The 78th edition of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival saw the selection of an array of exciting films from different countries, some of which bagged the festival's top prizes. Now, after the final curtain of Cannes 2025, we look forward to these films opening worldwide either in theatres or streaming. In the following list, we pick the titles that we are most looking forward to.
Sentimental Value
Reportedly the festival's most applauded film, Sentimental Value comes from filmmaker Joachim Trier, who caught cinephiles' attention with the 'Oslo' trilogy which includes The Worst Person in the World starring Renate Reinsve. Sentimental Value, which reunites Trier with Reinsve, fetched the Grand Prix. The film revolves around two sisters' complicated relationship with their estranged father and a once-famous filmmaker (Stellan Skarsgård).
Resurrection
Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan, who wowed audiences with Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018), returns with Resurrection, which won the Special Award (Prix Spécial) and elicited a mix of interesting reactions from critics who were either baffled or impressed by it, particularly, the homage to different forms of cinematic storytelling. As per the official logline, Resurrection takes place "in a world where humanity has lost the ability to dream, one creature remains entranced by the fading illusions of the dream world. This monster, adrift in reverie, clings to visions no one else can see—until a woman appears. Gifted with the rare power to perceive these illusions for what they truly are, she chooses to enter the monster’s dreams, determined to uncover the truth that lies hidden within."
Sirât
Winner of the Jury Prize (Ex-aequo) at the festival, Sirât, directed by Oliver Laxe, revolves around a father and son who undertake a challenging journey in the mountains of Morocco in search of the mother and daughter of the family. "Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits," says the official synopsis.
The Secret Agent
Winner of the Best Actor and Best Director awards at Cannes, The Secret Agent is led by Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, who attained international fame with the Netflix crime series Narcos and has been recently part of high-profile Hollywood films and shows, in this film helmed by Aquarius and Bacurau director Kleber Mendonça Filho. Touted as a period political thriller, the film is set in Filho's hometown, Recife, in 1977, at a time of intense political turmoil and military dictatorship. Moura plays an undercover agent who, in the hopes of putting his dark past behind him and looking for peace, shifts from São Paulo to Recife, only to find that the city doesn't quite offer the respite he desperately seeks, triggering more paranoia.
Nouvelle Vague
Austin-based filmmaker Richard Linklater takes on the origins of the French New Wave movement, with his latest, Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), which chronicles the making of Jean-Luc Godard's pathbreaking, seminal 1960 film Breathless. The film was met with largely enthusiastic reviews from international critics. Linklater opted to make the entire film in French — a first for the director — with French actors cast in the roles of Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Serge, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Eric Rohmer, and several eminent film personalities of the time that shaped the work of many filmmakers from subsequent generations, across the globe.
The Phoenician Scheme
Despite following a signature filmmaking style with his trademark quirks and visual choices, every film of Wes Anderson has been different from the other in terms of mood. The Phoenician Scheme, led by Benicio del Toro, takes place in 1950 and has the actor playing Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda, an enigmatic industrialist and one of the richest men in Europe who is dealing with multiple assassination attempts and trying to find a successor while working on new business expansion plans. Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, and Benedict Cumberbatch are among the other cast members.
Die, My Love
From filmmaker Lynne Ramsay — known for her intense storytelling in such films as We Need to Talk About Kevin (with Tilda Swinton) and You Were Never Really Here (with Joaquin Phoenix) — Die, My Love features Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson as a couple navigating a chaotic relationship. The film follows the painful journey of a new mother falling in and out of psychosis, and how she feels isolated and depressed in a new community.
It Was Just an Accident
Persecuted Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, known for films such as The White Balloon, Taxi, and The Circle, had his triumphant moment at Cannes 2025 when he was awarded the event's topmost prize, the prestigious Palme d'Or, for his film It Was Just An Accident, which was based on his ordeals in prison and conversations with fellow inmates. In the film, five Iranians kidnap a one-legged man who they believe was the man who tortured them in detention and make plans to exact their vengeance on him.
Two Prosecutors
Directed by Sergei Loznitsa, Two Prosecutors is a political thriller set in the Soviet Union in 1937 and tells the tale of an attempt to resist a totalitarian regime. Here's the film's official synopsis: "Thousands of letters from detainees falsely accused by the regime are burned in a prison cell. Against all odds, one of them reaches its destination, upon the desk of the newly appointed local prosecutor, Alexander Kornev, who does his utmost to meet the prisoner, a victim of corrupt agents of the secret police, the NKVD. A dedicated Bolshevik of integrity, the young prosecutor suspects foul play. His quest for justice will take him all the way to the office of the Attorney General in Moscow."
Homebound
From Masaan director Neeraj Ghaywan, the film starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor tells the story of "two childhood friends from a small North Indian village chase a police job that promises them the dignity they’ve long been denied. But as they inch closer to their dream, mounting desperation threatens the bond that holds them together."
