All The Brits At Cannes Film Festival 2025

The stars are aligning in the south of France, and the film world is gearing up for another glitzy extravaganza (albeit with less nudity and no ‘voluminous outfits with a large train’ thanks to an eleventh-hour dress code refresh). We’re of course talking about the Cannes Film Festival, which is taking over the seaside town from 13 to 24 May 2025.

In this 78th edition, French actress Juliette Binoche is heading up the jury for the Main Competition, joined by an eight-strong panel boasting the likes of Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong and South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo. Elsewhere, British director Molly Manning Walker (How To Have Sex) will head up the Un Certain Regard jury, British filmmaker Martha Fiennes will judge the Immersive Competition, and British actor and filmmaker Daniel Kaluuya has a seat at Critics’ Week. But they’re not the only Brits showing their faces at Cannes. Here are all of the films at this year’s festival with a British connection, from stars to directors to producers.

British Stars At Cannes 2025: 14 Films To Know

(L to R) Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda and Mia Threapleton as Liesl in director Wes Anderson’s THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, a Focus Features release.
(TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025)

The Phoenician Scheme

Scarlet Johansson, Benicio Del Toro, Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston all star in this, the most star-studded film up for the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2025, directed by cult auteur Wes Anderson. But our focus will be trained on the Brits in the mix: Benedict Cumberbatch, Riz Ahmed and Richard Ayoade all star, with Mia Threapleton taking a lead role. She stars as Liesl, the heir to international magnate Zsa-Zsa’s (Del Toro) fortune, yearning to join a convent. The father-daughter duo trot the globe to secure a final deal before Zsa-Zsa is assassinated or retires – whichever comes first.

WATCH: The Phoenician Scheme will premiere at Cannes on 18 May, before landing in UK cinemas on 23 May.

(L-R) Joaquin Phoenix & Pedro Pascal in Eddington. (© A24)

Eddington

Ari Aster makes his Cannes debut following success with chilling horrors including Hereditary, Midsommar and Beau Is Afraid. Eddington stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone in pandemic-era New Mexico, where a battle ensues between small town Eddington’s law and order sheriff (Phoenix) and its Mayor (Pascal) – and we’re sure a horrific twist will follow. Austin Butler, Luke Grimes and Clifton Collins Jr. are also set to star, as is British-Jamaican star Michael Ward, who you’ll recognise from Blue Story (2018), Top Boy and Empire of Light (2022).

WATCH: Eddington will premiere at Cannes on 16 May, and is expected to land in UK cinemas in July.

Josh O’Connor is David and Paul Mescal is Lionel in THE HISTORY OF SOUND, directed by Oliver Hermanus. (Universal Pictures)

The History Of Sound

It may trace the relationship between two men in 20th century America, but British production company Film4 is behind The History of Sound, which stars two beloved actors: Irish star Paul Mescal and British beau Josh O’Connor. Here’s exactly what to expect.

WATCH: The History of Sound will premiere at Cannes on 21 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

Josh O’Connor in The Mastermind.

The Mastermind

And fans of Josh O’Connor have two chances to see the Brit shine at Cannes Film Festival in 2025, thanks to Kelly Reichardt’s 1970s heist thriller. O’Connor stars as an unemployed carpenter turned amateur art thief James Blaine Mooney, who is planning his first big heist. He is joined by Alana Haim, John Magaro, Hope Davis, Bill Camp, Gaby Hoffmann and more.

WATCH: The Mastermind will premiere at Cannes on 23 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

A Pale View of Hills (© Gaga Corporation)

A Pale View Of Hills

English novelist and Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1982 work A Pale View of Hills is getting the screen treatment at Cannes, thanks to a screenplay by Japanese director and writer Kei Ishikawa. The atmospheric story, like all of Ishiguro’s works, centres on memory – specifically those of a widow in 1980s England looking back on her time in 1950s Japan.

WATCH: A Pale View of Hills will premiere at Cannes on 15 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD. It is slated to land in Japanese cinemas in summer 2025.

Jennifer Lawrence in Die, My Love. (© Okasha)

Die, My Love

Scottish director Lynne Ramsay has found success at Cannes previously, with all of her previous films – Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar, We Need to Talk About Kevin, You Were Never Really Here – screening here. Fans are excited to see Die, My Love, which is an adaptation of Argentine writer Ariana Harwicz’s 2019 novel of the same name and will compete for the Palme d’Or. The film stars Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence as a new mother slowly losing her sanity, opposite one of Britain’s most malleable stars, Robert Pattinson.

WATCH: Die, My Love will premiere at Cannes on 17 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

June Squibb in Eleanor the Great. (© Anne Joyce/Sony Pictures Classics)

Eleanor The Great

Black Widow star Scarlet Johansson may be on screen in The Phoenician Scheme, but she’s stepping behind the camera at Cannes Film Festival 2025 for her directorial debut, which will premiere in the Un Certain Regard section. Eleanor the Great tells the tale of a cross-generational friendship: the 94-year-old Eleanor (June Squibb) mourning the recent death of an old pal, and a 19-year-old college student played by British star Erin Kellyman. Fellow Brit Chiwetel Ejiofor also stars, hot off his turn in Mad About the Boy, with Jessica Hecht rounding out the cast.

WATCH: Eleanor The Great will premiere at Cannes on 20 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

The Chronology Of Water

Another American star stepping behind the camera for Cannes 2025 is Kristen Stewart, whose debut directorial feature The Chronology of Water is adapted from American writer Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir of the same name. It’s all about a young woman’s self actualisation through writing and swimming, with British star Imogen Poots taking the lead role. Produced by Ridley and Tony Scott’s company Scott Free Productions, Poots is joined by Thora Birch and Kim Gordon, as well as fellow Brits Earl Cave and Tom Sturridge.

WATCH: The Chronology of Water will premiere at Cannes on 16 May 2025, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

Urchin

Urchin

Another actor stepping behind the camera is budding British star Harris Dickinson, who has recently built up a stellar repertoire, boasting Babygirl (2024), The Iron Claw (2023) and Triangle of Sadness (2022) in his back catalogue. Urchin is perhaps the most British contender at Cannes 2025: set in London, the story follows a rough sleeper struggling to turn his life around. At the centre is Frank Dillane, who recently starred opposite Sophie Turner in ITV’s Joan.

WATCH: Urchin will premiere at Cannes on 17 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

Alpha

British star Emma Mackey flexes her French duality in Alpha, the latest feature from French filmmaker Julia Ducournau. When she premiered her debut feature Raw at Cannes in 2016, Ducournau made ripples – followed by waves with her sophomore feature Titane in 2021, which bagged the Palme d’Or. Hopes are high for Alpha, in which Mackey is joined by Tahar Rahim, Golshifteh Farahani, Mélissa Boros and fellow French-British star Finnegan Oldfield. It all centres on a 13-year-old named Alpha, who comes home from school one day with a tattoo.

WATCH: Alpha will premiere at Cannes on 19 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD here in the UK. In France, the film will land in cinemas on 20 August.

My Father’s Shadow (© Lakin Ogunbanwo)

My Father’s Shadow

This British-Nigerian co-production stars Gangs of London’s Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, and is set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election. Directed by Akinola Davies Jr., in My Father’s Shadow, Dìrísù is an absent father who reunites with his two young sons, spending the day together in Lagos.

WATCH: My Father’s Shadow will premiere at Cannes on 18 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

Sentimental Value

Famed for his 2021 flick The Worst Person in the World, us Brits have a small claim to Joachim Trier’s Norwegian comedy drama Sentimental Value: BBC Film helped to produce it. And in Sentimental Value, Trier reunites with Worst Person star Renate Reinsve to tell a family drama about actor Nora (Reinsve) and her sister (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) reconnecting with their famous filmmaker of a father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård). With his career on the downturn, Gustav is plotting his comeback with a new film, with a lead role Nora would be perfect for. Instead, he has cast an American star (Elle Fanning), who moves in with the family for filming.

WATCH: Sentimental Value will premiere at Cannes on 21 May, and is expected to land in UK cinemas on 6 June.

Harry Melling as Colin & Alexander Skarsgård as Ray in Pillion. (© A24)

Pillion

British production companies Element Pictures, the BFI and BBC Film have joined forces to work on Pillion, which will premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes Film Festival 2025. Based on Adam Mars-Jones’ 2020 novel Box Hill, we centre on timid Colin, who is played by Harry Melling, best known as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films. He’s joined by Alexander Skarsgård as Ray, a biker who takes him under his wing.

WATCH: Pillion will premiere at Cannes on 18 May, with a cinematic release date still TBD.

Honey Don’t!

This may be another of the more American-sounding films on the Cannes bill, but Honey Don’t! was produced by British company Working Title Films, including British co-chair Eric Fellner. Starring Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Charlie Day and Billy Eichner, Honey Don’t! is a dark detective comedy about a small-town investigator who delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.

WATCH: Honey Don’t! will premiere at Cannes on 24 May, and is expected to land in UK cinemas in August.

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