All eyes are on the Croisette as the 79th Cannes Film Festival heads for its biggest moment. With days of premieres, standing ovations, rave reviews, and heated debate, the anticipation around the top prize of this year's festival has reached a fever pitch. There are a handful of standout titles that have emerged as strong contenders, with critics and festival watchers split over who might take home the festival’s top honor. 

The race for the Palme d’Or remains wide open, with the announcement still under wraps.

The closing ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival has started in the Grand Théâtre Lumière, where the jury will reveal the winners of this year’s edition, including the Palme d’Or. Park Chan-wook, the South Korean director, will lead the jury. The jury includes screenwriter Paul Laverty, directors Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, and Chloé Zhao, and actors Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Isaach de Bankolé, and Stellan Skarsgård. 

French actress Eye Haïdara will host the closing ceremony. Award presenters include actors Geena Davis, Pierfrancesco Favino, Gael García Bernal, and Zoe Saldaña, and directors Xavier Dolan and Nadine Labaki. The Palme d’Or, the top prize for best film, will be awarded by Scottish Oscar winner Tilda Swinton.

A handful of films have generated some very strong early reactions from critics and audiences, but the race is still on. The Guardian’s critic Peter Bradshaw is tipping Russian Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, about infidelity and moral corruption, as the winner. On the other hand, care home drama All of a Sudden from Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi was leading on prediction market platform Polymarket on Friday evening.

Additionally, industry publication Screen Daily’s jury grid that collates reviews has the top three scores for Minotaur, All of a Sudden, and Fatherland by Poland’s Pawel Pawlikowski. Furthermore, La Bola Negra, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, is also in the race.  James Gray with Paper Tiger starring Adam Driver and Ira Sachs with the Rami Malek-headed The Man I Love were the only US directors in the running in a competition dominated by European auteurs.

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Several Cannes 2026 winners have already been announced, while anticipation continues to build around the Palme d’Or.

Cannes has been a good predictor for the awards season in the past. Several of last year’s winners, including Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, and Oliver Laxe’s Sirat, were all nominated for Oscars. Additionally, Sentimental Value won the Academy Award for best international feature. 

The 2026 selection has to date included 19 feature films. 6 of the films are first features, also in the running for the Caméra d’Or. This year, the opening film was Teenage S** and Death at Camp Miasma. The other winners are: 

With the Palme d’Or still to be announced, the 79th Cannes Film Festival is heading toward a dramatic finish. Several films have emerged as strong contenders across categories. As the jury prepares to reveal the final honors at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, anticipation across the Croisette has reached its peak, with all eyes on the festival’s top prize. 

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Which film will leave Cannes with its highest prize? Let us know in the comments.