Perhaps the most prestigious film festival on the planet has a not so secret reputation for rowdy audience behavior. If the crowd doesn’t like a film at the Cannes Film Festival, get ready for a chorus of boos—or at least that was the case for most of the festival’s storied history. Dozens of films have been heckled, walked out of, or even protested, but this trend seems to have cooled off in recent years in favor of coverage for the length of standing ovations. In this series presented and programmed by FilmScene and the Bijou Film Board, we take a look back at the films that audiences and critics wrongfully raked over the coals, reevaluating misunderstood masterpieces and cult classics. So take a second (or first) look with the power of hindsight and decide for yourself if you’ll jeer or cheer.

This sexually and racially charged neo-noir takes audiences deep into the backwaters of steamy 1960s South Florida, as investigative reporter Ward Jansen (Matthew McConaughey) and his partner Yardley Acheman (David Oyelowo) chase a sensational, career-making story. With the help of Ward’s younger brother Jack (Zac Efron) and sultry death-row groupie Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman), the pair tries to prove violent swamp-dweller Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack) was framed for the murder of a corrupt local sheriff. Based on the provocative bestselling novel, this incendiary adaptation peels back a sleepy small town’s decades-old facade of Southern gentility to reveal a quagmire of evil as dark as a Florida bayou. Roundly booed and raked over the coals by critics upon release, the film nevertheless garnered awards for star Nicole Kidman and is now seeing a much deserved reappraisal from the cinematic community.