At Cannes, Politics, Penny-Pinching and Strict Red Carpet Rules Overshadow the Glitz, Good Times and Glamour

For a moment, it felt like the old Cannes again. 

On Sunday night, as the festival crawled toward its midpoint, news broke that Mubi, the upstart distributor that rode “The Substance”’s Oscar success to a $1 billion valuation, was shelling out $24 million for “Die My Love.” The film was one of Cannes’ most polarizing, but here Mubi was spending more than “Anora” made at the domestic box office for the right to release an edgy relationship drama. Perhaps it justified the price tag because “Die My Love” features Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, movie stars at a time when those are an endangered species. 

They were a rare breed on the red carpets of Cannes, where studios mostly resisted the lure of splashy premieres. An exception was made for Tom Cruise, who rode “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning”’s global hype machine to the steps of the Palais, where it was met with a meh. Otherwise, upcoming summer blockbusters like “F1” and “How to Train Your Dragon” ceded the stage to indies and international films. It’s harder for entertainment companies to see spending $1 million or more on a Cannes launch when the box office is struggling and profit margins are evaporating. 

And there were other signs of frugality. Companies sent fewer executives to scout for movies, restaurants seemed less packed and the massive banners that usually blanket the Croisette were never unfurled. 

Other wounds were self-inflicted. New red-carpet bans on nude dressing had many stars and fashionistas leaving their best looks on the rack. Cannes, the epitome of excess and glamour, wasn’t made for these times. 

As the festival prepares to wrap things up, here are five takeaways from the south of France. 

Politics Rocks the Palais

Cannes’ opening night overflows with lyrical odes to the power of cinema, but this year’s kickoff was overshadowed by the chaos and carnage rocking the world. Robert De Niro, who was honored with a lifetime achievement award, used his acceptance speech to blast Trump as a “philistine,” urging artists “to organize, to protest, and when there are elections, of course, to vote.” In her remarks, Juliette Binoche, who is overseeing the competition jury, drew attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and other hot-button issues. “War, misery, climate change, primitive misogyny — the demons of our barbarities leave us no outlet,” she said. Cannes may be a bubble, but some horrors can’t be ignored. 

Linklater Lights Up the Screen

Nobody loves movies about movies more than the people who make movies. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” a love letter to Jean-Luc Godard and the merry band of French iconoclasts who transformed cinema in the 1960s, got a warm hug from the Cannes crowd. The movie is the consensus favorite among festivalgoers and in the running for the Palme d’Or. It already has buyers circling, with many distributors speculating it could ride its success here to the Oscars. Bravo!

Frugality Hits the Fest

We’re not in a global recession yet, but preemptive penny-pinching was on display. The Croisette, usually home to giant activations for upcoming studio releases, was threadbare. Whereas Paramount brought a giant Air Force pilot helmet to promote “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” merely got a few oversize screens in front of the Carlton. The hotel piers, often booked out for photo opportunities, also stood empty. And the list of parties didn’t contain that one stop-at-nothing-to-attend blowout (see Elton John and Taron Egerton singing “Rocket Man” onstage in 2019 or the firework display that lit up the lavish “Solo: A Star Wars Story” bash the year before). On the sales front, other than Mubi’s “Die My Love” deal, plenty of films still need homes. 

Covered-Up Couture

For all the wild experimentation we see at Cannes on the big screen, the festival has a history of being regimented about what can appear on its legendary red carpet. The stairs to the Palais du Cinema, smothered in a coating of the deepest red, have strict rules. No selfies. Women must wear high heels. And as of this year, no stunting with nudity or elaborate gowns. The festival made waves at its start by banning “voluminous dresses” — meaning no long trains — exaggerated sleeves or anything that “restricts movement.” The nudity ban is being interpreted as no exposed nipples. The rule change forced jury member Halle Berry to 86 her opening-night duds thanks to the dramatic train. And it put a run in the stockings of Hollywood’s influential stylists, who viewed it as a buzzkill for the annual fashion blowout. 

Debutants Have a Ball

Cannes is never short of first-time directors hoping the festival can scatter fairy dust on their careers. But the assortment of debuts — especially in the Un Certain Regard competition — has rarely matched the star power on display this year. Kristen Stewart (“The Chronology of Water”), Harris Dickinson (“Urchin”) and Scarlett Johansson (“Eleanor the Great”) — none of them strangers to the festival as actors — all brought their first features from behind the lens to the Croisette, while there were very buzzy debuts from Harry Lighton (“Pillion,” starring Alexander Skarsgård) and Akinola Davies Jr. (“My Father’s Shadow,” starring Sopé Dìrísù). All landed to widespread applause and critical acclaim. In the case of Stewart, Variety’s review described it as a “stirring drama” told with “poetic passion.” A star director is born.