10 Films We're Excited About At Cannes 2014

Formerly titled How To Catch A Monster , Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut sounds dark, weird and, er, dark.

At Cannes as part of the Un Certain Regard category (that’s the one that recognises young talent), it stars Christina Hendricks (Gosling’s Drive co-star) as a single mother whose son (Iain De Caestecker) discovers an underwater utopia. Also making an appearance are Matt Smith, Eva Mendes and Saoirse Ronan.

Notable for starring a damn-near unrecognisable Steve Carell (lost behind a prosthetic beak), this drama from Bennett Miller marks another solid-looking entry in Carell’s ‘Serious Films’ CV.

He stars as John Eleuthère du Pont, the real-life multimillionaire who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and murdered his Olympic wrestler friend Dave Schutlz (Mark Ruffalo). Considering Miller’s previous Oscar-bothering form ( Capote , Moneyball ), we expect this to be a strong contender for the Palme d’Or.

Swooping into Cannes just a month before the rest of the world get to see it, this sequel to 2010’s soaring, surprisingly awesome book adap has us feeling positively reptilian with excitement.

Picking up five years after the first film, it again follows Viking Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and dragon Toothless, who encounter the mysterious Dragon Rider when they leave the island of Berk in search of pastures new. We’re expecting epic dragon fights galore.

Ahead of next year’s Mad Max: Fury Road , The Rover promises gritty outback thrills courtesy of Animal Kingdom director David Michôd and Robert Pattinson.

Set in a future Australia, the film follows Eric (Guy Pearce), who goes up against a thieving gang with a little help from gang member Reynolds (Pattinson). The story was concocted by Michôd and his AK star Joel Edgerton, so we’re looking forward to some dark Aussie grit – and probably a fair bit of knuckle-chewing violence.

Rumoured to be Ken Loach’s last feature film, this Palme d’Or contender looks to be one of the Brit filmmaker’s most majestic and emotional offerings to date.

Set in 1932, it follows Jimmy Gralton, who returns to Ireland to live with his mother. There, he re-opens a village hall as a place for young people to socialise. However, Jimmy’s radical ideas don’t go down well with the locals. From the trailer, it looks like Loach will be going out with a bang – and we can’t wait.

Not to be confused with YA adap The Fault In Our Stars , this is the latest film to pair David Cronenberg with Robert Pattinson – and it looks every bit as raucous and strange as their previous project, Cosmopolis .

Set in Hollywood, we follow the Weiss family, including self-help healer Stafford (John Cusack), his wife Cristina (Olivia Williams) and his client Havana (Julianne Moore). From what we’ve seen of the film so far, Moore looks to be on top ‘off her rocker’ form, which is always exciting.

It wouldn’t be Cannes without Jean-Luc Godard, and the 83-year-old New Wave auteur is making an appearance at Cannes 2014 with his latest movie, Goodbye To Language.

Shot in 3D and already snapped up by 20th Century Fox for distribution, there’s not much solid info with regards to the plot – the official synopsis comes in the form of a poem about a man and woman whose relationship turns sour. If nothing else, this should be the festival’s most head-scratchy entry.

The fest’s opening film is a biggy – a biopic of Grace Kelly starring Nicole Kidman as the tragic actress, with support from Frank Langella, Tim Roth and Parker Posey.

In the wake of the universally-panned Diana , director Olivier Dahan has his work cut out for him in the biopic arena, but with a cast like that, we’re confident he’ll be able to pull it off.

The second feature directed by Tommy Lee Jones, The Homesman sees the 67-year-old sticking to Western terrain after impressive debut The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (which won him a Best Actor award a Cannes 2005).

The film stars Jones alongside Hilary Swank and Miranda Otto, with the plot revolving around two people charged with transporting a trio of insane women to Iowa. Could Jones strike gold at the fest for a second time? We like them odds.

Showing as one of the fest’s three Midnight Screenings (alongside The Rover and South Korean flick The Target ), this Danish drama has a heck of a cast.

Starring Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Michael Raymond-James and Jonathan Pryce, the film’s set in 1870s America, where a revenge attack prompts a fearsome gang leader into action. Mikkelsen looks badass with that shotgun, and this looks like one that’ll have the midnight crowd braying with delight.