In MISRYOUM’s annual Cannes 2026 Critics’ Survey, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Paris-set drama “All of a Sudden” topped the Best Film vote, while Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner “Fjord” dominated Best Screenplay and earned strong support across multiple categories.
The Croisette may have moved on, but the voting didn’t: dozens of critics from around the world cast ballots on what stood out most at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival—Best Film, screenplay, director, and debut feature included.
Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or-winning “Fjord” showed up again and again in the results. It came in first place for Best Screenplay, earning votes for Best Film and Best Director as well. But when it came to the top spot overall, the critics collectively looked elsewhere. The honor for Best Film went to Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Paris-set drama “All of a Sudden. ” which also received votes for Best Screenplay. Winning a category in the survey didn’t knock a film out of the others—so “Fjord” could still rise in one arena even as “All of a Sudden” led the pack.
The sharpest signal in the poll came from the Best First Feature category. Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” carried an overwhelming majority of votes as the best debut of the festival. Several critics also highlighted Firstman’s screenplay as one of the festival’s strongest writing achievements.
The rankings told a clear story: Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” took the overall crown. Mungiu’s “Fjord” owned the screenwriting conversation. and Firstman’s debut landed with force. Critics diverged from the Cannes jury on the #1 film. but the voting also made it impossible to miss where the consensus formed—and where it didn’t.
Here are the complete results of the Cannes 2026 Critics’ Survey of best movies from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
Best Film
“All of a Sudden”
“Minotaur”
“A Man of His Time”
“Fjord”
“Fatherland”
Best Screenplay
“Fjord,” written by Cristian Mungiu
“All of a Sudden,” written by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Club Kid,” written by Jordan Firstman
“A Man of His Time,” written by Emmanuel Marre
“The Samurai and His Prisoner,” written by Kyoshi Kurosawa
Best Director
“Minotaur,” dr. Andrey Zvyagintsev
“Fatherland,” dr. Paweł Pawlikowski
“The Black Ball,” dr. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” dr. Jane Schoenbrun
“The Dreamed Adventure,” dr. Valeska Grisebach
Best First Film
“Club Kid,” dr. Jordan Firstman
“Ben’Imana” dr. Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo
“Flesh and Fuel,” dr. Pierre Le Gall
“Rehearsals for a Revolution,” dr. Pegah Ahangarani
“Too Many Beasts,” dr. Sarah Arnold
Cannes 2026 Critics' Survey All of a Sudden Fjord Club Kid Jordan Firstman Ryusuke Hamaguchi Cristian Mungiu Best Film Best Screenplay Best Director Best First Feature
So “All of a Sudden” won best film? Kinda funny name tbh.
I don’t get how “Fjord” can win screenplay but not best film overall. Like critics are just picking favorites in each category? Also Cannes always feels weirdly political to me.
Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” winning first feature makes sense maybe, but I’m surprised it didn’t translate to the big categories. I swear I saw something online that said the Cannes jury picked “Fjord” and now it’s like the critics did their own thing…
Why are the names so confusing—Hamagucci? Mungiu? And then Firstman like that’s a real person and not a character. If Best Director went to “Minotaur” (Dr. Andrey Zvyagintsev) then shouldn’t that also boost best film? Seems like the poll is all over the place but people will still call it “consensus” lol.