2026 Cannes Film Festival Critics' Survey: Best Films and Performances Ranked
By
Christian Zilko
Baker's choice. Dense with flavour, light on filler.
Summary
IndieWire conducted a critics' survey at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, polling dozens of international critics to vote on the best film, screenplay, director, and debut feature. Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or-winning "Fjord" led the poll results. The article presents the survey findings alongside the publication's own staff picks from the festival.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledAnother Cannes Film Festival is in the books, and with it comes another slate of films from some of the world's great auteurs that cinephiles can spend the next year discussing.
The IndieWire staff has already picked our 18 favorite films of this year's festival, which you can read here.
But for a broader perspective, we enlisted dozens of critics from around the world to vote on the best film, screenplay, director, and debut feature that they encountered on the Croisette this year.
While Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or-winning 'Fjord' was well-represented in the poll, coming in first place...
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