2013 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: Spike Jonze’s Her

#57. Spike Jonze’s Her

Gist: In the not so distant future, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely writer, purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user’s every need; to Theodore’s surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.

Prediction: Either Main Competition or Out of Comp, nowhere else. The project is just too big (in arthouse terms), and Jonze – who’s yet to make a great film that doesn’t involve the pen of Charlie Kaufman – is looking to prove that his name doesn’t need to be dependent on anyone else’s. That Hollywood Reporter article from last week seemed to indicate this won’t be ready in time, but stranger things have happened. Also, it’d be pretty great to have a Battle of the Exes in the Main Competition, with his former wife Sofia also looking like a sure bet to present her new film there.