in the country from the 1980s to the 2000s.

The writer-director previously won...

by Cláudio Alves

Triangle Of Sadness (2022) Ruben Östlund

Though the movie's but a premise in its director's imagination, The Entertainment System Is Down is shaping up to be a starry affair. Ruben Östlund's follow-up to Triangle of Sadness, his second Palme d'Or winner, has been on the news. The Swedish provocateur even did a press conference at the Croisette, joined by Keanu Reeves and Kirsten Dunst, both set to take part in the satire cum disaster movie. Other cast members include Samantha Morton, Daniel Brühl, Nicolas Braun, and Vincent Lindon.

In case you've forgotten, the French thespian presided over the Cannes Jury that decided on that Triangle of Sadness victory…...

French actor Vincent Lindon has joined the increasingly crowded cast of Ruben Östlund’s The Entertainment System is Down.

He joins previously announced Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Bruhl, Samantha Morton and Nicolas Braun.

The project is set to start shooting in 2025 and is set on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored.

In a full circle moment, seasoned French actor Lindon was jury president in Cannes in 2022 when Östlund’s Triangle Of Sadness won the Palme d’Or.

The film, Östlund’s seventh and his second in the English language,...

Illustrations by Maddie Fischer.For more Cannes 2024 coverage, subscribe to the Weekly Edit newsletter.In a welcome twist, the most pressing questions I heard on my way to Cannes this year didn’t concern the festival lineups but events that seemed to transcend them. In the days leading up to the opening night, Sous les écrans la dèche, a collective of festival workers, announced it would be striking over salary increases and unemployment benefits; as I type, the strikes haven’t materialized, nor has the rumored list of new sexual abuse allegations about men in the French film industry. “Last year, as you know, we had some polemics,” artistic director Thierry Frémaux told the press on the eve of the fest, hinting at the decision to open the 2023 edition with Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, a film that would have been forgotten a lot faster than it was had it...

The quirky comedy by Quentin Dupieux balances fourth wall jokes but lacks depth in exploring numerous themes. The film's use of mise en abyme results in quick world-switching, creating a muddled and incomplete experiment. Despite the talented cast, The Second Act fails to delve deep into important topics, leaving the comedy feeling overstayed.

Quentin Dupieux premiered his quirky comedy, The Second Act (Le Deuxime Acte), to a crowd of eager film lovers at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. The director continues to leverage the art of mise en abyme, where his characters are shooting a film within this feature and dissecting the state of the film industry. A highly restrained examination of multiple topics, The Second Act is a film about everything and nothing all at once. Perhaps in line with Dupieuxs style, the surreal, dark humor and commentary produce a messy end product that overstays its welcome.

4/10

Florence wants to introduce David,...

Léa Seydoux with her The Second Act co-star Raphaël Quenard Photo: Richard Mowe Léa Seydoux, the star of The Second Act, Quentin Dupieux’s Cannes Film Festival opening film, considers herself fortunate at the start of her career not to have been subjected to the kind of inappropriate behaviour suffered by some of her contemporaries.

At a media gathering after last night’s world premiere in the 77th edition of the festival the one-time James Bond girl confessed: “I’ve been a very fortunate person as an actress. From the beginning I worked with people who respected me - more or less. It’s difficult to compare, however, as some women were really victims and went through a very serious experience.”

Having emerged relatively unscathed she sensed that her stature and standing had protected her. “When you’re a young actress, you are vulnerable,” she said.

Director Quentin Dupieux treats...

by Cláudio Alves

Léa Seydoux and Vincent Lindon in The Second Act.

Another year, another edition of the Cannes at Home miniseries, specially made to combat cinephile Fomo for those of us not at the French Riviera. For the next week or so, let's explore the filmographies of directors in competition. However, since the festival opened with the latest Quentin Dupieux project, it seems fitting to start our at-home festival by considering the auteur's career and the oddball creations that have made him something of a king of weirdness within contemporary French cinema. Not that such status comes with guaranteed acclaim. The opposite is true, with Dupieux's cinema caught in perpetual polemic, each work more divisive than what came before.

Such is the case with The Second Act, where the director proposes a comedy on the absurdities of making an AI-based film. Not even Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon,...

Cannes regular Léa Seydoux joined playful press conference for fest opener The Second Act, where talk occasionally turned serious as the actress was peppered with several questions from the international press about her thoughts on the #MeToo era.

“I have been a very fortunate person as an actress. At the beginning of my career, I worked with people who respected me, more or less,” said Seydoux. “Some women were really victims. But in my case, I can’t compare with someone women who really went through and experienced very serious things.”

#MeToo is a contentious issue in France, where the perception is the entertainment industry has been slow to evolve. Seydoux has previously spoken about challenging conditions on Blue is the Warmest Color, her 2013 Palme d’Or winner that landed her international fame, and featured a 7-minute lesbian sex scene that took 10 days to shoot, while the film involved upwards...

In Quentin Dupieux’s new satirical comedy The Second Act, which kicked off the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night, the pic takes poke at myriad culture wars, including France’s latest #MeToo movement. Asked front and center about her take on the latest wave, the pic’s star Léa Seydoux said “It’s a wonderful thing that women are speaking out. It’s about high time they did.”

“This change has been taking place. The film also plays with this idea. It also talks about very current events, and this movement where women are now speaking out and that was a fundamental importance of that change to take place,” said the 007 actress.

“I see there’s been a change, we’ve moved on,” said Seydoux, who came up as a young actress in the biz.

Later expounding, the actress emphasized the changes she’s seen in the industry due...

Léa Seydoux addressed France’s growing #MeToo movement at the Cannes Film Festival press conference for Quentin Dupieux’s comedy “The Second Act,” which opened the fest on Tuesday night.

“It’s a wonderful thing that women are now speaking out. Things are clearly changing and it was high time it did,” she said. “I have the impression that this change has indeed taken place. The film also plays with this idea, it also talks about very current events and this movement, where women are now speaking out, and that was of fundamental importance for this change to take place.”

Seydoux continued, “#MeToo is very important. It’s a very serious issue. However, I think it is also necessary to be able to talk about it with humor. In the film, this is highlighted in a very funny way.”

Addressing the impact of #MeToo on the way actresses are treated on set,...

Quentin Dupieux returns with The Second Act, a playfully dour satire on the film industry that sees the French absurdist delve further into the apocalyptic mood and gallows humor of his recent Yannick. The Cannes opener stars some of the biggest names in the French film world as heightened versions of themselves: actors working on a film within the film (and perhaps a film within that), a conceit that allows them to break the fourth wall, basically winking at the audience conspiratorially while taking passing shots at themselves and some of the hands that feed them. It’s all in good fun, of course. It’s also quite inside baseball––not that that mattered at the premiere, though you do have to wonder how it might resonate going forward.

Selected to raise the curtain on the world’s most prestigious film festival, The Second Act rolled moments after the opening ceremony closed,...

It could have been hopelessly self-indulgent but Quentin Dupieux’s anarchic and quirky sense of humour finds full flavour in this amusing “appetiser” which still leaves you hankering after a full meal.

Better that than overstaying its welcome as his cast play around with the foibles and artifice of their craft as they are gathered together to make a romantic comedy.

The collective view is that they are making a pretty dire production and to liven things up they keep interrupting the shoot to voice their own grievances against each other, the script and the unseen director who keeps shouting, “Cut!”

Most of the film unfurls in a roadside pub called The Second Act, presided over by the lumbering barkeeper (played by Manuel Guillot).

Working out where the play-acting stops and the “real” action begins is enough to keep you on the edge of interest...