Tom Quinn and Neon have accomplished something that even Miramax couldn’t in its prime of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, when they were snapping up Palme d’Or winners like “Pelle the Conqueror,” “Farewell My Concubine,” and “Pulp Fiction.” The company will have produced and/or distributed six Palme d’Or winners in a row, starting with 2019’s “Parasite” and continued this year with their purchase of Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident.” We thought we’d use this impressive streak to reminisce on our coverage of all six films, from their initial coverage at Cannes through their review on theatrical release, and sometimes even into year-end and interview coverage. Can they make it seven in 2026?
2019: “Parasite”
In May 2019, Barbara Scharres was the first to cover “Parasite” for this site, writing “Bit by bit, Bong succeeds in turning the tables on this plot with a conspicuous sense of righteousness, to reveal his whole crew of merry grifters as little people fighting over crumbs.” It was the first of many pieces about the film, followed closely by a news item about its Palme win, and, eventually, a 4-star review from Brian Tallerico, and inclusion on our Best of 2019 and Best of the 2000s lists. Read them all below:
Bong Joon-ho on the Themes and Crafts of His Must-See Film, Parasite
Chaz Ebert’s Top 10 Films (And Then Some) of 2019
2021: “Titane”
Ben Kenigsberg launched our coverage of Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” saying, “A kind of neo-giallo, “Titane” is a movie of bold colors and slick, metallic noises.” His mixed review was countered by a rave on October of that year when the film was released in theaters, and Sheila O’Malley wrote, “The deeper thematic revelations may come too late in the game for those either turned off or turned on by the frenzied pitilessness of the first half, but Ducournau, inventive, bold, fearless in her approach and sensibility, doesn’t lose her nerve. Neither does “Titane.””
2022: “Triangle of Sadness”
Ruben Östlund won his second Palme for Neon’s three-peat (after 2017’s “The Square”) and Ben Kenigsberg led the coverage out of Cannes: “Throughout Östlund’s dissertation, the shifting value of various currencies—money, food, sex—continually recasts the boundaries of acceptable behavior.” Jason Gorber also wrote about the film from Cannes, and featured in a Chaz Ebert video that same year.
The film was covered several times that year, including out of KVIFF by Robert Daniels and NYFF by Godfrey Cheshire. Finally, Brian Tallerico reviewed the film on its theatrical release in October, writing: “There are undeniably sharp dialogue exchanges and entertaining storytelling twists in Östlund’s takedown of the shallow elite, and yet some of it, especially in the final act, all starts to feel redundant, and maybe even as superficial as the uber-wealthy that the film seeks to tear down. Still, if “Triangle of Sadness” falls short of greatness, it lives comfortably on the tier of goodness, even as it unpacks such bad, bad behavior.”
2023: “Anatomy of a Fall”
Our Cannes expert Ben Kenigsberg hit Justine Triet’s eventual Palme winner first on May 21st, 2023, writing: “The key to the film is that it is not, in fact, an anatomy of a murder. It’s an anatomy of a marriage, or specifically how a marriage has fallen apart.” There wasn’t much other coverage outside of Brian Tallerico’s 3.5-star review, and the film did place in the runner-ups for the site’s best of 2023 on its way to a Best Picture nomination.
2024: “Anora”
Sean Baker’s film was arguably the most essential of last year from its Palme win through to the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. It started again with Ben Kenigsberg, writing before it took home the Palme: “Baker now has a way of working with locations and actors that seems entirely his own (look out for other past collaborators, like Brittney Rodriguez from “Red Rocket”). His films are also effortlessly political, touching on issues of immigration, discrimination, economics, and city living in ways that feel entirely organic to the comedy.” The coverage from there was as extensive as any 2024 film. Read them all below, including our writing on the film as one of the best of the year:
Less Sex Scenes, More Sex Shots: Sean Baker and Mikey Madison on “Anora”
The Great Performances of 2024, Part One
Anora’s Real-Life Fairytale: Five-Oscar Victory for Indie Film
2025: “It Was Just an Accident”
Which brings us to the latest Palme d’Or winner that will be released by Neon, likely later this year. There will be much more to come, but, for now, our coverage begins and ends with this review by Brian Tallerico, in which he writes, “Panahi again refuses to work in a dramatic register that provides simple answers to complex moral questions. He is a deliberate, refined filmmaker, but his films also hum with the emotional strength of personal demons.”
