Isabelle Huppert made a notable return to the Cannes Film Festival with the world premiere of Asghar Farhadi’s French-language drama “Parallel Tales,” where she stars alongside a powerful ensemble cast including Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, Adam Bessa, India Hair, and Catherine Deneuve. The film, set in Paris, received a 5.5-minute standing ovation at its debut, marking Farhadi’s grand return to the festival.

In “Parallel Tales,” Huppert portrays Sylvie, a writer grappling with a dire need for inspiration for her new novel. She finds herself resorting to spying on her neighbors across the street. Her reclusive life takes an unexpected turn when a young homeless man, Adam (played by Adam Bessa), is hired to assist her with daily routines, leading to a dynamic where the fiction she has imagined begins to transcend their reality. Huppert found the script intriguing precisely because she initially “didn’t understand everything,” which only heightened her desire to embody the role, believing that understanding would unfold during the filmmaking process.

Huppert describes Oscar-winning Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi as “a true craftsman — an orfèvre, a goldsmith,” highlighting his meticulous attention to even the smallest details, from costume preparation to the precise placement of a strand of hair. This level of precision, she noted, was touching and akin to a painter’s dedication to their vision. Her character, Sylvie, was not presented with overt psychological descriptions in the script but rather came to life through the film's evocative décor, designed by Emmanuelle Duplay. The apartment, filled with walls of old books and generally unkempt, immediately conveyed Sylvie's solitary and withdrawn nature, almost like living in a cave.

The relationship between Sylvie and Adam Bessa’s character developed its full substance during shooting, evolving into a complex dynamic that is both maternal and conflicted, serving as an initiation into writing and an apprenticeship in life. The film masterfully explores themes of fiction versus reality, observation, and the enigmatic nature of everyday life. Huppert noted that the act of her character disposing of all her books was a powerful, unexplained gesture evoking a sense of rebirth and wiping the slate clean—an idea universally relatable for its promise of renewal. The film delves into significant themes like relationships with children, family, inheritance, and motherhood, yet it does so subtly, without explicit exposition, allowing for personal interpretation.

A veteran of Cannes, Huppert has starred in over 20 films in competition, winning Best Actress twice and serving as jury president in 2009. Her diverse career spans decades in both film and theater, exemplified by her recent Magnolia award in Shanghai for her play “The Cherry Orchard,” which she tours globally. She has also recently played a billionaire heiress in Thierry Kliffa’s “The Richest Woman in the World” and a glamorous vampire in Ulrike Ottinger’s “The Blood Countess.” Despite her fluency in English and being embraced by Hollywood, Huppert has largely operated outside the Anglo-Saxon film world, though she is set to make her first English film, “Lineage,” opposite Adam Bessa. She also expressed interest in well-crafted television series like “The White Lotus.”

Farhadi’s “Parallel Tales” is competing for the prestigious Palme d’Or, a prize he has contended for multiple times with films such as “The Past,” “The Salesman” (which won Best Screenplay), “Everybody Knows,” and “A Hero” (which won the Grand Prix). Farhadi, who has been living outside Iran since 2023, has been vocal about his commitment not to make another film in his native country until the mandatory use of hijabs in film and television is lifted. He has also called upon fellow filmmakers to speak out against the escalation of the Iran War, deeming attacks on a country’s infrastructure as war crimes and advocating for unity to stop inhumane processes.