Coward: Lukas Dhont’s Queer War Romance Is Coming to Theaters

Lukas Dhont is taking us back to the First World War for a story about love, identity, and the unexpected spaces of freedom people can find even in the middle of unimaginable violence. Coward, the Belgian filmmaker’s latest film, will arrive in theaters on December 25 through MUBI, giving audiences a chance to discover a queer romance that already made a major impression at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

The film follows Pierre, a young soldier newly arrived at the front who is eager to prove himself. Behind the lines, he meets Francis, a soldier who decides to lift the spirits of his fellow comrades by putting together a theatre show. As the war continues around them, the two men find a brief escape from the brutality surrounding them, and their relationship begins to develop into something much more intimate.

That queer love story is a major part of what drew Dhont to the project. The director, whose previous films include Girl and Close, was inspired by a 1914 photograph showing a Belgian soldier stationed behind the front lines dressed as a woman. The image led him to explore the ways soldiers could create moments of freedom, creativity, and self-expression within a world dominated by violence and rigid ideas about masculinity.

“I also read testimonies from World War I soldiers, accounts of encounters between mobilized men. Queer love was taboo, but it existed,” Dhont explains in an interview with Anne-Claire Cieutat. “In the midst of war, a space was thus carved out for some to experience a love story, and that moved me deeply.”

That tension between the expectations placed on young men and the identities they might discover for themselves gives Coward a particularly interesting LGBTQ+ perspective. Pierre and Francis aren’t simply finding companionship while stationed at the front. They’re experiencing what Dhont describes as the first great love of their lives at a time when society, the military, and the war around them make that love incredibly difficult to navigate.

“With them, I wanted to film love,” Dhont says. “Perhaps also because my previous films have been associated with melodramas, a genre that encourages the release of emotions. This time, I made a deliberate choice to focus on romance.”

The film stars Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne as Pierre and Francis, with Dhont co-writing the screenplay alongside Angelo Tijssens. Michiel Dhont and Juliette Schrameck produced the film.

Coward had its world premiere at the 79th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival in 2026, where Macchia and Campagne shared the Best Actor award for their performances. The recognition gives us another reason to keep the film on our radar as it heads toward its U.S. theatrical release.

The film will also represent Belgium as its official selection for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, adding another significant milestone to its festival run.

For Lukas Dhont, though, Coward isn’t interested in celebrating the violence of war. Instead, the film turns our attention toward the people caught inside it and the small acts of creativity, intimacy, and self-expression that can offer an escape. In the case of Pierre and Francis, that escape becomes a love story.

---

Coward arrives in theaters on December 25 through MUBI. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!

Featured Image: Image Courtesy of MUBI. Photo by Aline Boyen.