Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love and Kristen Stewart’s Chronology of Water Confirmed for Cannes 2025
Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart - Getty Images
Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson are among the bold names now officially headed to the Croisette.
The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is already shaping up to be one of the most dynamic and globally inclusive in recent memory, with a fresh wave of late-breaking announcements expanding the lineup in bold and exciting directions. Among the highlights of the newly confirmed titles are Lynne Ramsay’s competition entry Die, My Love and Kristen Stewart’s The Chronology of Water, which will compete in the Un Certain Regard section.
Returning to Cannes for the first time since her 2017 film You Were Never Really Here, which won the Best Screenplay award, Scottish auteur Lynne Ramsay arrives with Die, My Love—an intense psychological descent framed as a surreal martial comedy-horror. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence as a woman unraveling in rural seclusion, married to a mysterious and potentially dangerous man played by Robert Pattinson. The story, adapted from the novel by Argentine author Ariana Harwicz, explores themes of mental illness, repressed rage, and societal roles through a stylized, genre-blurring lens. The cast also includes LaKeith Stanfield, Nick Nolte, and Sissy Spacek, bringing further gravitas to an already high-profile project. Ramsay co-wrote the screenplay with Enda Walsh (Hunger) and Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth, Normal People), signaling a narrative that will be both emotionally raw and formally daring.
Its last-minute confirmation into the Official Competition means Cannes audiences can now look forward to the powerful return of one of Britain’s most distinctive voices in cinema. The high-profile pairing of Lawrence and Pattinson guarantees both critical anticipation and viral red carpet buzz.
In another major announcement, Kristen Stewart’s much-anticipated directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, is officially set to premiere in the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Based on Lidia Yuknavitch’s acclaimed memoir, the film stars Imogen Poots as a woman navigating childhood abuse, personal trauma, and the redemptive discipline of competitive swimming. Stewart, long praised for her fearlessness as an actor, is now bringing that same raw, experimental energy behind the camera. This project has been in development for several years and has drawn significant attention from both feminist film circles and the LGBTQ+ community, thanks to Yuknavitch’s cult literary following and Stewart’s increasing influence as a filmmaker.
The Un Certain Regard section is also expanding with Simón Mesa Soto’s Un Poeta, a poetic Colombian coming-of-age tale set in the streets of Medellín, and Portuguese director Pedro Pinho’s O Riso e a Faca (Le Rire et le Couteau), an absurdist satire navigating power, media, and masculinity.
‘Die, My Love’Kimberly French
Meanwhile, the Cannes Premiere section gains three more titles of international significance. Japanese filmmaker Kōji Fukada presents Renai Saiban, a provocative courtroom drama centered on a romantic relationship challenged by legal and ethical boundaries. Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason returns with Astin Sem Eftir Er, an atmospheric meditation on memory and landscape. Filipino auteur Lav Diaz offers Magalhaes, a 300-minute historical epic chronicling colonial legacies and spiritual resistance in the Pacific.
In the festival’s Midnight lineup—where boundary-pushing, genre-driven films tend to shine—audiences will be treated to Vincent Maël Cardona’s Le Roi Soleil, a neo-noir musical hybrid, and Ethan Coen’s latest directorial solo project, Honey, Don’t!, starring Margaret Qualley. The latter is set for U.S. theatrical release via Focus Features on August 22 and is rumored to be a zany, darkly comedic road trip film with a twist.
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The Special Screenings program this year leans into risk-taking auteurs and emerging voices. The slate includes Amelie et la Metaphysique des Tubes, a surreal adaptation from Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han; Mama, an Israeli domestic drama by Or Sinai; Arco, a visually experimental film from French graphic novelist-turned-director Ugo Bienvenu; and Qui Brille au Combat, a portrait of female resistance from French actress-turned-director Joséphine Japy.
A heartfelt tribute to French comic legend Pierre Richard will also take place during the festival, with a special screening of the newly restored L’Homme Qui a Vu L’Ours Qui a Vu L’Homme. The event is expected to include an onstage conversation with the 90-year-old actor and comedian, offering a nostalgic anchor to an otherwise forward-looking lineup.
These additions round out what was already a heavyweight slate featuring world premieres from directors Wes Anderson (The Phoenician Scheme), Kelly Reichardt (The Mastermind), Ari Aster (Eddington), Julia Ducournau (Alpha), Spike Lee (Highest 2 Lowest), and Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value). Taken together, the 2025 Cannes lineup appears to strike an ambitious balance between mainstream star power, global storytelling, auteur cinema, and emerging talent.
