Tom Cruise continues to defy death — and all expectations — with his daredevil stunts. During a Masterclass event at Cannes on Wednesday, writer-director Christopher McQuarrie was joined in conversation by Cruise,

Cannes: Cruise joined his director on 11 films, Christopher McQuarrie, for a deep-dive conversation at Cannes. “I’m a diehard believer in the big-screen experience,” said McQuarrie. “What makes film special is however many hundreds of strangers all come together to sit in the room and watch something together and experience something together.

The Final Reckoning, their ambitious finale to Tom Cruise’s nearly 30-year-old Mission: Impossible franchise, Christopher McQuarrie and his leading man would often turn to one another and say the same thing.