Adapting Goethe’s Sturm und Drang classic “The Sorrows of Young Werther” into a buoyant, bright Canadian rom-com feels like a horrendously awful idea on paper. And, for the first few minutes of José Lourenço’s film, I was convinced it was. This is an aggressively quirky movie that feels buried in twee in its opening scenes. … Read more
Someone once said, “Mike Leigh doesn’t make bad movies.” I was repeating it in the days leading to the premiere of his latest at TIFF, and his acceptance of the Ebert Director Award—more on that lovely event soon—but the truth is that the same could be said about Pedro Almodovar, who has taken the most … Read more
A portal to all of our coverage of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Enjoy! BRIAN TALLERICO “Bird“ “The Cut“ “Dahomey“ “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight“ “K-Pops“ “The Life of Chuck“ “The Luckiest Man in America“ “Nightbitch“ “Nutcrackers“ “Oh, Canada“ “The Quiet Ones“ “Sharp Corner“ “We Live in Time“ “The Wild Robot“ MONICA … Read more
One of my favorite subgenres of films to watch at festivals is speculative sci-fi, particularly those from BIPOC filmmakers. Nothing best gets a viewer into a director’s mind than watching a film where they try to prototype the future on-screen. Alternate realities abound at TIFF but the three featured here all feature Asian creatives behind … Read more
The premieres continued on Friday and Saturday at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, highlighted by deeply personal projects, including another Stephen King adaptation from the man who may be the master of such things, further evidence that Marielle Heller is a filmmaker to watch, and a project that grew out of a famous father’s … Read more
One theme that connects many films at this year’s festival is that of internal journeys that force external ones. In writer Durga Chew-Bose’s directorial debut she adapts Françoise Sagan’s coming-of-age novel Bonjour Tristesse in order to explore how emotional maturation sometimes comes through acts of cruelty. Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison’s directorial debut “The Fire Inside,” … Read more
One of the benefits of coming to TIFF every year is that the first day of press screenings is almost entirely made up of films that premiered at other fests earlier in the year. For example, last year my first two films in Canada were “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest.” It … Read more
TIFF is such a massive festival that it’s remarkably difficult even with a staff as large as ours (five people here with varying assignments) to even get to half of it. And the truth is that with major films like “Nutcrackers,” “The Life of Chuck,” “The Wild Robot,” and “We Live in Time” taking a … Read more
Patterns emerge at film festivals, and the opening night of Toronto 2024 might suggest there’s something wrong with the men of America. Whether it’s a boxer brutally abusing his body, a game show contestant trying to save his family, or a real estate mogul learning what matters to him, these three films from the first … Read more
The Toronto International Film Festival gets underway this week with over 200 feature films and dozens of special events. We will have multiple people on the ground in Canada to report on the best, the worst, and everything in between. Now, a lot of what people see in Toronto, and some of what we’ll cover, … Read more