Cannes 2024 has arrived—and our intrepid on-the-Croisette crew of Film Comment contributors is high-tailing it from screening to screening, ready to cut through the noise with a series of thoughtful dispatches, interviews, and podcasts.

To kick things off, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish sat down with our contributor Beatrice Loayza (stay tuned for her dispatch next week) and Sight and Sound’s Isabel Stevens. The three critics debated their differing reactions to the festival’s opening night selection, Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act (3:27), as well as Sophie Fillières’ This Life of Mine (15:36), Agathe Riedinger’s Wild Diamond (20:53), and Abel Gance’s newly-restored 1927 silent epic Napoléon (32:00), before looking ahead to the films they’re most excited to see as the festival continues.

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