(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Cannes 2019 Movie Scorecard
By the time the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival concludes, it’ll have debuted new films from Pedro Almodóvar (Pain and Glory), Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), Terrence Malick (A Hidden Life), Ken Loach (Sorry We Missed You), Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), and so much more. Jim Jarmusch opened the fest with his unexpected zombie hang-out comedy The Dead Don’t Die, while Quentin Tarantino is rush-delivering Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to have its premiere here, echoing the same impossible task he pulled off 10 years earlier with Inglourious Basterds‘ Cannes debut.
Our RT scorecard includes films debuting at the festival (like Tarantino’s Hollywood and Jarmusch’s zom-com) as well as those that got their start somewhere else, but are screening on the Riviera (like Share and Wounds, which bowed at Sundance). We’ll be updating it daily during the festival as more movies screen, more reviews come in, and Tomatometer scores change. So check in regularly, and check back at the festival’s end, to see where everything playing at this little festival by the sea ends up on the Tomatometer. —Alex Vo
#95
Adjusted Score: 112256%
Critics Consensus: A gripping story brilliantly filmed and led by a pair of powerhouse performances, The Lighthouse further establishes Robert Eggers as a filmmaker of exceptional talent.
Synopsis: Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the...
[More]
#94
Adjusted Score: 115621%
Critics Consensus: A singularly rich period piece, Portrait of a Lady on Fire finds stirring, thought-provoking drama within a powerfully acted romance.
Synopsis: In 1770 the young daughter of a French countess develops a mutual attraction to the female artist commissioned to paint...
[More]
#93
Adjusted Score: 101668%
Critics Consensus: Brought to life by a breakout performance by Camila Morrone, Mickey and the Bear finds affecting drama at the crossroads of a young woman's coming-of-age journey.
Synopsis: A Montana teenager navigates a loving but volatile relationship with her single, veteran father. In a desperate search for independence...
[More]
#92
Adjusted Score: 103048%
Critics Consensus: As intimate as it is heartbreakingly resonant, For Sama powerfully distills the difficult choices faced by citizens of war-torn regions.
Synopsis: A young woman is followed through five years during the revolution in Aleppo, Syria - through love, marriage and motherhood....
[More]
#91
Adjusted Score: 99214%
Critics Consensus: Filmed with impressive skill and brought to life by unforgettable performances, Beanpole takes a heartbreakingly empathetic look at lives shattered by war.
Synopsis: During World War II in Leningrad, the siege of the city is finally over, but life and death struggles continue...
[More]
#90
Adjusted Score: 97221%
Critics Consensus: The Climb uses the complicated bond between two friends to dissect male friendships in engaging -- and frequently funny -- fashion.
Synopsis: Two lifelong pals test the boundaries of their friendship when a woman comes between them....
[More]
#89
Adjusted Score: 104235%
Critics Consensus: First Love's blend of violence, comedy, and romance might seem disparate -- but for director Takashi Miike, it's just another wildly entertaining entry in a filmography full of them.
Synopsis: One night in Tokyo, a self-confident young boxer and a prostitute get caught up in a drug-smuggling plot involving organized...
[More]
#88
Adjusted Score: 91079%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In the late 1980s, a young man who daydreams of action-packed Bollywood heroics finds himself in an orphanage as the...
[More]
#87
Adjusted Score: 76908%
Critics Consensus: A fascinating exploration of human connection, Family Romance, LLC sees Werner Herzog following an unconventional path to existentialism.
Synopsis: A man is hired to impersonate the missing father of a 12-year-old girl....
[More]
#86
Adjusted Score: -1%
Critics Consensus: An entrancing blend of the poignant and the absurd, It Must Be Heaven finds writer-director Elia Suleiman returning to action in peak form.
#85
Adjusted Score: 126229%
Critics Consensus: An urgent, brilliantly layered look at timely social themes, Parasite finds writer-director Bong Joon Ho in near-total command of his craft.
Synopsis: Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan....
[More]
#84
Adjusted Score: 118389%
Critics Consensus: Thrillingly unrestrained yet solidly crafted, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tempers Tarantino's provocative impulses with the clarity of a mature filmmaker's vision.
Synopsis: Actor Rick Dalton gained fame and fortune by starring in a 1950s television Western, but is now struggling to find...
[More]
#83
Adjusted Score: 95473%
Critics Consensus: Smart and stylish, The Wild Goose Lake blends B-movie thrills with bold filmmaking choices and thought-provoking social commentary.
Synopsis: A gangster ends up making a mistake that causes every gun on both sides of the law to point at...
[More]
#82
Adjusted Score: -1%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A thief tries to recover a bag of money that he buried before going to jail....
[More]
#81
Adjusted Score: 90192%
Critics Consensus: Give Me Liberty expertly juggles resonant themes and a madcap series of events to produce a chaotic comedy with heart.
Synopsis: When a riot breaks out in Milwaukee, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get his relatives,...
[More]
#80
Adjusted Score: 85190%
Critics Consensus: Although Port Authority frustrates with its inaccurate portrayal of the culture it attempts to represent, it remains an absorbing and well-acted drama.
Synopsis: After getting kicked out of his home in central Pennsylvania, Paul (Fionn Whitehead) arrives to NYC's dizzying central station with...
[More]
#79
Adjusted Score: 103397%
Critics Consensus: Formally thrilling and narratively daring, Bacurau draws on modern Brazilian sociopolitical concerns to deliver a hard-hitting, genre-blurring drama.
Synopsis: A few years from now... Bacurau, a small village in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita,...
[More]
#78
Adjusted Score: 113035%
Critics Consensus: Pain and Glory finds writer-director Pedro Almodóvar drawing on his own life to rewarding effect -- and honoring his craft as only a master filmmaker can.
Synopsis: An aging Spanish film director in the middle of a creative crisis revisits memorable events of his past....
[More]
#77
Adjusted Score: 111781%
Critics Consensus: It's going to be a long, long time before a rock biopic manages to capture the highs and lows of an artist's life like Rocketman.
Synopsis: Young Reginald Dwight changes his name to Elton John and collaborates with singer-songwriter Bernie Taupin to become one of the...
[More]
#76
Adjusted Score: 94999%
Critics Consensus: An intimate two-hander anchored by a pair of well-matched actors, Bull takes an achingly empathetic look at life on the economic margins.
Synopsis: In a near-abandoned subdivision west of Houston, a wayward teen runs headlong into her equally willful and unforgiving neighbor, an...
[More]
#75
Adjusted Score: 104487%
Critics Consensus: An unpredictable supernatural drama rooted in real-world social commentary, Atlantique suggests a thrillingly bright future for debuting filmmaker Mati Diop.
Synopsis: Arranged to marry a rich man, young Ada is crushed when her true love goes missing at sea during a...
[More]
#74
Adjusted Score: 90594%
Critics Consensus: If the strain of its ambitious juggling act sometimes shows, Zombi Child remains an entertainingly audacious experience, enlivened with thought-provoking themes.
Synopsis: In 1962 Haiti, a man is brought back from the dead to work on a sugar cane plantation; many years...
[More]
#73
Adjusted Score: 84003%
Critics Consensus: While admittedly a self-indulgent exercise, Tommaso is powerfully anchored by an outstanding central performance from Willem Dafoe.
Synopsis: A broken man searching for stability finds a new life in Italy with a much younger wife. He struggles to...
[More]
#72
Adjusted Score: 74359%
Critics Consensus: Much like its well-meaning but clueless protagonist, Adam occasionally seems to be in over its head -- but its good intentions make those fumbles easier to forgive.
Synopsis: Awkward teen Adam spends his last high school summer in New York City with his sister, Casey, who throws herself...
[More]
#71
Adjusted Score: 67157%
Critics Consensus: It isn't quite as exceptional as the titular evening, but On a Magical Night offers enough Gallic whimsy to satisfy audiences in the mood for some romance.
Synopsis: After 20 years of marriage, Maria decides to leave her home, go to the hotel across the street and contemplate...
[More]
#70
Adjusted Score: 93971%
Critics Consensus: Diego Maradona traces the arc of a standard sports documentary, but illuminates its subject with uncommon clarity and depth.
#69
Adjusted Score: 89694%
Critics Consensus: The Whistlers finds writer-director Corneliu Porumboiu working in a more crowd-pleasing vein than previous efforts, with thoroughly entertaining results.
Synopsis: A Romanian police officer, determined to free from prison a crooked businessman who knows where a mobster's money is hidden,...
[More]
#68
Adjusted Score: 82386%
Critics Consensus: Vivarium may confound almost as often as it intrigues, but this well-acted sci-fi/horror hybrid has interesting ideas -- and explores them with style.
#67
Adjusted Score: 86661%
Critics Consensus: Grim yet compelling, Share avoids rote didacticism thanks to sensitive direction and committed central performances.
Synopsis: A disturbing video leaked from a local high school throws a Long Island community into chaos and the national spotlight...
[More]
#66
Adjusted Score: 99332%
Critics Consensus: Led by an outstanding performance from Levan Gelbakhiani, And Then We Danced defeats prejudice with overwhelming compassion.
Synopsis: A male dancer and his partner have been training for years for a spot in the National Georgian Ensemble. The...
[More]
#65
Adjusted Score: 94900%
Critics Consensus: A hauntingly sad story told in dreamlike tones, Song Without a Name further establishes director/co-writer Melina León as a strikingly assured talent.
Synopsis: A woman's newborn daughter is stolen at a fake health clinic....
[More]
#64
Adjusted Score: 89062%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The story of two different couples living in Taliban-occupied Kabul....
[More]
#63
Adjusted Score: 96723%
Critics Consensus: Sorry We Missed You may strike some as tending toward the righteously didactic, but director Ken Loach's passionate approach remains effective.
#62
Adjusted Score: 94885%
Critics Consensus: Ambitious and visually absorbing, A Hidden Life may prove inscrutable to non-devotees -- but for viewers on Malick's wavelength, it should only further confirm his genius.
Synopsis: Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II....
[More]
#61
Adjusted Score: 100077%
Critics Consensus: Les Misérables transcends its unwieldy story with compelling ideas and an infectious energy that boils over during a thrilling final act.
#60
Adjusted Score: 73688%
Critics Consensus: Little Joe's unorthodox approach may baffle horror fans lured in by its premise -- but like its title character, the end result exerts a creepy thrall.
Synopsis: A plant created via genetic engineering appears to produce curious changes in the people and animals it comes into contact...
[More]
#59
Adjusted Score: 35575%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An unemployed academic is forced to change her way of thinking when her father falls in love....
[More]
#58
Adjusted Score: 91149%
Critics Consensus: While it doesn't probe particularly far below the surface of its central character, The Traitor tells its fact-based story with enough energy to entertain.
Synopsis: Tommaso Buscetta becomes the first Mafia informant in 1980s Sicily....
[More]
#57
Adjusted Score: 64685%
Critics Consensus: Stylish but hollow, Lux Æterna represents a frustrating regression for writer-director Gaspar Noé.
Synopsis: Béatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg are on a film set telling stories about witches. Technical problems and psychotic outbreaks gradually...
[More]
#56
Adjusted Score: 63732%
Critics Consensus: Young Ahmed doesn't represent the Dardennes brothers' most developed work, but solid acting and a socially conscious story help compensate for its flaws.
Synopsis: A Belgian teen, embracing an extremist interpretation of the Quran, hatches a plot to kill his teacher....
[More]
#55
Adjusted Score: 49492%
Critics Consensus: Wounds isn't without its creepy-crawly charms, but they -- and the efforts of a talented cast -- get squished by a story that never quite gets completely under the skin.
Synopsis: Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he brings home a cellphone that...
[More]
#54
Adjusted Score: 72688%
Critics Consensus: The Dead Don't Die dabbles with tones and themes to varying degrees of success, but sharp wit and a strong cast make this a zom-com with enough brains to consume.
Synopsis: In the sleepy small town of Centerville, something is not quite right. The moon hangs large and low in the...
[More]
#53
Adjusted Score: 62332%
Critics Consensus: Flawed yet well-acted, Frankie finds director/co-writer Ira Sachs getting snagged in his story's thorny relationships -- and often freed by his stellar cast.
Synopsis: A family confronts a life-altering crisis while vacationing in Portugal....
[More]
#52
Adjusted Score: -1%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Christmas night in Roubaix. Police chief Daoud roams the city. Burn out cars, violent altercations... In the face of poverty,...
[More]
#51
Adjusted Score: 58359%
Critics Consensus: Joan of Arc (Jeanne) definitely offers a different take on this oft-told tale, although it isn't always able to deliver absorbing drama.
Synopsis: In the 15th century, both France and England stake a blood claim for the French throne. Believing that God had...
[More]
#50
Adjusted Score: 54179%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The mayor of Lyon, Paul Théraneau, is in a delicate position. After 30 years in politics, he is running out...
[More]
#49
Adjusted Score: 59574%
Critics Consensus: Intriguing yet uneven, Sibyl is just about held together by its leads, but too often pits great performances against frustrating filmmaking.
Synopsis: A psychotherapist pursues her first passion and becomes a writer....
[More]
#48
Adjusted Score: 10012%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A young man travels to Sarajevo with two friends when he becomes suspicious that he may be the reincarnation of...
[More]
#47
Adjusted Score: 10098%
Critics Consensus: Joyless and distastefully photographed, Abdellatif Kechiche's second chapter in his romantic epic is too enamored with derrière to offer audiences a reason to care.
Synopsis: A teenager returns to his hometown during summer break to find love....
[More]
