New Film from Portland Director Receives Standing Ovation at Cannes

Todd Haynes has done it again.

Wonderstruck, the new film from the celebrated queer filmmaker received a three-minute standing ovation at this years' Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered in competition.

The film is an adaption of Brian Selznick's novel of the same name, which tells two stories. The first, set in 1927, tells the story of Rose (Millicent Simmonds, in her debut) a deaf girl in Hoboken, New Jersey, who travels to New York to track down her favorite actress, played by Julienne Moore. The second, set in 1977, follows an orphaned boy (Oakes Fegley) who runs away to New York after being struck deaf.

Early reviews of Wonderstruck are tempered, but promising. Richard Porton of The Daily Beast Called the film "wildly ambitious—and at times more admirable than enjoyable," and Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote that "in Wonderstruck, there's more artistry in his storytelling than there is in the intricate mechanical story he's telling." The film currently holds a 71 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Haynes, whose work includes cult glam rock whodunnit Velvet Goldmine, weirdo Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There and lesbian love story Carol, has lived in Portland since 2015. You can watch a trailer for Wonderstruck below. It's scheduled to release wide on October 20 of this year.