As the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival wraps, it’s fair to say it’s been another stellar year for festivalgoers. This year’s TIFF slate featured a whopping 278 films. Nobody can watch all 278 titles in 11 days, but that won’t stop me from screening films from sunup to well past midnight.
Here’s a rundown of the films that I enjoyed, and the ones that for better or worse, left people talking.
After dazzling Cannes audiences, Sean Baker’s Anora was the hottest ticket in town, leaving plenty of festivalgoers on the outside looking in. French auteur Jacques Audiard’s gangster musical Emilia Pérez wowed audiences, while Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis had folks divided before it even screened. Was it a self-indulgent mess or the legendary director’s next masterpiece? Regardless of which, people made it their mission to catch a Megalopolis screening.
The cinema diehards showed up for Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour epic The Brutalist. Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, and Guy Pearce all turned in first-class performances but it was The Brutalist’s 70mm screenings that sent cinephiles into a tizzy.
Jason Reitman worked some movie magic to celebrate the American comedy institution, Saturday Night Live. His film Saturday Night takes viewers back to 1975, inside 30 Rock’s hallowed halls for the 90-minute leadup to its debut.
Andrew DeYoung’s cringe comedy Friendship sent audiences into a frenzy. Led by a cuckoo bananas Tim Robinson performance opposite a eccentric Paul Rudd, Friendship is the funniest comedy in years and has the makings of the next cult classic.
The Substance — Coralie Fargeat
Coralie Fargeat’s latest film, The Substance, examines a chilling interplay between beauty and celebrity. The film offers a stylish, and often unhinged look at what a former Hollywood star endures to remain in the spotlight. Fuelled by a once-in-a-lifetime Demi Moore performance, The Substance offers a riveting interrogation of Hollywood’s toxic ideals.
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) used to be a major Hollywood star but her career lost its lustre as she aged out of “It-girl” status. She’s about to turn 50 and hasn’t headlined a hit film in years. She now makes a living as the host of a TV fitness program but learns her sleazy boss is about to replace her with a younger woman.
A desperate Elisabeth tries out an experimental treatment guaranteed to reinvigorate her looks, and in turn, her career. The treatment works but causes complications. Elisabeth struggles to manage the treatment’s side effects while clinging to the remains of her fading career.
The Substance is as subtle as a jackhammer and it isn’t for the squeamish. Fargeat will go to any length to drive home a point (usually in over-the-top fashion). Expect brutal acts of violence, stomach-churning body horror, and geysers of blood.
Everything unfolds with a tongue-in-cheek tone, which makes the extreme visuals more palatable. It’s closer to the irreverence of an Itchy and Scratchy segment than the brutality of Human Centipede.
With its knockout lead performance and audacious tone, The Substance is destined to be one of the year’s most discussed films.
The Quiet Ones — Frederik Louis Hviid
Set against the looming 2008 financial crisis, Frederik Louis Hviid’s Danish crime thriller tells the real-life story of Denmark’s biggest robbery.
The film stars Gustav Dyekjær Giese as Kasper, a prizefighter moonlighting as a criminal mastermind. He’s training to win a title and make his wife and daughter proud. But — there’s always a but — a chance at an easy score pulls him back inside the criminal underworld.
The Quiet Ones hits all the heist movie cliches out there but does it with gusto. There’s the easy plan that hits a snag, a hothead crewmember stirring up tensions, and a do-gooder standing in the villains way at the worst possible moment.
The film has style to spare. Martin Dirkov’s grimy electronic score sets the tone, sounding like the pulse pounding tunes from ‘80s crime flicks. And cinematographer Adam Wallensten’s moody visuals bathe scenes in shadows, constantly draping the film’s crooked characters in darkness.
There’s no fat to trim on this lean, mean caper flick. The Quiet Ones hits the ground running, hurtling you into the world of desperate criminals hellbent on taking back what they believe the world owes them.
It hits with the intensity of a cinematic panic attack, and at several points, the film gave me Sicario vibes. The Quiet Ones scratches a specific type of itch — it’s catnip for heist movie junkies. If you love films like Den of Thieves and Triple Frontier, I can’t recommend this film enough.
TIFF REVIEW EXCERPTS
Ick — Joseph Kahn
What happens when a crisis breaks out in a town full of people too foolish or indifferent to handle the issue? Can a society even function once apathy becomes the norm?
These are the questions at the heart of Ick, a stylish sci-fi comedy from director Joseph Kahn. Kahn uses an alien invasion to examine a nation where any crackpot episode of The Joe Rogan Experience can have more social sway than the Surgeon General.
Read the full review here.
Friendship — Andrew DeYoung
Let’s not bury the lead here: Friendship is an instant classic. Director Andrew DeYoung alongside stars Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd strikes comedy gold in a delectably absurd cringe comedy that has audiences rolling in the aisles.
Friendship is one of 2024’s cinematic treasures and a gift to I Think You Should Leave fans. It’s an endlessly rewatchable future cult classic destined to spark a thousand memes.
Read the full review here.
Saturday Night — Jason Reitman
In Saturday Night, director Jason Reitman tells the story of Lorne Michaels, a man who never let his humble means stand in the way of his grand ambitions.
Saturday Night recounts the chaotic leadup to Saturday Night Live’s premiere episode. Reitman invites viewers to cannonball dive down the SNL history rabbit hole delivering a nerve-wracking dramedy that’s a must-watch for anyone who’s ever loved the show.
Read the full review here.
Village Keeper — Karen Chapman
Few filmmakers have brought the Black Canadian experience to life as vividly and authentically as Chapman. Her characters confront the grim reality of poverty and violence, but the film never descends into trauma porn. What sets this film apart from too many other stories about Black lives is the way it makes space for moments of beauty amidst the characters’ daily struggles. Whether sharing home-cooked meals or getting a “braid-up,” there’s a feeling of warmth and connection between characters that gives them strength while facing the daily grind.
Read the full review here.
Oh, Canada — Paul Schrader
Writer and director Paul Schrader gained renown for crafting intense films about morally conflicted men navigating dire and hopeless societies. His last film, Master Gardener followed this template, to a point, before deviating from the usual dark and tragic conclusion. Instead, it offered glimmers of hope and redemption, hinting that the septuagenarian director may be softening his approach.
So I was intrigued at the thought of Schrader following up Master Gardener with Oh, Canada, a sombre character study about a dying man reflecting on his life and legacy. It’s impossible not to see this material as a personal reflection of the director’s life and his contribution to cinema.
Read the full review here.
Presence — Steven Soderbergh
So this family moves into a haunted house…. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. I know that sentence sounds like the setup for a dad joke or the synopsis of countless horror movies. So when I tell you that’s also the premise behind Presence, why wouldn’t you expect another boilerplate haunted house film. But if you look past Presence’s cliché premise it will surprise you with how it breathes life into this creaky old genre.
The key ingredient separating Presence from a sea of derivative haunted house films is its one-of-a-kind director, Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh was at the vanguard of the ‘90s indie film boom along with other big names like Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, and Robert Rodriguez. And what separates him from his contemporaries is his insatiable desire to push filmmaking’s boundaries. Time and again he’s evolved his skillset by stepping outside his comfort zone; shooting feature films on iPhones to producing interactive miniseries.
Read the full review here.
I, the Executioner (Veteran 2) — Ryoo Seung-wan
I, the Executioner (aka Veteran 2) is the long-awaited sequel to the 2015 South Korean box-office sensation Veteran. This time out, director Ryoo Seung-wan tones down the comedic hijinks and ramps up the action, to deliver a go-for-broke sequel that ups the ante in all the right ways.
Veteran fans should know that this sequel makes a dramatic change in tone, walking back Veteran’s reliance on slapstick comedy and cartoonish characters. When the film shifts gears, it’s jarring, transforming into a gritty and tense serial killer thriller with shades of David Fincher’s Se7en. Buckle up, because this film rockets between tones fast enough to cause whiplash.
Read the full review here.
Sketch — Seth Worley
Kids’ movies in the ‘80s felt like open invitations to trauma. Don’t get me wrong, I love The NeverEnding Story, The Transformers: The Movie, and E.T. — but they hail from an era when family films didn’t always treat their target audience with kid gloves. That generation of films was loaded with intense scares, heart-wrenching deaths, and emotional stakes that scarred audiences.
I bring this up because writer-director Seth Worley’s fantasy adventure Sketch is the modern successor to the ‘80s family films by directors like Joe Dante and Chris Columbus. Worley skillfully balances whimsy and heartache to create a smart and entertaining movie in the spirit of Gremlins and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
Read the full review here.
Piece by Piece — Morgan Neville
Your mentality defines your reality. That’s the mindset that transformed Pharrell Williams, a kid from the Virginia Beach projects into one of the most influential musicians of the century. It’s also the theme at the heart of director Morgan Neville’s animated documentary Piece by Piece. The Oscar-winning filmmaker has crafted a one-of-a-kind biopic for a one-of-a-kind talent, using The Lego Movie-style animation to spotlight Williams’ legendary career.
At 93 minutes, Piece by Piece provides a glimpse into Williams’ life, but even a six-part miniseries couldn’t chronicle the full scope of Williams’ story. He’s not just the guy who sings Happy — he’s a musician, rapper, producer, fashion designer, style icon, and entrepreneur. The film starts with Williams’ childhood, charting his rise to music industry luminary.
Read the full review here.
The Shadow Strays — Timo Tjahjanto
Timo Tjahjanto lives by a simple creed: go big or go home. He’s the maximalist filmmaker behind some of the boldest and bloodiest action flicks to ever grace the screen. His latest, The Shadow Strays, is no exception, bursting out the gate with style, swagger, and an unholy body count.
Tjahjanto’s violent action epic should satisfy his longtime fans. But I recommend the faint of heart dive into some red band trailers first because The Shadow Strays is one of the most violent and gruesome action flicks of the year.
Read the full review here.
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