Cannes and a Touch of the Fantastic

Cannes 2025 was not, neither in its Official Selection nor in its parallel sections, a decisive showcase for genre films, unlike previous editions where French productions often took audiences by surprise (let's not forget 2023 with The Animal Kingdom and Acid, two remarkable French science fiction productions), or the impact of films such as The Substance at last year's festival.

Nevertheless, Ari Aster's participation with his eagerly awaited Eddington highlighted the presence of genre films in the Official Selection, along with the return of Julia Ducournau and her Alpha, a film that is much more fantastique in nature than it was made out to be and which, despite certain inexplicably hostile reviews, confirms the talent of the Palme d'Or Award-winning director with Titane.

In any event, as part of the Cannes 2025 Official Selection, we had the opportunity to see such a monumental film as Resurrection, directed by Bi Gan, which single-handedly defines the power of the imaginary in film history. And at the midnight screenings, we were treated to Genki Kawamura's The Exit 8, a film that breaks new ground for the evolution of the fantastic genre, drawing on video game sources and unfolding as a symmetrical, looping nightmare.

It is important to highlight that once again, animation was a huge success in Cannes (Arco, La mort n'existe pas, Planètes) and that there was also room for those different, unique films that always manage to leave their mark, like the essential winner of Critics' Week: the Thai film A Useful Ghost, one of the best.

Ángel Sala, Director of the Sitges Film Festival