Underwater and high in the sky, Tom Cruise's stunts are fantastic, but Cannes we get past the running exposition? A rapturous French premiere says that mission is quite possible.

Cannes: Cruise joined his director on 11 films, Christopher McQuarrie, for a deep-dive conversation at Cannes. “I’m a diehard believer in the big-screen experience,” said McQuarrie. “What makes film special is however many hundreds of strangers all come together to sit in the room and watch something together and experience something together.

Impossible character Ethan Hunt gamely takes on the burden, ad nauseam, of saving the world, Cruise genuinely thinks he can save cinema. His optimism is touching, if unrealistic. But as hard as he, and we,