Fjord Gets Cannes’ Biggest Standing Ovation Yet

Cristian Mungiu may have just blown the Palme d’Or race wide open. The Romanian director’s Fjord had its world premiere at the Grand Théâtre Lumière on Monday night, and the Cannes crowd responded with the most thunderous reception any competition film has received so far this festival — a standing ovation that stretched anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes depending on who you ask, with both Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve visibly moved to tears on stage.

The film follows the Gheorghiu family — a Romanian father (Stan) and a Norwegian mother (Reinsve), both devout evangelical Christians — who relocate with their five children to the remote fjord village where the mother was born. They settle in beside the Halbergs, a neighboring family with a very different worldview, and the children of both families quickly grow close. But when the Gheorghius are suspected of disturbing behavior, Norwegian Child Services descends on their home, and what follows is a nightmare of bureaucratic overreach that strips them of their kids — teenagers, tweens, and an infant — one by one.

During the press screening earlier that afternoon, journalists could be heard gasping and laughing in disbelief as each new layer of red tape tightened around the couple. By the time the gala audience experienced it that evening, the silence in the room was total — rapt, barely breathing — right up until the final frame, when the theater erupted.

A Star-Studded Room for a Career-Defining Night

The premiere had been one of the hottest tickets of the festival. Students with Three Days in Cannes badges — distributed for the second half of the event — had been queuing outside in their gowns and tuxedos since 10 a.m., sheltering from the festival’s first rainstorm under borrowed umbrellas.

Inside, the gala audience included Sharon Stone, Carla Bruni, and Cannes jury member Demi Moore. Jordan Firstman was there fresh off the news of his debut feature Club Kid selling to A24 for $17 million. And Stellan Skarsgård made the trip to cheer on Reinsve, who played his daughter in last year’s Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value — the film that also made her a two-time Cannes favorite after her Best Actress win for The Worst Person in the World in 2021.

Stan, for his part, is no stranger to the Croisette either — he was here in 2024 for The Apprentice, his portrayal of a young Donald Trump. But this feels like a different kind of moment.

Why This Could Be Mungiu’s Second Palme

Fjord is also a landmark in another sense: it’s Mungiu’s first English-language film, and his first feature since the 2022 drama R.M.N. He’s competed in Cannes four times now, and he’s never left empty-handed — winning the Palme d’Or in 2007 for the Communist-era abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Best Screenplay in 2012 for Beyond the Hills, and Best Director in 2016 for Graduation. A second Palme would put him in rare company.

The film’s distributor adds another layer of intrigue to its awards prospects. Neon acquired rights to Fjord — covering the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand — a full year before its Cannes debut. The company has backed the Palme d’Or winner every single year since 2019: Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, Anora, and this year’s It Was Just an Accident. They also have Hope and Paper Tiger premiering at this year’s festival. Whatever Neon touches at Cannes lately seems to turn to gold — and they got to Fjord early.

The jury hands out the trophies on Saturday. After Monday night, it’s hard to imagine them not having a very long conversation about this one.