Cannes Diary Finale: Jury of One (Elisa's Choices)
Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 7:10AM Elisa Giudici
With Cannes a week behind us, a look at my own personal favourites, and who would have won each prize if I were the sole juror.
Despite my overall disappointment with the 78th edition, there were strong films. Óliver Laxe's Sirât was a breathtaking piece of cinema, a true original that dared to be different. Its unpredictable narrative and masterful execution made it a highlight. Otherwise, my personal affection lies with Pillion, a film that managed to be both provocative and deeply insightful about the nature of love and vulnerability, wrapped in a rom-com-gone-rogue package...
From the strong Iranian contingent, Jafar Panahi's Palm d'Or winning It Was Just An Accident showcased his enduring mastery with a drama of immense human depth and a courageous, subtly woven critique. Similarly, Saeed Roustayi's Woman and Child was an impeccably crafted ensemble piece offering a poignant look at the lives of women in Iran.
Norway's Joachim Trier delivered yet again with Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value , a film that resonated deeply on an emotional level, marked by mature filmmaking and powerful performances, particularly from Stellan Skarsgård.
A standout from Un Certain Regard, and one of the festival's most talked-about films was Diego Céspedes' The Mysterious Gaze of The Flamingo. His debut allegorically reimagines the generation lost to AIDS in 1982 Chile.
A JURY OF ONE
Here are the prizes I would have rewarded from the Main Competition Lineup as the festival concluded. [In case you missed the actual winners, click to read Nathaniel's roundup of prizes from all juries.]
My Palme d’Or: Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Stellan Skarsgárd & Elle Fanning from "Sentimental Value" Photo © Kasper Tuxen
Personally I would have given the Palme to Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value. It's a true testament to his career's maturity if not a perfect film -- towards the end, there are about 15 minutes where one genuinely fears it might slip from his grasp. Still, it contains so many well-developed themes and relationships that you're struck by the monumental narrative dimension it packs into just over two hours. What's more it weaves together a phenomenal triangle of performances.
What elevates Sentimental Value to greatness is its intricate exploration of familial fault lines, filtered through the lens of art and ego. Trier masterfully uses a film-within-a-film device, not just as a narrative conceit, but as a crucible for the characters. The aging, unrepentantly selfish auteur father, Borg (a towering Stellan Skarsgård), attempts to direct his eldest daughter Nora (Renate Reinsve) in a script that mercilessly mines their shared, painful history and his own flawed understanding of her. Trier’s genius lies in crafting this family saga as a series of overheard secrets and mirrored pains, where the ancestral home itself becomes a silent, ever-present character, a repository of memory and conflict. Beyond the intense personal drama, the film cleverly weaves in a sharp, often irreverent meta-commentary on cinema, the creative process, and even industry politics (with a knowing nod to its Netflix co-production)
Even though it was a very lean year overall, there were, of course, other films of great value. It was particularly striking to note how many excellent debuts were tucked away in the parallel sections. They would have livened up the competition if they'd been vying for the Palme.
As this "Jury of One" deliberates, my choices reflect a search for originality, emotional intelligence, and films that, even with modest means, offered delightful cinematic moments or profound insights. But, again, some of the best played outside of the main Competition. My absolute favorite in Un Certain Regard was Pillion. Much like Halina Reijn's Babygirl (if we're drawing parallels to recent daring cinema), it cleverly subverts the often "prurient" narrative surrounding the dom/sub world, doing so with great emotional intelligence and a delightful British wit. It’s not a big-budget picture, but it boasts some exquisite editing and directorial choices. The same can be said for Diego Céspedes' The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo. While I'm pleased it won Un Certain Regard, I'm less thrilled when I recall that something far less accomplished in narrating the difficulty of maintaining a relationship when societal judgment is the third wheel—like History of Sound—was in the main competition.
Grand Prix: Óliver Laxe, Sirât
Best Screenplay: Jafar Panahi, It Was Just An Accident
Best Actor: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Best Actress: A tie between Jennifer Lawrence (Die My Love) and Parinaz Izadyar (Woman and Child)
Among the most beautiful films of this edition is Kleber Mendonça Filho’s O Agente Secreto (The Secret Agent) which receives two prizes from me and won Best Actor from Juliette Binoche's jury. The Secret Agent achieves a fantastic equilibrium between more conventional cinema and the unique, unconventional, and very playful touch of this ever impressive Brazilian director, who once again demonstrates perfect control over a gigantic cast, allowing everyone to shine. The film even carves out space for a story-within-a-story set in an old Recife cinema (the director's own childhood experience of seeing Jaws at an entirely inappropriate age). There are surreal and audacious sequences reminiscent of Bacurau (the severed leg haunting lovers in a swingers' club is magnificent!), but above all, there's a paranoid, genre-inflected way of shooting that translates a realistic story into seductive cinema, without losing the gravitas of its denunciation of Brazil's very difficult years. The film features sequences of incredible ambition, such as an escape through a carnival crowd or a very long sequence where the hunted protagonist manages to turn other armed characters against his killer, forcing the hunter to become the prey.
Elisa's Best Director: (TIE) Mascha Schilinski for Sound of Falling and Kelly Reichardt for The Mastermind
Another film I wished I could have discussed more, but was presented at the very end, is Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind. While it's likely to be off-putting or to bore anyone outside its target audience, they'll find in it something now very rare in contemporary cinema. Firstly, it's a disconcerting yet highly authentic portrait of a certain sensibility that's intrinsically linked to the 1970s – a complex, contradictory period, one of the 20th century's most distinctive, yet perhaps the one we struggle most to connect with emotionally today. Kelly Reichardt crafts a portrait of a man, Mooney (Josh O'Connor), who is both a product of and a symbol of that decade. The film's point is to make us understand how our here-and-now makes it difficult even to imagine what truly goes on in the head of someone as intelligent as he is profoundly naive and vain. The second trait that makes The Mastermind precious (and, to some, more irritating) is its refusal to offer easy answers or grand revelations. The moments of stark truth about Mooney and the motives of his actions, are the film’s most anticlimactic passages; rather than providing answers, they open up a whole new range of questions. But for those who enjoy digging deep, being challenged, and detest easy answers that shape even the narrative course of a film, The Mastermind will be an absolute delight.
Cannes 78 is now a wrap. We hope you enjoyed the coverage.
Reader Comments (4)
I'm SO excited for Sentimental Value. I can't even wait. And nice to hear that the jury selection of Wagner Moura for Best Actor was well earned!
Thanks for the coverage! Every year, Cannes season remains my favorite period of the year for movie coverage, and Elisa has become a top source for interesting, well-considered coverage.
This year, there's like 20 different titles i can't wait to see!
Elisa-what about Alpha?
Thanks so much Elisa for your amazingly comprehensive (where does your stamina come from??)
coverage of Cannes. I appreciate your considered, insightful reviews. I now have a list of films I'm watching out for when they (eventually) arrive at a cinema here in Edinburgh.