Deauville 2026: 21 Premieres Unite Stars and Cult Cinema

The 52nd Deauville American Film Festival will turn the Normandy resort into a showcase for American cinema from September 4 to 13, 2026. Its official Premieres section contains 21 films, mixing unreleased 2026 features, prestige productions, independent discoveries and repertory titles. The programme moves between apocalyptic anxiety, family inheritance, historical crisis, horror, romance, comedy and American film memory — true to Deauville’s identity as a public festival where Hollywood and independent filmmakers share the same screens.

Florian Zeller brings Bunker, a 126-minute moral drama starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Stephen Graham, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Paul Dano. An architect accepts a secret commission to design a billionaire’s survival shelter, only for the project to expose fractures in a 17-year marriage. The fantasy of escaping catastrophe becomes a question about complicity, privilege and shared values.

Brendan Fraser and Ethan Hawke connect films with festival honours

Two of the Premieres are closely linked to the festival’s tribute programme. Brendan Fraser, who will receive a Deauville Talent Award, appears in both Pressure and Diamond. Directed by Anthony Maras, Pressure revisits the decisive weather forecasts preceding D-Day, with Andrew Scott as meteorologist James Stagg and Brendan Fraser as Dwight D. Eisenhower. Its Normandy setting gives the screening particular resonance: the drama is built not around the landings themselves, but around the burden of deciding whether uncertain skies make history possible.

In Diamond, Andy Garcia writes, directs and plays Joe Diamond, an old-school Los Angeles detective whose past catches up with him. Vicky Krieps, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dustin Hoffman and Brendan Fraser complete this classical Hollywood proposition. Deauville Talent Award recipient Ethan Hawke leads The Weight (Les Contrebandiers), Padraic McKinley’s 1933-set survival drama about a widower forced into a dangerous gold-smuggling mission.

New visions from Nicolas Winding Refn, David Lowery and Olivia Wilde

Her Private Hell marks Nicolas Winding Refn’s return to feature filmmaking and stars 2026 Deauville Rising-Star Award recipient Sophie Thatcher. Her September 5 ceremony will be followed by the film, with the actress and director attending. Alongside Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu and Kristine Frøseth, she enters a futuristic metropolis swallowed by lethal fog — a heightened universe of paternal absence, infernal imagery and urban dread.

Music and unresolved intimacy drive David Lowery’s Mother Mary. Anne Hathaway plays a pop superstar reuniting with a former costume designer portrayed by Michaela Coel before a comeback concert. Olivia Wilde’s The Invite, scripted by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, uses a dinner with mysterious neighbours to destabilise two couples, played by Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, Seth Rogen and Edward Norton.

Youth, identity and filmmakers reshaping American stories

Kantemir Balagov relocates his cinema to New Jersey with Butterfly Jam. A 16-year-old wrestler divides his days between training and his family’s failing Circassian restaurant until his father’s impulsive choice alters his future. Starring Talha Akdogan, Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough, Harry Melling and Jaliyah Richards, the film approaches masculinity through cultural inheritance.

In Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Jane Schoenbrun turns the attempted resurrection of a faded slasher franchise into a nightmare about filmmaking, desire and mythmaking, led by Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. Victorian Psycho, directed by Zachary Wigon from Virginia Feito’s novel, places Maika Monroe, Thomasin McKenzie, Jason Isaacs and Ruth Wilson inside a period world of repression and menace.
Adam Shankman directs Stop! That! Train!, a railway comedy produced by and starring RuPaul Charles, with Ginger Minj, Jujubee and Brooke Lynn Hytes. Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado bring animation with Forgotten Island, where a secret portal revives creatures from Filipino legends and turns fantasy into cultural memory.

Intimate dramas, New York stories and a Deauville connection

The quieter films are no less intriguing. Jaime Adams sets Only What We Carry on the Normandy coast, allowing Deauville itself to become part of a drama about buried secrets and new romantic feelings. Its cast brings together Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Quentin Tarantino, Liam Hellmann and Lizzy McAlpine. That geographical echo should give its festival screening an unusually self-reflective quality.

Zach Woods’s The Accompanist, with Susan Sarandon and Aubrey Plaza, follows an accident survivor who forms a mysterious bond with a foster guardian. Rachel Rose directs Alicia Vikander, Wagner Moura and Victoria Pedretti in the intersecting New York portrait The Last Day. In The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, Noah Segan casts John Turturro as a thief endangered by a stolen USB drive, alongside Giancarlo Esposito, Steve Buscemi and Jamie Lee Curtis.

The official programme adds three important auteur works not present in the initial film notes: The Man I Love by Ira Sachs, Where to Land by Hal Hartley, and Not a Pretty Picture by Martha Coolidge. Their inclusion strengthens the section’s dialogue between contemporary premieres and the history of American independent cinema.

Cult films return alongside the 2026 premieres

That historical conversation becomes explicit through three established titles. Joe Dante’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch returns with its anarchic 1990 takeover of a Manhattan skyscraper. The sequel remains fascinating because it transforms a studio follow-up into a satire of corporate media, consumer culture and the machinery producing it.

Lisa Cholodenko’s High Art brings back the 1998 drama in which Radha Mitchell enters the seductive orbit of a withdrawn photographer played by Ally Sheedy. Brady Corbet’s feature debut The Childhood of a Leader completes the strand. Starring Bérénice Bejo, Liam Cunningham, Stacy Martin, Robert Pattinson and Tom Sweet, its postwar portrait of an authoritarian personality anticipates a career preoccupied with power and history.

Bunker
Written and directed by Florian Zeller
Produced by Florian Zeller, Federica Sainte-Rose, Fernando Bovaira, Simón de Santiago, Alice Dawson
Starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Stephen Graham, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Paul Dano
Cinematography: Ben Smithard
Edited by Yorgos Lamprinos
Music by Volker Bertelmann
Production companies: Blue Morning Pictures, Mod Producciones, Pathé
Distributed by Pathé Distribution (France)
Release dates: NC
Running time: 126 minutes
Synopsis: A celebrated architect is secretly commissioned to design a survival bunker for a billionaire convinced that the end of the world is approaching. As the architect becomes increasingly fascinated by the morally questionable project, his wife begins to reconsider their marriage, their shared values and the dreams that have sustained their relationship for 17 years.

Butterfly Jam
Directed by Kantemir Balagov
Written by Kantemir Balagov, Marina Stepnova
Produced by Alexander Rodnyansky, Pascal Caucheteux
Starring Talha Akdogan, Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough, Harry Melling, Jaliyah Richards
Cinematography: Jomo Fray
Edited by Kantemir Balagov, Juliette Welfling, Mathilde Chazaud
Music by Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine
Production companies: AR Content, Why Not Productions
Distributed by Le Pacte (France)
Release dates: Octobver 7, 2026 (France)
Running time: 97 minutes
Synopsis: In New Jersey, a 16-year-old boy nicknamed Pyteh divides his time between wrestling practice and his family’s struggling Circassian restaurant. An impulsive decision by his opportunistic father profoundly changes the teenager’s path, shaping a story about pride, cultural inheritance, family expectations and masculinity.

Diamond
Written and directed by Andy Garcia
Produced by Andy Garcia; complete producing credits not publicly announced
Starring Andy Garcia, Vicky Krieps, Brendan Fraser, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dustin Hoffman
Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt
Edited by Sandra Montiel, Emma E. Hickox
Music by Arturo Sandoval, Andy Garcia
Production companies: Not publicly announced
Distributed by Nour Films (France)
Release dates: 2026; presented in the Premieres section of the 2026 Deauville American Film Festival
Running time: 118 minutes
Synopsis: Joe Diamond is an old-fashioned private detective with an unusual talent for solving cases that baffle the Los Angeles police. Armed with instinct, dry humour and impeccable style, he navigates the modern city while discovering that unresolved elements of his own past have returned to demand payment.

Forgotten Island

Written and directed by Joel Crawford, Januel P. Mercado
Produced by Mark Swift
Starring Manon Bresch, Anaïde Rozam, Xavier Lacaille, Billy Crawford
Cinematography: Scott Cullen
Edited by James Ryan
Music by Nathan Matthew David
Production companies: DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates: September 25, 2026 (United States), October 21, 2026 (France)
Running time: 98 minutes
Synopsis: During their final night together, Jo and Raissa discover a secret portal leading to a mysterious island. There, mythical creatures drawn from the Philippine legends that shaped their childhood memories come vividly to life.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Directed by Joe Dante
Written by Charles S. Haas; characters created by Chris Columbus
Produced by Michael Finnell
Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Robert Prosky, Robert Picardo, Christopher Lee, Haviland Morris, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph; Howie Mandel as the voice of Gizmo
Cinematography: John Hora
Edited by Kent Beyda
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Production companies: Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by Warner Bros
Release dates: June 15, 1990 (United States), August 22, 1990 (France)
Running time: 106 minutes
Synopsis: Billy Peltzer and Kate Beringer now live in New York, where they work inside the technologically advanced Clamp Center. When Gizmo is accidentally exposed to water, a new generation of mischievous creatures is born. The gremlins rapidly take control of the skyscraper, with each mutation creating an increasingly anarchic threat.

Her Private Hell

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Written by Nicolas Winding Refn, Esti Giordani
Produced by Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Frøseth
Cinematography: Magnus Nordenhof Jønck
Edited by Matthew Newman
Music by Pino Donaggio
Production companies: byNWR, NEON
Distributed by Neon (United States), The Jokers Films (France)
Release dates: 2026; presented in the Premieres section of the 2026 Deauville American Film Festival
Running time: 109 minutes
Synopsis: A mysterious fog engulfs a futuristic metropolis and appears to unleash an elusive, deadly presence. A troubled young woman searches for her missing father, while her journey intersects with that of an American soldier desperately attempting to rescue his daughter from Hell.

High Art

Written and Directed by Lisa Cholodenko
Produced by Dolly Hall, Susan A. Stover, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
Starring Ally Sheedy, Radha Mitchell, Patricia Clarkson, Gabriel Mann, Bill Sage
Cinematography: Tami Reiker
Edited by Amy E. Duddleston
Music by Shudder to Think
Production companies: Antidote Films
Distributed by October Films (United States), MK2 Distribution (France)
Release dates: June 12, 1998 (United States), January 6, 1999 (France)
Running time: 102 minutes
Synopsis: Syd, a 24-year-old assistant at a prestigious photography magazine, meets her upstairs neighbour Lucy Berliner, a once-famous photographer who withdrew from professional life. Their encounter draws Syd into Lucy’s alluring but troubled artistic circle and gradually blurs the boundaries between professional ambition, intimacy and exploitation.

Mother Mary

Written and Directed by David Lowery
Produced by Toby Halbrooks, David Lowery, Jeanie Igoe, Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo, Jonathan Saubach
Starring Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Sian Clifford, Atheena Frizzell, FKA twigs
Cinematography: Andrew Droz Palermo, Rina Yang
Edited by David Lowery
Music by Daniel Hart
Production companies: A24, Topic Studios, Homebird Productions, augenschein Filmproduktion, Sailor Bear
Distributed by A24 (United States)
Release dates: 2026; presented in the Premieres section of the 2026 Deauville American Film Festival
Running time: 112 minutes
Synopsis: On the eve of a major return to the stage, pop superstar Mother Mary reunites with Sam Anselm, her former costume designer and once-close friend. As the two women prepare for the performance, emotional wounds and unresolved conflicts from their shared past resurface.

Not a Pretty Picture
Written and directed by Martha Coolidge
Produced by Martha Coolidge
Starring: Michele Manenti, Jim Carrington, Anne Mundstuk, John Fedinatz, Amy Wright, Stephen Laurier, Hal Studer, Janet Morrison, Reed Birney, Diana Gold, Lillah McCarthy and Martha Coolidge
Cinematography: Don Lenzer and Fred Murphy
Edited by: Suzanne Pettit and Martha Coolidge
Music by Tom Griffith
Production company: Coolidge Productions
Distributed by Films Inc (United States)
Release dates: March 31, 1976 (United States)
Running time: 83 minutes
Synopsis: In this deeply personal hybrid of documentary and dramatic reconstruction, Martha Coolidge revisits the sexual assault she experienced at the age of sixteen. Michele Manenti portrays the teenage Martha in staged scenes recounting the events leading to the assault and its painful aftermath, while Coolidge films herself directing the reconstruction. Documentary conversations with the actors—including Manenti, who was herself a survivor—interrogate the ethics and emotional consequences of representing sexual violence on screen. By moving between performance, memory and candid discussion, the film examines trauma, victim-blaming and the culture of silence surrounding rape.

Only What We Carry

Written and directed by Jaime Adams
Produced by Charles Finch; complete producing credits not publicly announced
Starring Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Quentin Tarantino, Liam Hellmann, Lizzy McAlpine
Cinematography: Neema Sadeghi
Edited by Cécile Lapergue
Production companies: Atlas Pictures
Distributed by NC
Release dates: 2026; presented in the Premieres section of the 2026 Deauville American Film Festival
Running time: 93 minutes
Synopsis: During a stay on the Normandy coast in Deauville, long-buried secrets and emerging romantic feelings surface among a dancer, her sister, her former choreographer and the choreographer’s visiting friend.

Pressure

Directed by Anthony Maras
Written by David Haig, Anthony Maras
Produced by Working Title partners and Studiocanal; individual producing credits not fully announced
Starring Brendan Fraser, Andrew Scott, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, Damian Lewis
Cinematography: Jamie Ramsay
Edited by Anthony Maras
Music by Volker Bertelmann
Production companies: Working Title Films, Studiocanal
Distributed by Studiocanal (France), Focus Features (United States)
Release dates: May 29, 2026 (United States), September 9, 2026 (France)
Running time: 100 minutes
Synopsis: Three days before D-Day, a violent storm threatens the Allied invasion of Normandy. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and meteorologist Group Captain James Stagg must decide whether to proceed despite uncertain weather forecasts or postpone the operation and risk losing the strategic opportunity to change the course of the war.

Stop! That! Train!

Directed by Adam Shankman
Written by Christina Friel, Connor Wright
Produced by RuPaul Charles; complete producing credits not publicly announced
Starring RuPaul Charles, Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes
Cinematography: Luka Bazeli
Edited by Joshua Kirchmer
Music by Jacques Brautbar
Production companies: World of Wonder; additional companies not publicly announced
Distributed by Bleecker Street Media (United States)
Release dates: June 12, 2026 (United States)
Running time: 95 minutes
Synopsis: Best friends and railway attendants Tess and DeeDee leave their dreary jobs aboard the Stank Rail for the glittering Glamazonian Express. When the devastating Stormaganza threatens to derail the train, the economy-class employees must join forces with their first-class rivals and United States President Gagwell.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun
Produced by Not publicly announced
Starring Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Fix, Arthur Conti, Eva Victor, Zach Cherry
Cinematography: Eric K. Yue
Edited by Graham Mason
Music by Alex G
Production companies: Plan B Entertainment, Fruit Tree; complete company credits not publicly announced
Distributed by MUBI (United States)
Release dates: August 7, 2026 (United States)
Running time: 112 minutes
Synopsis: After years of poorly received sequels and declining audience interest, the Camp Miasma slasher franchise is handed to an enthusiastic young filmmaker determined to revive it. When she visits the reclusive star of the original movie, the two women enter a nightmarish world of desire, fear, blood and cinematic delusion.

The Accompanist
Directed by Zach Woods
Written by Zach Woods, Brandon Gardner
Produced by Lauren Bratman, Allison Hironaka, Michael Sagol, Carlos Zozaya, Zach Woods, Aubrey Plaza
Starring Susan Sarandon, Everly Carganilla, Kevyn Morrow, Aubrey Plaza
Cinematography: Andre Lascaris
Edited by Darrin Navarro
Music by Gavin Bryars, Yuri Bryars
Production companies: Caviar
Distributed by NC
Release dates: NC
Running time: 110 minutes
Synopsis: After narrowly surviving a serious accident, a young girl is placed in foster care. In her unfamiliar new surroundings, she forms an extraordinary and increasingly mysterious connection with her new guardian.

The Childhood of a Leader

Directed by Brady Corbet
Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
Produced by Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Chris Coen, Brady Corbet, Helena Danielsson, Mona Fastvold
Starring Bérénice Bejo, Liam Cunningham, Stacy Martin, Robert Pattinson, Tom Sweet
Cinematography: Lol Crawley
Edited by Dávid Jancsó
Music by Scott Walker
Production companies: Bow and Arrow Entertainment, Bron Capital Partners, FilmTeam, Scope Pictures, Protagonist Pictures
Distributed by IFC Films (United States), Condor Distribution (France)
Release dates: July 22, 2016 (United States)
Running time: 115 minutes
Synopsis: In 1919, while his American father participates in negotiations surrounding the Treaty of Versailles, young Prescott grows up among the political and diplomatic circles shaping post-war Europe. His increasingly disturbing behaviour suggests the emergence of an authoritarian personality and possibly foreshadows a terrifying future.

The Invite

Directed by Olivia Wilde
Written by Will McCormack, Rashida Jones
Produced by David Permut, Will McCormack; complete producing credits not publicly announced
Starring Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton
Cinematography: Adam Newport-Berra
Edited by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Ant Boys
Music by Devonté Hynes
Production companies: Permut Presentations; complete production-company credits not publicly announced
Distributed by Maverick Distribution (France), A24 (United States)
Release dates: July 10, 2026 (France), September 16, 2026 (France)
Running time: 107 minutes
Synopsis: Angela and Joe invite their enigmatic new upstairs neighbours to dinner. What initially appears to be an ordinary social evening rapidly challenges the couples’ assumptions and causes their certainties about love, relationships and one another to collapse.

The Last Day
Written and directed by Rachel Rose
Produced by Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler; complete producing credits not publicly announced
Starring Alicia Vikander, Wagner Moura, Victoria Pedretti
Cinematography: Eric K. Yue
Edited by Taylor Levy
Music by Sofia Degli Alessandri
Production companies: Killer Films
Distributed by NC
Release dates: NC
Running time: 99 minutes
Synopsis: During a national holiday in New York, the lives of two women briefly intersect. Julia is a writer preparing an important reception, while Taylor is a young mother of three struggling to keep her family and daily existence from falling apart.

The Man I Love
Directed by: Ira Sachs
Written by Ira Sachs and Maurício Zacharias
Produced by Saïd Ben Saïd, Misook Doolittle, Scott McGehee, David Siegel, Mike Spreter and Myriam Schroeter
Starring : Rami Malek, Tom Sturridge, Luther Ford, Rebecca Hall and Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Cinematography: Josée Deshaies
Edited by Affonso Gonçalves, A.C.E.
Production companies: Big Creek Projects, Assemble Media, Merino Films, SBS Productions
Distributed by Memento (France)
Release dates: January 27, 2027 (France)
Running time: 95 minutes
Synopsis: In late-1980s New York, Jimmy George, a charismatic Downtown actor and performance artist living with AIDS, emerges from a serious health crisis and returns to the stage for what could be his final major role. As he pursues beauty and creative fulfilment in the shadow of death, Jimmy navigates the protective concern of his partner Dennis and his sister Brenda, as well as the intense fascination of a young new neighbour named Vincent. The film explores artistic creation, queer love and survival during the height of the AIDS crisis.

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

Written and directed by Noah Segan
Produced by Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson; complete producing credits not publicly announced
Starring John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, Steve Buscemi, Jamie Lee Curtis
Cinematography: Sam Levy
Edited by Hilda Rasula
Music by Gary Lionelli
Production companies: T-Street, MRC
Distributed by Haut et Court (France), Sony Pictures Classics (United States)
Release dates: October 23, 2026 (United States)
Running time: 88 minutes
Synopsis: Harry considers himself the last working pickpocket in New York. His fortunes apparently change when he steals a mysterious USB drive and sells it for a considerable sum. When he discovers that the device belongs to a ruthless criminal organisation, he has only a few hours to recover it and return it before the consequences become deadly.

The Weight

Directed by Padraic McKinley
Written by Shelby Gaines, Matthew Chapman, Matthew Booi
Produced by Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Matthew Booi; complete credits not publicly announced
Starring Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio
Cinematography: Matteo Cocco
Edited by Matthew Woolley
Music by Shelby Gaines
Production companies: Scott Free Productions; additional companies not publicly confirmed
Distributed by Vertical (United States), SND (France)
Release dates: September 16, 2026 (France), September 18, 2026 (United States)
Running time: 115 minutes
Synopsis: Oregon, 1933. After the death of his wife, Samuel Murphy is separated from his daughter and sent to a brutal labour camp. A corrupt guard offers him freedom in exchange for undertaking a perilous gold-smuggling mission through hostile wilderness, but betrayal and violence threaten his only chance to return home.

Victorian Psycho

Directed by Zachary Wigon
Written by Virginia Feito, based on her novel
Produced by Dan Kagan, Sebastien Raybaud, Wigon; complete producing credits not publicly announced
Starring Maika Monroe, Thomasin McKenzie, Jason Isaacs, Ruth Wilson, Evie Templeton, Jacobi Jupe
Cinematography: Nico Aguilar
Edited by Lance Edmands, Dustin Chow
Music by Ariel Marx
Production companies: Anton
Distributed by Bleecker Street (United States)
Release dates: September 25, 2026 (United States)
Running time: 90 minutes
Synopsis: In 1858, an unusual governess named Winifred Notty arrives at the gothic Ensor House. She has been hired to teach the children proper manners and their family history, but beneath her respectable appearance she conceals violent and increasingly dangerous psychopathic impulses.

Where to Land
Written and directed by Hal Hartley
Produced by Hal Hartley
Starring: Bill Sage, Robert John Burke, Gia Crovatin, Edie Falco, Kathleen Chalfant, Kim Taff, Katelyn Sparks, Jeremy Hendrik, Joe Perrino, Jay Lenox, Aida Johannes and King Mustafa Obafemi
Cinematography: Sarah Cawley
Edited by Hal Hartley
Music by Hal Hartley
Production companies: Possible Films, Action Features
Distributed by: Possible Films (United States)
Release dates: September 12, 2025 (United States)
Running time: 75 minutes
Synopsis: Joe Fulton, an established director of romantic comedies approaching the later stages of his life, decides that he would like to work outdoors with his hands and applies for a job as an assistant groundskeeper at a cemetery. Unfortunately, he chooses the same moment to meet his lawyer about preparing his last will and testament. His girlfriend, relatives, friends and neighbours mistakenly conclude that he is dying and descend upon his apartment to bid farewell, settle unfinished business and offer awkward reflections on life, death, work and artistic legacy.