Roger Ebert writes in his Journal from Cannes:
Mike Leigh has long been a great director, but now he is surely at the top of his form. “Another Year” has premiered here and is the film everyone I talk with loves the most. It is so beautifully sure and perceptive in its record of one year in the life of a couple happily married, and their relatives and friends, not so happy.
…It will have to be quite a film to snare the Palme d’Or away from this one, but there is a week to go. If “Another Year” isn’t the Palme winner, then Lesley Manville is a good choice for best actress. When the film opens I’ll have to find words to describe her work, but for now all I can say is, it is astonishing.