Joe Cole stars in Clio Barnard's new film about working-class friends whose lives diverge, exploring themes of class, masculinity, and the struggle to escape one's origins. The film premiered at Cannes.

Premiering in the Directors' Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival, "I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning" is Clio Barnard's adaptation of Keiran Goddard's acclaimed novel about five childhood friends from working-class Birmingham whose lives have drifted far from the futures they once imagined. "Peaky Blinders" actor Joe Cole stars as Rian – the one who escaped, made money and seemingly "made it", only to discover that success cannot free him from the place he came from.