Nine agonizing years after Morvern Callar, Lynne Ramsay returned to Cannes with another acclaimed literary adaptation. Radically reimagining the nature-or-nurture novel, Ramsay—and star Tilda Swinton—transform the text into a chilling film rightfully venerated for its unforgettable visual language.

Marking her long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking, Andrea Arnold’s tender and surprising coming-of-age fable heralds an astounding debut from newcomer Nykiya Adams. Buoyed by spirited turns from Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, Bird leaps from overlooked fringes of life toward sky-high dreams.

Following a celebrated performance piece about creative evolution, Zia Anger turns narrative cinema inside out with this meta-fiction, starring Odessa Young and Devon Ross. Transforming failure into rituals of rebirth, this poignant film captures the zeitgeist and comes straight from the heart.