Mubi has taken North American rights to Lukas Dhont’s Coward for North America. The pic world premiered in competition at Cannes earlier this week to a 13-minute standing ovation. Release plans will be announced down the road.

The queer romantic drama follows Pierre, a soldier newly arrived at the front who is eager to prove himself. Behind the lines, he meets Francis, who decides to lift the spirits of his comrades by putting together a theatre show. While the violence continues, both men try to find ways to escape the brutality of war, even if only for a moment. Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne star.

Coward is Belgium-born Dhont’s second movie in the Cannes competition following 2022’s Close, but it’s his third here at the fest after 2018’s Un Certain Regard Girl.

Deadline’s Pete Hammond exclaimed that Coward is “a classic movie love story for the ages, in this case a queer romance that in cinematic terms feels as universal, and as impossible, as Casablanca, Brief Encounter, and The Way We Were.“

Mubi took rights for the Dhont’s latest earlier this month for UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Match Factory is handling international sales.