The Creatives Behind Cannes Film Festival's Buzziest & Biggest Titles

This year’s Cannes Film Festival lineup is notably lighter on Hollywood crowd-pleasers, with many more auteur-driven projects in competition. However, one thing remains the same, and that is that the most exciting work is happening across costume, hair, makeup, and production design departments. From neon-soaked horror worlds and gritty downtown New York recreations to lush Almodóvarian interiors and gothic Victorian estates, here are the artisans shaping the visual identity of this year’s most talked-about titles.

“Her Private Hell”

It may have premiered out of competition, but Nicolas Winding Refn’s follow-up to “The Neon Demon” has proved to be one of the most talked-about titles at the Cannes Film Festival this year, thanks to its heady mix of high fashion and horror. The film follows a young actress named Elle (Sophie Thatcher) as she shoots a Barbarella-esque sci-fi movie. As she searches for her missing father, her path intersects with an American GI (Charles Melton) on a mission of his own.

Costume designer: Jane Marshall Whittaker 

Makeup and hair designer: ​​Louise Bruun 

Production designer: Gitte Malling

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” also features a film within the film, following an up-and-coming filmmaker named Kris (Hannah Einbinder) as she resurrects a retro '80s slasher franchise. Crucially, Jane Schoenbrun has reteamed with production designers Brandon Tonner-Connolly and Matt Hyland, who previously helped bring the horror-inflected coming-of-age story in “I Saw The TV Glow” to life.

Costume designer: Kendra Terpenning

Makeup designer: Miel Enage

Hair designer: ​​Lee Coulombe

Production designer: Brandon Tonner-Connolly and Matt Hyland

“The Man I Love”

Set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis, Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love” follows a performance artist (played by Rami Malek) as he prepares to star in a new stage play. The vibrant world of ‘80s New York is viscerally recreated by a group of creative talents at the top of their game. 

Costume designer: Megan Gray

Makeup designer: Annie Johnson

Hair designer: ​​Jamie Amadio

Production designer: Tommy Love

“Amarga Navidad (Bitter Christmas)”

Production designer Antxón Gómez has become essential to the visual language of a Pedro Almodóvar film, having worked on more than 10 projects together over the last three decades.  As with the filmmaker’s other work,  “Amarga Navidad”—“Bitter Christmas” is its English title—is replete with mid-century modern design and lush, color-saturated spaces, as well as incredible costuming from Paco Delgado.

Costume designer: Paco Delgado

Makeup designer: ​​Ana López-Puigcerver

Production designer: Antxón Gómez

“Paper Tiger”

With Amy Roth in tow (she’s the costume designer behind Kelly Reichardt’s ‘70s set “The Mastermind”), “Paper Tiger” is sure to be one of the most stylish depictions of late 20th century life on screen this year, Reuniting Oscar-nominated “Marriage Story” stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, the film tells the story about two brothers striving to achieve the American Dream only to get caught up with the Russian mafia.

Costume designer: Amy Roth

Makeup designer: Todd Kleitsch 

Hair designer: ​​Christopher Fulton

Production designer: Happy Massee

“Club Kid”

“I Love LA” star and comedian Jordan Firstman writes, directs, and stars in this New York comedy about a washed-up party promoter who wakes up one day to find that he has a 10-year-old son. As well as being one of the biggest acquisitions of this year’s festival—it was sold to A24 for $17 million after a seven-way bidding war—"Club Kid” has been praised for replicating the late-night New York party scene—from sweat-drenched makeup and go-all-night outfits to its locations—with verve.

Costume designer: Emily Costantino

Makeup designer: ​​Mary Chipman

Production designer: Stephen Phelps

“Victorian Psycho”

Directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Zachary Wigon and based on a book of the same name by Virginia Feito (she also wrote the screenplay), “Victorian Psycho” toes the line between gothic horror and biting satire. Scream queen Maika Monroe plays a disturbed governess as she takes a position at a new household. As one of the only period pieces to premiere at Cannes that has been praised for leaning into all that comes with that—candlelit sequences, moody corridors, and heavy, tactile costumes.

Costume designer: Allison Byrne

Makeup designer: Aisling Nairn

Hair designer: ​​Catherine Argue

Production designer: Jeremy Reed