Ira Sachs' "The Man I Love," a 1980s New York AIDS-era drama starring Rami Malek and Tom Sturridge, premiered in competition at Cannes on May 20 to a long standing ovation — reported as eight minutes by Variety, ten by Deadline, and "seven-plus" by The Hollywood Reporter. Malek, in his first Cannes competition lead, teared up as the crowd rose.

1. The Standing Ovation Is a Sham (Barry Hertz, Screen Daily)

The reported lengths don't even agree — which tells you the metric measures hype, not quality.

A ritual that produces three different numbers for one screening isn't measuring anything. The same premiere clocked in at eight minutes (Variety), ten (Deadline), and "seven-plus" (THR). The Globe and Mail's Barry Hertz warns the timed ovation is "in danger of becoming the new star rating system," Screen Daily called the whole exercise "deeply silly," and TheWrap ran a piece titled "Enough With Those Absurd Standing Ovations at Cannes."

It's not about how good the movie is. A camera projects the cast's faces onto the giant Palais screen, and the applause runs as long as that feed does — so length tracks the audience's awareness that talent is present, not the film's quality. And the ovation is increasingly consumed as an awards-season signal, which is exactly the inflation the skeptics object to.

2. The Love Is Earned (Variety, TheWrap)

Strip away the cynicism and this is a major film with a career-best performance at its center.

Some movies actually deserve the hype. Variety called the film "stirringly offbeat... small and delicate and disarmingly precise" and said Malek's turn should "quiet down all the reviewers who've always been so snarky about him"; AwardsWatch graded it A- and called it his "career best"; TheWrap called it "a monumental queer portrait." For this camp, a tender, un-clichd AIDS-era drama from a major director, anchored by a transformative lead, is what a Palme competition slot is for.

The emotion in the room reflects the subject, not just etiquette. A story about love and loss in the AIDS years, premiering to a crowd that includes people who lived through it, earns genuine feeling. The ovation — and Malek's tears — are a real response, not a manufactured one.

3. The Room Oversold A Meh Film (The Film Stage, IndieWire)

The ovation is doing heavy lifting for a movie several critics found elusive and flat.

Not everyone in that theater was moved — the reviews split hard. Against the raves, The Film Stage faulted a "lacking lead performance," Screen Daily called the film "opaque" and "enigmatic," and IndieWire described it as "minor-key" and "elusive to think about and to hold in your hand." To these critics, Malek's deliberately restrained turn keeps the audience at arm's length, and the standing ovation is outrunning the actual film.

A long ovation can paper over a divided response. The gap between the rapturous-applause narrative and the mixed reviews is the real story: the applause becomes the headline, the reservations get buried, and a film that genuinely split the room gets remembered as a triumph. Which version sticks may decide its awards-season fate.

Where This Lands

A "10-minute ovation" reported as three different numbers is closer to choreography than criticism. On the other hand, a Sachs AIDS-era drama with a career-best Rami Malek is a real achievement that can move a room honestly. Yet... did the movie actually suck?

Sources