The French filmmaker, who won the Palme d’Or for her body horror masterpiece Titane at the world’s largest film festival in 2021, made a comeback with Alpha, her most recent genre-mashup.
Alongside her cast, which included Emma Mackey, Golshifteh Farahani, and Tahar Rahim, Ducourau walked the red carpet. Actress Vicky Krieps and Juliette Binoche, the chairperson of the Cannes jury, were also present.
Ducournau and her team received a lot of cheers and enthusiastic ovation from the Cannes audience for the AIDS-coded horror thriller about a mystery infection and the social alienation and anxiety it causes. Alpha was just as affecting as her Palme d’Or winner Titane, although being far less violent and controversial. As the house lights came up, several cast members were crying. Melissa Boros, who plays the title character Alpha, Farahani as her mother, and Rahim as her uncle, a virus-infected junkie, received especially loud applause.
