Five films to look out for at Cannes

The annual sun-drenched jamboree of celebrities, cameras and - oh yes - movie premieres that constitutes the Festival de Cannes returns in all its overblown glory to the French Riviera this week.

Here we consult the internet hype barometer and take a look at five of the most feverishly anticipated titles.

The Angel’s Share

He may not be setting his next socially-conscious drama on the Cote d’Azur any time soon, but veteran director Ken Loach has enjoyed his time at recent Cannes festivals, winning the Palme d’Or in 2006 with The Wind that Shakes the Barley and following that up with the light-hearted Looking For Eric. This time Scotland gets the Loach treatment, in another Paul Laverty-scripted comedy about a group of young Glaswegians who spot an opportunity to turn their lives around during a visit to a whisky distillery.

On the Road

Jack Kerouac’s bible for the Beat Generation gets the cinematic treatment it deserves in this long-awaited adaptation from Brazilian director Walter Salles, who continues his journey-based oevre after The Motorcycle Diaries. Starring Sam Riley (who played Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in Control) as the book’s narrator Sal Paradise and Garett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy) as his free spirit friend and hero Dean Moriarty, the rollicking ride around the margins of 1950s America is sure to be one of the main events at Cannes.

Cosmopolis

While The Twilight Saga’s Kristen Stewart makes an appearance in On the Road, her co-star Robert Pattinson also graduates to more substantial fare in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis. This adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel crams a lot into one day in the life of Eric Packer, a 28-year-old Wall Street billionaire whose limo trip through Midtown Manhattan is overtaken by a series of uncontrollable events and a cast of unstable characters. It promises to be yet another wild direction in the career of the Canadian visionary behind The Fly and Crash.

Rust & Bone

2005’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped, followed four years later by A Prophet, placed Jacques Audiard in the pantheon of modern auteurs beloved of Cannes audiences. This year he tries to live up those lofty expectations with Rust & Bone, the story of Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), an unemployed man who is forced to move to the south of France to look after his young son. He becomes attached to a killer whale trainer, played by Marion Cotillard, who suffers a terrible workplace accident.

Moonrise Kingdom

Having secured the official opening entry in the main competition, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom is set for an onslaught of hype this week. Unmistakably Andersonian in its precise, fantastical cinematography, this is the story of a pair of young lovers who flee their New England town, prompting a search party including the local sherrif (Bruce Willis) and the girl’s parents (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray). The weighty ensemble cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Ed Norton, Harvey Keitel and Anderson favourite Jason Schwartzman.