Cannes opens with Pierre Salvadori’s 'The Electric Kiss' as opening-night film

Pierre Salvadori’s “The Electric Kiss” opened the 2026 Cannes Film Festival as the opening-night film, according to Deadline’s festival review list. The 79th edition of Cannes runs from May 12 to May 23, and the festival was still in progress as of Wednesday. Deadline said the French filmmaker’s film launched this year’s event as critics and trade outlets began sorting through a lineup that also includes new work from Cristian Mungiu and Hirokazu Kore-eda. ### Why is “The Electric Kiss” the starting point for this year’s Cannes conversation? Deadline identified “The Electric Kiss” as the opening-night picture and separately reviewed it as the film that set the tone for the festival’s first evening. The outlet described the movie as a French period comedy and noted that it played out of competition on opening night. Variety’s review of the film said Cannes opened with what it called a “light” French period romance, while Deadline’s review called it a “lushly designed and charming French period comedy.” Those early responses placed Salvadori’s film at the center of the opening-night reaction, even as critics differed on its impact. (deadline.com) ### Which other filmmakers are shaping the festival lineup? Deadline’s running Cannes review list named previous Palme d’Or winners Cristian Mungiu and Hirokazu Kore-eda among the headline directors debuting new work on the Croisette this year. (deadline.com) The same list also cited films from Pedro Almodóvar, Guillaume Canet, Nicolas Winding Refn and Paweł Pawlikowski. The Hollywood Reporter’s lineup report, published when the selection was unveiled last month, also framed the 2026 edition as a festival anchored by established auteurs. (variety.com) That broader roster helps explain why trade coverage this week has focused less on a single breakout title than on the depth of the field still to screen. ### Why does the mood around Cannes look mixed so far? (deadline.com) Variety reported in a Wednesday takeaways piece that “Hollywood stayed home,” pointing to a quieter American studio presence than in some recent years. The same article said Jordan Firstman emerged as a standout with “Club Kid,” which it described as one of the festival’s notable success stories so far. (hollywoodreporter.com) TheWrap, in a May 19 column, called Cannes at the midpoint “a ho-hum festival.” That assessment contrasted with Deadline’s day-by-day review coverage, which has emphasized the steady rollout of major premieres rather than any single consensus front-runner. ### Who has been on the red carpet while the films roll out? The New York Times published a Cannes red-carpet gallery on Wednesday featuring Ruth Negga, Sharon Stone and John Travolta among the attendees photographed during the festival’s first week. (variety.com) The gallery also said Demi Moore was among the stars appearing on the Croisette. USA Today and other photo galleries have likewise tracked celebrity arrivals as Cannes moved through its opening stretch. (thewrap.com) Those appearances have unfolded alongside the premiere calendar, which remains the main focus of trade coverage. ### What comes next before Cannes ends? May 23 is the scheduled closing date for the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, according to Deadline’s review list and other festival coverage. (nytimes.com) Until then, additional premieres and reviews are expected from directors already named in the lineup, including Mungiu and Kore-eda, while outlets such as Deadline, Variety, TheWrap and The New York Times continue updating festival coverage from Cannes. (deadline.com) (usatoday.com)