Coward is a 2026 war drama film directed by Lukas Dhont, co-written with Angelo Tijssens. Starring Emmanuel Macchia (in his acting debut) and Valentin Campagne as Pierre and Francis, it follows a gay love story in the Belgian trench warfare front of World War I.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May, where it won Prix du Cinéma Positif and Macchia and Campagne jointly won the Best Actor award. It was also selected as the Belgian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
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Premise
In 1916, during the World War I, Pierre serves at the Belgian front alongside other comrades. Behind the trench warfare, the soldiers try to keep their spirits up. One day, Pierre meets flamboyant homosexual Francis. To counter the rhetoric of war and the omnipresent misery, the two decide, with their comrades, to put on a theatrical revue.
Cast
Emmanuel Macchia as Pierre
Valentin Campagne as Francis
Jonas Wertz
Boris Bouchat as Thomas
Mathieu Carpentier as Sergeant Dubois M.
Anaëlle Fournier as Mathilde
Mistral Guidotti as Gustaaf Cooreman
Jef Jacobs as Jozef Stevens
Emil Krastev as Émile
Tijmen Van Damme as Ernst
Orlando Vauthier as Rik
Tuur Verelst as Arthur
Willem De Schryver
Production
Development
The screenplay for Coward was developed over three years, with Dhont and co-writer Angelo Tijssens conducting historical research in archives including London's Imperial War Museums, along with sources in Belgium and France. The writers learned of male soldiers performing theater pieces on the front lines, cross-dressing, usually playing the roles of wives and mothers, discovering rare lasting romantic connections of closeted queer people.
Coward is co-produced by The Reunion, a Belgian production company founded in 2021 by Dhont and his brother Michiel Dhont, alongside Versus Production, Topkapi Films and producer Juliette Schrameck for Lumen. The project received multiple sources of public funding, including €500,000 from Eurimages and €200,000 from Screen Flanders. It was co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, Ciné+ OCS, VTM, RTBF, Proximus, BeTV and Orange.
Filming
Principal photography was scheduled to begin in September 2025, with filming taking place in Belgium and New York.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2026, marking Dhont's third feature film selected for the festival's official selection following Girl (2018) and Close (2022). It was screened in the Kinoscope section of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival in August 2026. It was also programmed in the 'Perlak' sidebar section of the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival.
In May 2026, Mubi acquired distribution rights to Coward for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Turkey; Mubi previously distributed Dhont's 2022 film Close in several countries. Shortly after the film's Cannes premiere, Mubi also acquired rights to the film for North America.
The Match Factory and Cologne will handle the world sales.
It was also selected as the Belgian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. It marks Dhont's second feature film submitted to represent the country, following Close (2022), which was nominated in the category.
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Nadia Dalimonte of Next Best Picture described Coward as a sensitively crafted work that examines shifting definitions of bravery and cowardice, ultimately offering a hopeful perspective on vulnerability and artistic expression amid war. Clotilde Chinnici of Loud and Clear concluded that Coward is a well-made film with a bold premise that offers an original perspective on war by focusing on those outside the battlefield who respond to its horror in non-combative ways.