Fatherland and Fjord towered above the rest on our 2026 Cannes Critics’ Panel — but how did the competition stack up across the other jury grids floating around the Croisette? In a year where our highest-rated selections also found favor with the Palme d’Or jury, Pawlikowski and Mungiu emerged neck-and-neck atop our chart with towering 3.7 averages, closely pursued by Minotaur at 3.6. Just behind them came a tightly packed trio — Coward, All of a Sudden and Notre Salut (aka A Man of His Time) — each landing strong 3.4 averages. But beyond our own panel, where did the broader critical consensus land?… Read the rest
For her third feature film, Histoires de la nuit (aka The Birthday Party), writer/director Léa Mysius once again plays with genre conventions, intrigued by characters who have desperately tried to outrun the ravages of a toxic past through a complete overhaul of their identity. Films which have utilized the same title, including the early William Friedkin film penned by Harold Pinter, or even last year’s Willem Dafoe led thriller, find such a titular party to be the stage for deadly or painful confrontation. The original French language title, Histoires de la nuit, more effectively channels the neo-noir motifs Mysius is essentially attempting to deconstruct through deliberate favoring of characterization over narrative, driven by a notable ensemble of actors who are all incredibly well-cast.… 
