Cannes 2026: ‘Flesh and Fuel,’ Pierre Le Gall’s Strangely Sweet Gay Trucker Film

Pierre Le Gall’s entrancing, strangely sweet debut feature Flesh and Fuel centers on Etienne (Alexis Manenti) a lonely gay, French truck driver who, during a random hookup in the woods, meets Bartosz (Julian Swiezewski), a gregarious, Polish trucker. After almost getting arrested during a police raid, the two begin to fall for one another. The problem is that their jobs take them on different routes and they’re both constantly concerned with meeting delivery deadlines. So how are these two going to find the time to have sex, let alone get to know one another? That’s the central question behind this absorbing pic.

Etienne is out to his sister but has never found time for a relationship before. Bartosz has had boyfriends and leads a much more open life, but his economic situation is challenging.

Much like with Pillion, I appreciated seeing a different queer subculture represented, the world of gay truckers, where anonymous sex is often the only way these nomadic dudes have time to connect with others.

And despite the many road sequences, the film never bogs down in dull minutiae. Le Gall likes to keep things moving, so to speak.

Flesh and Fuel represents a different kind of cinematic gay romance where the lead lovers aren’t young, smooth, perfectly fit and gorgeous. Instead, they’re middle-aged, hairy, out of shape and ordinary looking. And the film is no less sexy for it.

The first time the men fully get it on it’s in the front seat of a truck with all the awkwardness that entails. It’s an odd scene—maybe a trifle too careful— but still hot. There could have been a little more Flesh.

There’s a terrific scene where the guys happen to be in the same vicinity and plan on meeting up, but signals get crossed and they end up on opposite sides of a very busy highway with the nearest exit pretty far away. Both are frustrated and are about to give up when Etienne does something rash and foolish—and exactly what I would do!

Etienne has a fascinating character arc and Manenti does a wonderful job of blossoming before our eyes. Swiezewski is also excellent. In a key scene, his Bartosz gets to unload hidden resentments, as angry lovers too often do.

DP Antoine Cormier does a fab job capturing the drab, stark landscape that is sometimes peppered with beauty.

Le Gall also finds the perfect place to end his film, allowing for ambiguity.

Flesh and Fuel is a fine addition to the queer canon.

Flesh and Fuel is world premiering as part of La Semaine de la Critique (Critic’s Week) at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

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