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.

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.

Gorgeously steeped in shades of blue, this teenage character study hums with desire, doubt, and secrets that headily ripple through an ensemble cast. Crafting a specific Midwestern suburban milieu, the film acutely captures a state of uncertainty that disrupts one’s religious and sexual identity.