– CANNES 2026: In his third feature, Lukas Dhont crafts a deeply moving love story set on the battlefield, driven by the urgency of war and the intensity of human emotion
Emmanuel Macchia (centre) in Coward
Having won the Caméra d’Or for Girl in 2018 and the Grand Prix for Close in 2022, Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont is back in the Competition at the Cannes Film Festival for the second time with Coward, a story of love, friendship and art in times of war.
The film follows Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia), a very young man arriving at the rear of the front line in 1916. On the cusp of adulthood, he discovers both the horror of war and the power of human connection. The battlefield is a highly hierarchical environment: there are those on the front line and those who manage the day-to-day logistics. And then there is the “Band of Rejects”, sidelined from combat due to injury or unfitness, who entertain the troops, putting on shows with whatever resources they have to hand – moments suspended in time amidst the fighting, injecting beauty into the chaos. It is Francis (Valentin Campagne) who leads the troupe, a slender soldier with a haunting charisma. Pierre and Francis quickly form a special bond, irresistibly drawn to one another, as if magnetised at the heart of the storm. As the days of waiting and nights of terror pass, love takes them by surprise. Immersed in the absolute present of their feelings, they soon realise that this adventure, born in extraordinary times, might just last into the future.
In Coward, Lukas Dhont uses beauty to offer a form of resistance against the ugliness of the world. In this war, one of the most absurd in history, he seeks the light that shines through the cracks, the gesture of a boy soothing another’s pain, the vital force of their youth clashing with the ever-present spectre of death, and the strength drawn from the collective and from one another. And then there is art, with its cathartic and consoling power, singing out of tune but together, in a momentary unison of hearts and minds. War is always present in the distance, in a background that is at times deafening, punctuated by explosions. But the devastation crosses the lines. The narrative alternates between nights like nightmares, where the young men carry back the bodies of their comrades struck down in battle, and days crushed by the sun, illuminated by the whiteness of their shirts, revealing the boys beneath the uniforms. The contrast is also that which emerges between the toxic masculinity governing relations among soldiers and the space of freedom provided by the troupe of street performers with their almost militant joy. From the daily routine of war, as terrible as it is repetitive, springs a love story, both protected and doomed by the otherworldliness of this episode of war, where Francis briefly escapes his fate, whilst Pierre attempts to find a foundation for it.
Beauty lies at the heart of the story just as it lies at the heart of the shots, in the way Lukas Dhont captures the fragile yet impetuous youth of his protagonists, the lightness of a song, or the grace of a first embrace. The narrative constantly resonates with the deadly tension of war and with the intensity of the feelings overwhelming Pierre and Francis, to which they surrender. This dramatic tension culminates in an epilogue of stunning elegance and beauty, where we hold our breath as we witness every gesture, word and glance exchanged by Pierre and Francis, magnificently portrayed by Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne.
Coward was produced by The Reunion (Belgium), and co-produced by Versus (Belgium), Lumen (France) and Topkapi Films (Netherlands). International sales are handled by The Match Factory.
(Translated from French)
Photogallery 21/05/2026: Cannes 2026 – Coward
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© 2026 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa – fadege.it, @fadege.it
