The Kids Are Not All Right at Cannes

Writing last week from the seventy-ninth Cannes Film Festival, I noted that some of the best movies to première here are often overlooked for prizes. The events of the past few days have forced me to amend that statement. During that time, “La Gradiva,” an exceptional début feature from the French director Marine Atlan, won the Grand Prix in Critics’ Week, an independently run program for first and second films that runs parallel to the official selection. Great things do, in fact, happen to great films, although Atlan’s movie was arguably still ill-served.