UPDATE: Cannes Film Festival has confirmed to Screen Daily that security at the Palais des Festivals, under pressure from crowds, let people without tickets into Almodovar's film ahead of those with tickets. Full story:
EARLIER: I was lined up an hour queuing for Almodóvar in pouring rain, only to be among the hundreds turned away at gate. With a ticket. Many big-name critics got shut out as well. As it stands, there are no other screenings for the film.
THR is calling it a “festival mishap.” The 3 p.m. screening at the 1,068-seat Debussy theater did not run smoothly at all. The lucky ones who did attend seemed to really like the film. I’m told there were plenty of empty seats as well.
Security officials notified the considerable number of people who were still waiting in line — including Los Angeles Timesfilm critic Justin Chang, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Janet Yang and two Hollywood Reporter journalists — that the theater was at capacity and they needed to leave.
Such a situation should not have happened given the digital booking system employed by the festival. One security official was overheard acknowledging that the situation was “unacceptable.”
Sadly, you’ll have to scratch off my thoughts on this one unless an additional screening gets added, which would be the reasonable thing to do.