The First Weekend at Cannes, in Parties, Acquisitions, and Premieres

The first weekend at Cannes is a whirlwind of high-stakes acquisitions, glamorous parties, and polarizing premieres — and in this episode, Vanity Fair's Rebecca Ford and John Ross deliver an electrifying inside look. The highlight? Jordan Firstman’s film selling to A24 in a bidding war, a moment that captures the festival’s dreamlike intensity. But beyond the champagne and red carpets, the real story is the quiet tension between artistic ambition and commercial calculation. While films like James Gray’s *Paper Tiger* earn standing ovations and Oscar buzz, others — including Kore-eda’s AI grief drama *Sheep in the Box* and Hamaguchi’s meandering *All of a Sudden* — fall short of expectations, revealing a festival where even master filmmakers can miss the mark. The hosts are candid: many films feel derivative, overly safe, or emotionally predictable. Yet hope remains — for *Hope*, a genre-bending sci-fi thriller with Alicia Vikander, and for *Fjord*, a mysterious new film from Christiane Manju, which both feel like potential awakenings in a sea of mediocrity. The real takeaway? Cannes isn’t just about premieres — it’s about the moment when a film’s fate is sealed in a backroom deal, a whispered recommendation, or a single standing ovation. The episode reveals that the most powerful moments at Cannes aren’t always on screen.