Who will win the 2026 Cannes Film Festival's top prize?

With Hollywood studios largely absent, this year's Cannes Film Festival leaned into its indie roots, with no clear Palme d'Or frontrunner emerging from a strong field of arthouse directors ahead of Saturday's closing ceremony.

Miranda Murray/Reuters

23 May 2026 at 06:58:04

Who will win the 2026 Cannes Film Festival's top prize?

Director Lea Mysius, cast members Hafsia Herzi, Benoit Magimel, Bastien Bouillon, Monica Bellucci, Tawba El Gharchi, Tatia Tsuladze, Alane Delhaye and Paul Hamy pose on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the film "Histoires de la nuit" (The Birthday Party) in competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 22, 2026.

Marko Djurica/Reuters

CANNES, France - With Hollywood studios largely absent, this year's Cannes Film Festival leaned into its indie roots, with no clear Palme d'Or frontrunner emerging from a strong field of arthouse directors ahead of Saturday's closing ceremony.

The nine-member jury led by South Korean director Park Chan-wook must choose one of 22 films from Cannes veterans, including Spain's Pedro Almodovar, Iran's Asghar Farhadi and Romania's Cristian Mungiu, for the festival's top award.

Winning an award at Cannes typically transforms careers, shapes the awards season that follows and cements directors in the canon.

Recent examples include last year's second-place winner, "Sentimental Value" starring Renate Reinsve, which later took the Oscar for best international feature film, as well as 2024 winner "Anora", which went on to sweep the Oscars with five wins.

RACE REMAINS OPEN

Several films have drawn strong early reactions from critics and audiences, though the race remains open.

The Guardian's critic, Peter Bradshaw, predicts Russian Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Minotaur," about infidelity and moral corruption, as the winner, while on prediction market platform Polymarket, care home drama "All of a Sudden" from Japan's Ryusuke Hamaguchi was in the lead on Friday evening.

On industry publication Screen Daily's jury grid that collates reviews, "Minotaur," "All of a Sudden," and "Fatherland" from Poland's Pawel Pawlikowski have the three highest scores.

Romanian director Mungiu, who brought the Reinsve-led "Fjord" to this year's festival, as well as Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda are this year's only competitors who have previously won the top prize.

Only two U.S. directors were in the competition dominated by European auteurs: James Gray with "Paper Tiger" starring Adam Driver, and Ira Sachs with the Rami Malek-headed "The Man I Love."

Other prizes to be handed out on Saturday night include the Grand Prix, jury prize, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay.

The 79th iteration of the festival officially kicked off on May 12 with the French romantic comedy "The Electric Kiss."

- Miranda Murray; Editing by Rod Nickel/Reuters