With an artful eye and jazzy unpredictability, Kelly Reichardt unravels the threads of the heist film in this standout from Cannes. As an antihero kicking about on the brink of the ‘70s, Josh O’Connor is unmissable, lending rumpled discontent to this ironic, wry vision of American individualism.

Discontent with mid-century domesticity, a couple flee its demands, throwing their son prematurely into the mess of adult affairs. Wildlife may be his first film as director and screenwriter, yet Paul Dano comes close to the heights of Greek tragedy in this tale of the nuclear family in crisis.