Judging the Cannes Lineup, Plus Special Guest Christopher Abbott

·48 min·4 clips

Ryan Lattanzio previews the Cannes Film Festival lineup and a revealing interview with actor Christopher Abbott.

The episode opens with host Ryan Lattanzio introducing the show's focus on the Cannes Film Festival lineup and a special guest interview. He is joined by IndieWire's chief film critic David Ehrlich to dissect the 2026 Cannes selection. Ehrlich notes the lineup is strikingly anti-commercial, with a heavy emphasis on global art-house cinema and a notable lack of major American studio films. They discuss specific competition titles, including Christian Mungiu's first English-language film 'Fjord' starring Sebastian Stan, Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Sheep in the Box', and Andrey Zvyagintsev's first film since 2017's 'Loveless'. The conversation covers other sections like Un Certain Regard, with mentions of Jordan Firstman's 'Club Kid' and Jane Schoenbrun's 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma'. They speculate on potential late additions, such as James Gray's 'Paper Tiger', and the overall trend of American films being cautious about festival premieres. The second half features an interview with actor Christopher Abbott. Abbott discusses his current Broadway role as Biff in 'Death of a Salesman', directed by Joe Mantello, describing the emotional depletion of the performance and the abstract set design. He talks about his career trajectory, including films like 'James White', 'Possessor', and 'The World to Come' with Mona Fastvold. Abbott reveals details about his upcoming Netflix miniseries 'East of Eden', adapted by Zoe Kazan and starring Florence Pugh. He reflects on his occasional forays into studio films like 'Wolfman' and 'Kraven the Hunter', citing curiosity about different production scales. Abbott also addresses the lasting impact of his role in 'Girls' and his general avoidance of watching his own TV work. The interview concludes with thoughts on the changing indie film landscape and the ongoing run of 'Death of a Salesman'.

As heard by us

A Cannes lineup check-in gives way to Christopher Abbott's thoughtful account of finding Biff in Death of a Salesman.

Screen Talk starts with the Cannes Film Festival lineup, as Ryan Lattanzio and chief film critic David Ehrlich sort through the latest activity in France before the episode turns to Christopher Abbott.

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Why you'd press play

You get Cannes lineup talk, then Christopher Abbott on why Death of a Salesman keeps opening up the longer he works on it.

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