Take two: at this year‘s festival, overtly political films by Bong Joon Ho and Tom Twyker struggled to meet the moment, while more ruminative fare from Lucile Hadžihalilović and Richard Linklater offered unalloyed pleasures
Bubble wrapped: this year's festival attempts to avoid the controversies rocking the outside world, providing a sealed-in microclimate for duds and indulgences like Quentin Dupieux's The Second Act and Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis
Wellness check: Nicolas Philibert’s new documentary On the Adamant is the latest in a long line of film portraits of hospitals, including films by Frederick Wiseman, Claire Simon, and others
Reading history: this year's edition tips the scales toward ideas about documentation and bearing witness with films like Mati Diop’s Dahomey, Hong Sangsoo’s A Traveler’s Needs, and Victor Kossakovsky’s Architecton
Picture book: this year’s festival kicked off with a swirl of controversy and a dud opening night film, before finding its footing with films like Catherine Corsini’s Homecoming, Cédric Kahn’s The Goldman Case, and others
Not dark yet: our man in Cannes weighs in on the fest at the midpoint, highlighting Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO, Cristian Mungui’s R.M.N., and more
Light touches: this year’s slate was dotted with life-affirming standouts like Claire Denis’s Fire, Mikhaël Hers’s The Passengers of the Night, and more
Walls and bridges: Nanni Moretti’s documentary is a straight, though moving, account of the refugees sheltered by the Italian embassy following the 1973 coup in Chile
