Screen Large is back on the Croisette for the Cannes Film Festival 2026. And it’s time to revisit Full Phil, Quentin Dupieux’s latest film, Full Phil, starring Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson.
Quentin Dupieux has already stopped by the Cannes Film Festival on several occasions. In 2022, Fumer fait tousser was shown in a midnight screening. Two years later, he earned the honor of opening the festival with Le Deuxième Acte. This year, he returns not once but twice, underscoring his relentless pace of directing. His animated feature Le Vertige will close the Quinzaine of Directors, but before that he brews up chaos on the red carpet in a midnight screening with the highly anticipated Full Phil, led by a prestigious cast.
Possible spoilers about the film’s themes.
the cup is full
What’s it about? Philip Doom (Woody Harrelson), a wealthy American industrialist, tries to reconnect with his daughter Madeleine (Kristen Stewart) during an upscale trip to Paris. French cuisine, a horror film from the 1950s, and an intrusive hotel employee will unfortunately disrupt the flow of this vacation.
What’s the verdict? Designated as Bertrand Blier’s designated successor for nearly a decade (his Au Poste ! drew heavy inspiration from Buffet Froid), Quentin Dupieux has become the contemporary (at least in France) face of absurd cinema. And given the pitches of some of his films, that’s entirely understandable: a killer tire in Rubber, the quest for the perfect cinema scream in Réalité, a jacket that drives its wearer mad in Le Daim, or a trained giant fly used to rob banks in Mandibles.
Nevertheless, reducing Quentin Dupieux’s cinema to mere absurdity would be not only simplistic but misleading. Over half a dozen films in, his works are often far more nuanced than they initially appear. The director no longer limits himself to absurdity for its own sake (with possible exception of Mandibles), but instead uses it as a vehicle for a deeper reckoning about the state of the world.
Tragic consequences of individualism within society (loneliness, violence…), the fear of leaving no trace, the very nature of art… Quentin Dupieux seems as worried about the future as about his own identity and his actions. And while he has often questioned his role as filmmaker and spectator in the past (Yannick, Le Deuxième Acte…), he fully confronts his role as a mere human and father with Full Phil.
Dressed up as a delirious, substance-free comedy with a horror-B mood reminiscent of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, his chatter about clogged toilets and an intrusive housekeeper, Full Phil may well be the least funny film of his career. The deliberate turn happens when the humor becomes melancholy. The repeated presence of French manifestations (invading the outdoor scenes) is, for instance, mockingly treated, pointing to an escalation of authoritarian and ideological violence.
In this spirit, Full Phil leans into its absurdity (a budding failure, a wolfish hunger, an unlimited buffet… reminiscent of La Grande Bouffe) to open an allegorical, almost explosive reflection on the weight of parenthood and childhood traumas. Moreover, the film tracks the misunderstanding between a daughter and her father, their inability to communicate (partly due to different generations’ codes) and the tensions and nervous energy that result, set to reinforce their distance and eventual separation.
A quirky take on the subject, yet ultimately quite sad, painful, and thought-provoking. Of course, it isn’t entirely successful, partly due to Dupieux’s odd urge to punch down at everyone, notably the feminist causes through the pointed insistence of Charlotte Le Bon’s character. But this hiccup can’t erase what Full Phil achieves, which is buoyed by the superb performances of Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson.
And when is it coming out? There’s no release date yet, but it’s likely to arrive later this year through Diaphana.
