Cannes 2026: Reviews and Rankings
Saulo Ferreira ranks the films of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, from Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Grand Prix winner at number one down to Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or in 29th.
The 79th Cannes Film Festival ran from May 12 to May 23, 2026, with 22 films in the main competition and dozens more across Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week. Park Chan-wook led the jury that gave the Palme d’Or to Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord and the Grand Prix to Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur. This page collects the Reviews On Reels coverage of that edition in a single ranking that stays current as new reviews are published.
In 2025, we had the cinephile accreditation, which meant long hours in the last-minute queue and 27 films by the end (the goal had been 25, and a power outage on the final day left us three short of 30). That recap ended with me hoping for a press pass. We had one this time, and the count went to 37, spread across the competition and the parallel sections.
THE FESTIVAL
Running on the French Riviera every May since 1946, Cannes is the festival the industry builds its year around. The main competition stays small, 22 titles in 2026, and a place in it can shape the rest of a director’s decade. Parasite and Anatomy of a Fall both took the Palme d’Or in the last ten years, and most of what premieres here reaches Canadian screens between the fall and the following spring.
Alongside the competition, Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week run their own selections, and that is usually where a first feature turns up. Reviews On Reels covers all of them, so this ranking mixes the competition titles with the discoveries from the sidebars.
HOW THE RANKING WORKS
Only films with a published review make the list, ordered worst to best. Every row links to the full review and, once a film opens in Canada, to where it can be watched.
Top 10
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10
Ranking Everything We Saw
Updated October 6, 2026
Where to watch: Buy/Rent
Where to watch: Buy/Rent
Where to watch: In Theaters
Where to watch: Apple TV
Where to watch: Buy/Rent
Where to watch: In Theaters
