Leading the charge is Digger, the latest from acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu, featuring a star-studded cast including Tom Cruise, Sandra Hüller, and Riz Ahmed. This ambitious thriller centers on the world's most powerful man embarking on a desperate mission to save humanity from a catastrophe he himself unleashed. The premise alone suggests a gripping narrative and a visual spectacle, a hallmark of Iñárritu's work.

For those seeking a more intense, localized horror experience, Kraken by Mohamed Chabane and Théo Jourdain Rhodes promises to deliver chills. Set in a housing project, the film follows five young individuals drawn into a deadly trap within an abandoned, rumor-shrouded tower after strange disappearances plague their community. Interestingly, the initial concept for Kraken emerged from an informal discussion with a former prisoner turned cinephile, who suggested a horror story set within a large housing complex.

Delving into historical drama, Emmanuel Marre's Notre salut offers a unique perspective on Vichy France. The film tells the story of Henri Marre, who arrives in Vichy in September 1940, seeking a place in the new administration. The inspiration for the film came from director Emmanuel Marre's discovery of his great-grandparents' letters, revealing his ancestor's real-life service to the Vichy regime. "Far from a traditional biopic, the film freely draws from this correspondence to explore the mechanisms of the banality of evil," notes AlloCiné.

Suspense fans can look forward to Verity, directed by Michael Showalter and starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett. The story follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who accepts a ghostwriting gig for the successful author Verity Crawford, moving into her isolated estate where secrets undoubtedly lurk.

Judith Godrèche's Mémoire de fille (A Girl's Memory) offers a reflective journey into the past. The film sees Annie Ernaux returning to her childhood town of Rouen for a book signing, triggering a vivid recollection of the summer of 1958 and her first intimate encounter. Godrèche made a deliberate choice to include diverse actors and create new characters, such as a young girl hiding her homosexuality, to enrich the historical narrative with contemporary relevance.

Two compelling documentaries also join the roster. Sylvie Meyer's Le Monde à l'endroit (The World Right Side Up) profiles renowned psychiatrist Muriel Salmona, a specialist in sexual violence who dedicates her life to helping those whose childhoods were shattered. Meanwhile, Délivre-nous du Mal (Deliver Us from Evil) by Valeria Baldan and Giovanni Ziberna is presented as the only documentary officially approved by the International Association of Exorcists, promising a fascinating, if unsettling, look into the practice.

For a blend of mystery and drama, Charlotte Dauphin directs and stars in Melpomène. Her character, Marthe, returns to the south of France thirty years after her mother's mysterious death, determined to uncover the truth, only to find reality slipping away as she approaches her past. Dauphin explained her dual role, stating, "Marthe was such an investigation for me that it would have been complicated to entrust her to someone else."

From Malta comes Alex Camilleri's Le Chant des oliviers (The Song of the Olive Trees). Mar, on the cusp of leaving the island, inherits land after her mother's death. Her journey to reclaim her property leads her to Nenu, a guardian of an ancient Maltese singing tradition known as għana, pulling her into improvised musical duels and challenging her desire to escape. Camilleri conceived the film after falling in love with the hidden tradition of għana during a temporary stay in Malta.

Finally, Patric Chiha's Un hiver russe (A Russian Winter) explores the lives of young Russian exiles—Margarita, Yuri, and their friends—as they navigate their place in a world that no longer feels like their own, moving between Paris and Istanbul. The film's distinct visual aesthetic, deliberately smoothed and almost digital, aims to create a sense of a uniform, "plastic, untouchable, artificial beauty" rather than traditional picturesque imagery.