Cannes’ 75th edition came to a close with a Palme d’Or for Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness. It was a fittingly ironic moment for the wealthy, star-studded audience to applaud a satire that eviscerates the wealthy and celebrity-obsessed upper-classes. It was Östlund’s second Palme d’Or and, although well-deserved, felt symptomatic of a festival which was fine at best.

Park Chan-wook, Claire Denis, Hirokazu Kore-eda and the Dardennes all received prizes for films that certainly weren’t their best. Lukas Dhont’s Close felt like an improvement on Girl while still staying in similar territory. Eight Mountains was also recognised, which felt right. One of the most exciting movies was Jerzy Skolimowski’s donkey drama EO. 

The Out-of-Competition fare was excellent. Elvis was great fun and you’ve already seen Top Gun: Maverick. Ethan Coen’s Jerry Lee Lewis documentary was a bore that consistently buried the more interesting stories under concert footage. The David Bowie-centred Moonage Daydream was far superior.

Perhaps it was the continued effects of the pandemic – a cinematic long Covid – which left films characterised by a smallness, depopulated and narrowly-focused. The festival itself seemed to have entirely forgotten the pandemic as wearing masks and social distancing was largely ignored. As the festival season continues, Venice is beginning to look like it could be a very appealing lineup. Without a Netflix beef and with a lot of exciting films not ready for Cannes, the Italian festival also has a reputation as a launching pad for Oscar contenders.

Palme d’or
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS directed by Ruben ÖSTLUND

Grand Prix (jointly awarded)
CLOSE directed by Lukas DHONT
STARS AT NOON directed by Claire DENIS

Award for Best Director
PARK Chan-Wook for HEOJIL KYOLSHIM (DECISION TO LEAVE)

Award for Best Screenplay
Tarik SALEH for WALAD MIN AL JANNA (BOY FROM HEAVEN)

Jury Prize (jointly awarded)
EO directed by Jerzy SKOLIMOWSKI
LE OTTO MONTAGNE (THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS) directed by Charlotte VANDERMEERSCH & Felix VAN GROENINGEN 

75th Anniversary Prize
TORI ET LOKITA (TORI AND LOKITA) directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc DARDENNE

Award for Best Actress
Zar AMIR EBRAHIMI in HOLY SPIDER, directed by Ali ABBASI

Award for Best Actor
SONG Kang-ho in BROKER, directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu

SHORT FILMS

Palme d’or
HAI BIAN SHENG QI YI ZUO XUAN YA (THE WATER MURMURS) directed by JIANYING CHEN

Special Mention
LORI (MELANCHOLY OF MY MOTHER’S LULLABIES) directed by Abinash Bikram SHAH

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Un Certain Regard Prize
LES PIRES (THE WORST ONES) directed by Lise AKOKA & Romane GUERET

Jury Prize
JOYLAND directed by Saim SADIQ

Best Director Prize
Alexandru BELC for METRONOM

Best Performance Prize (jointly awarded)
Vicky KRIEPS in CORSAGE directed by Marie KREUTZER
Adam BESSA in HARKA directed by Lotfy NATHAN

Best Screenplay Prize
MEDITERRANEAN FEVER directed by Maha HAJ

« Coup de cœur » Prize 
RODEO directed by Lola QUIVORON

Caméra d’or
WAR PONY directed by Riley KEOUGH and Gina GAMMELL,
presented as part of the UN CERTAIN REGARD Official Selection

Special Mention
PLAN 75 directed by HAYAKAWA Chie

The 75th Cannes Film Festival takes place from 17-28 May. Follow our coverage here.

John Bleasdale | @drjonty