Cow

American Honey director Andrea Arnold presents one of the most emotionally engaging films of recent times – about the life of a dairy cow.

Andrea Arnold's debut as a documentarian offers an immersive look at the life of an English dairy cow named Luma, or 1129 if you go by her branding. Without explanation or narration, we're guided on the cinematic journey by a cow whose every sound carries weight and whose long-lashed eyes convey an incredible depth of emotion. Despite relegating the only humans on the screen to the periphery of the film, Andrea Arnold's Cow is ironically one of the most humanistic films of recent times.

Curator's Note

Filmed over four years, and almost always at the head height of the animals it follows, Andrea Arnold's documentary invites its audience into the world of the dairy cow by effectively offering a cow's eye view and refusing to let you look away.

So compassionate is Cow that it's unclear whether Luma becomes more human during the film, or we become more bovine. In fact, Luma's regular trips to a carnivalesque milking station pumping out hits by Billie Eilish and Kali Uchis could double as your local suburban hangout.

Andrea Arnold returns to Cannes this year with the similarly titled Bird starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)