ALISON BOSHOFF: Has the Taylor Swift curse struck again? Superstar’s ex Joe Alwyn appears to be out of the cosy club run by Oscar-winning director Yorgos Lanthimos

Has Joe Alwyn paid a higher price than we thought for the end of his romance with Taylor Swift?

The British actor, who dated superstar singer Swift from 2016 to 2023, appears to be out of the cosy club run by Oscar-winning director Yorgos Lanthimos now that he and Taylor have split up.

Lanthimos, the man behind The Favourite and Poor Things, was in Cannes promoting his new film Kinds Of Kindness, which stars his muse, A-lister Emma Stone, plus others including Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe and Alwyn.

On Friday evening last week, Stone and Alwyn and the rest of the cast walked the famed red carpet at the Palais. But he and Stone — who is Taylor Swift’s best friend — kept their distance.

Afterwards, there was a small party for cast, crew, and Searchlight bigwigs at the Carlton Hotel, attended by everyone keen to raise a glass to the new movie.

Everyone except Joe, that is. Instead, he popped up for a late night drink and a dance at the Charles Finch filmmakers dinner in Antibes, which was also attended by Barbie director Greta Gerwig.

The following day there was a rather awkward photocall and press conference in which a giggly Stone was super tight with Lanthimos — and Alwyn was left looking glum on the sidelines.

It’s a shame, since Stone and Alywn have known each other since meeting on the set of The Favourite in 2017.

It has since been announced that Stone is doing another movie with Lanthimos, called Bugonia. There is no role for Alwyn.

Kinds Of Kindness earned good reviews in Cannes but some are uneasy about the drug rape of Stone’s character by Alwyn’s character, and about the sheer number of unconscious, naked women in the picture. There is also a scene in which Stone cuts off some of her fingers, which wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Speaking in Cannes, Alwyn, 33, said of the film: ‘You have to try not to unpack it all too much. You have to trust him [Lanthimos].

‘It is bizarre and strange and bonkers and special, but one of the reasons I love his films is because you feel it first, before you try to understand it all.’

Fans have speculated that some tracks on Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, reflects bitterness over their break-up last year.