The Best Films of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival

The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has now concluded, with Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident taking home the Palme d’Or (see all jury winners here). While our coverage will continue with a few more reviews this week––and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections––we’ve asked our […] The post The Best Films of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival first appeared on The Film Stage.

May 26, 2025 - 22:05

The Best Films of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival

The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has now concluded, with Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident taking home the Palme d’Or (see all jury winners here). While our coverage will continue with a few more reviews this week––and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections––we’ve asked our contributors on the ground to share favorites.

See their picks below, and explore all of our coverage here.

Leonardo Goi (@LeonardoGoi)

1. Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
2. Sound of Falling (Mascha Schilinski)
3. The Last One For The Road (Francesco Sossai)
4. The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
5. Resurrection (Bi Gan)
6. It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi)
7. Heads or Tails (Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis)
8. Lucky Lu (Lloyd Lee Choi)
9. Two Prosecutors (Sergei Loznitsa)
10. Mirrors No. 3 (Christian Petzold)

Read all of Leonardo’s reviews here.

Luke Hicks (@lou_hicks)

1. Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
2. The Love That Remains (Hlynur Pálmason)
3. The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)
4. The Plague (Charlie Polinger)
5. Sound of Falling (Mascha Schilinski)
6. Eddington (Ari Aster)
7. Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)
8. Splitsville (Michael Angelo Covino)
9. Mirrors No. 3 (Christian Petzold)
10. Die My Love (Lynne Ramsay)

Read all of Luke’s reviews here.

Rory O’Connor (@RorySeanOC)

1. Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
2. The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)
3. The President’s Cake (Hasan Hadi)
4. The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson)
5. Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)
7. Enzo (Laurent Cantet and Robin Campillo)
8. Lucky Lu (Lloyd Lee Choi)
9. Sorry Baby (Eva Victor)
10. Heads or Tails (Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis)

Read all of Rory’s reviews here.

Savina Petkova (@savinapetkova)

1. Die My Love (Lynne Ramsay)
2. Mirrors No. 3 (Christian Petzold)
3. The Chronology of Water (Kristen Stewart)
4. Romería (Carla Simón)
5. Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)
6. Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
7. The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)
8. Drunken Noodles (Lucio Castro)
9. A Simple Accident (Jafar Panahi)
10. Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater)

Read all of Savina’s reviews here.

Blake Simons (@blakethinks)

1. Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)
2. Brand New Landscape (Yuiga Danzuka)
3. Resurrection (Bi Gan)
4. Nervous Energy (Eve Liu)
5. Love on Trial (Koji Fukada)
6. Exit 8 (Genki Kawamura)
7. Mirrors No. 3 (Christian Petzold)
8. Renoir (Chie Hayakawa)
9. Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater)
10. The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)

Zhuo-Ning Su

1. Resurrection (Bi Gan)
2. Sound of Falling (Mascha Schilinski)
3. The Love That Remains (Hlynur Pálmason)
4. The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
5. Pillion (Harry Lighton)
6. The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (Diego Céspedes)
7. Woman and Child (Saeed Roustayi)
8. It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi)
9. Splitsville (Michael Angelo Covino)
10. Left-Handed Girl ( Shih-Ching Tsou)

Read all of Zhuo-Ning Su’s reviews here.

The post The Best Films of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival first appeared on The Film Stage.