A Closer Look at the Cannes 2026 Critics’ Grids
Now that the 79th Cannes Film Festival is over, it’s time to analyze the critical response to the competition lineup. We have been keeping track of what our fellow critics have been saying about these in-competition films, and possible 2026 awards contenders. Every year, our friends at IONCINEMA and Screen International each put together a critics panel featuring writers and publications from around the world. Each critic rates the film on a star-based system (Screen out of 4 and ION out of 5). Their assessments are tallied up, giving each competition title an average rating.
See the completed jury grids below. No critic appears on both lists.
IONCinema’s Cannes Critics’ Panel’s Top 10 Films:
- Fjord (Cristian Mungiu) – 3.7
- Fatherland (Pawel Pawlikowski) – 3.7
- Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev) – 3.6
- Coward (Lukas Dhont) – 3.4
- All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) – 3.4
- A Man of His Time (Emmanuel Marre) – 3.4
- The Beloved (Rodrigo Sorogoyen) – 3.2
- Paper Tiger (James Gray) – 3.2
- The Man I Love (Ira Sachs) – 3.1
- Hope (Na Hong-jin) – 3.1
Screen International’s Critics’ Panel’s Top 10 Films:
- Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski) – 3.3
- Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev) – 3.2
- All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) – 3.1
- The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach) – 3.1
- Hope (Na Hong-jin) – 2.8
- A Man of His Time (Emmanuel Marre) – 2.8
- Paper Tiger (James Gray) – 2.8
- Fjord (Cirstian Mungiu) – 2.5
- Nagi Notes (Koji Fukada) – 2.5
- The Man I Love (Ira Sachs) – 2.5
Both critics’ juries had high praise for Paweł Pawlikowski’s Best Director winner, Fatherland, with Screen International giving it their highest rating of 3.3. In contrast, IONCinema gave it a 3.7 rating (out of 5), tying it with Cristian Mungiu’s Palme D’Or winner Fjord. While Fjord was listed #1 on ION’s list, Screen International’s jury gave it a 2.5 rating (out of 4), placing it 8th on their list. An astonishing difference.
Andrey Zvyagintsev’s thriller Minotaur, which won the Grand Prix, came in second place on Screen, whereas it was listed No. 3 on ION’s. This is Zvyagintsev’s first film made in exile after fleeing to France in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, of which he is an outspoken critic. The critics also loved Emmanuel Marre’s A Man of His Time, winner of Best Screenplay, which placed No. 6 on both lists. On ION’s list, its 3.4 score had it tied with Lukas Dhont’s Coward and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden. The latter film placed higher on Screen International’s list with a No. 3 slot.
One surprising film that made both lists was Na Hong-jin’s divisive sci-fi action thriller, Hope. ION placed it No. 10 on their list with a 3.1 average rating, while Screen placed it No. 5 on theirs with a score of 2.8. Some titles on both lists, however, did not crossover. ION gave some love to Lukas Dhont’s Coward with No. 4 on their list and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved with a No. 7 placement. Screen International were fans of Valeska Griesbach’s Jury Prize winner The Dreamed Adventure, placing it No. 4 with a 3.1 average rating. Koji Fukada’s Nagi Notes was given some recognition with a 2.5 average rating, placing it No. 9 on their list.
The lowest-rated films on ION’s list tied with Léa Mysius’ The Birthday Party and Hirokazu Koreeda’s Sheep in a Box, both carrying a 2.2 average. Screen International also placed Mysius’ The Birthday Party at the very bottom, with a 1.1 average rating.
