Comala, 2021. Written and Directed by Gian Cassini. SYNOPSIS: A man’s journey to face the scattered members of his dysfunctional family and understand the life of his absent father, a failed hit man murdered years ago in a Mexican border town. Part-investigative journalism, part-moving familial mosaic, Gian Cassini’s filmmaking debut Comala sees the director re-examining […]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review – All My Puny Sorrows
All My Puny Sorrows, 2021. Written and directed by Michael McGowan. Starring Alison Pill, Sarah Gadon, Mare Winningham, Amybeth McNulty, and Donal Logue. SYNOPSIS: The story of two Mennonite sisters who have left their strict religious upbringing behind. While one sibling struggles in love and life, the other is a world-famous concert pianist. Michael McGowan’s […]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review – Violet
Violet, 2021. Written and directed by Justine Bateman. Starring Olivia Munn, Justin Theroux, and Luke Bracey. SYNOPSIS: Violet realises that her entire life is built on fear-based decisions, and must do everything differently to become her true self. Actor Justine Bateman makes a disarming filmmaking debut with a bold, skillfully wrought drama about the destructive […]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review – The Story of My Wife
The Story of My Wife, 2021. Written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi. Starring Gijs Naber, Léa Seydoux, and Louis Garrel. SYNOPSIS: Sea captain Jacob Störr makes a bet in a café with a friend to marry the first woman who enters the place. And in walks Lizzy. Ildikó Enyedi follows up her outstanding 2017 Oscar-nominated […]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review – Jockey
Jockey, 2021. Co-written and directed by Clint Bentley. Starring Clifton Collins Jr., Molly Parker, and Moisés Arias. SYNOPSIS: An aging jockey is determined to win one last championship, but his dream is complicated when a young rookie shows up claiming to be his son. Clint Bentley has entered the world of feature films with a powerhouse […]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review – As In Heaven
As In Heaven, 2021. Written and directed by Tea Lindeburg. Starring Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, Ida Cæcilie Rasmussen, Palma Lindeburg Leth, Anna-Olivia Øster Coakley, Flora Augusta, Kirsten Olesen, Lisbet Dahl, Stine Fischer Christensen, Thure Lindhardt, and Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt. SYNOPSIS: On a farm in the late 1800s, an intense waiting game begins when a mother […]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review – Hold Your Fire
Hold Your Fire, 2021. Written and directed by Stefan Forbes. SYNOPSIS: Brooklyn, 1973. Shu’aib Raheem tried to steal guns for self-defense, starting the longest hostage siege in NYPD history. NYPD psychologist Harvey Schlossberg fought to reform police use of violence and save lives by using words, not guns. Documentarian Stefan Forbes (Boogie Man: The Lee […]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review – Attica
Attica, 2021. Written and directed by Stanley Nelson. SYNOPSIS: Documentary chronicles the five-day prison rebellion that transpired in the fall of 1971 in upstate New York and still stands as the largest and deadliest the country has ever witnessed. Veteran filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple) brings one of the […]
Toronto International Film Festival Review – I, Tonya (2017)
I,Tonya, 2017. Directed by Craig Gillespie. Starring Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Julianne Nicholson, Paul Walter Hauser, Bobby Cannavale, and Allison Janney. SYNOPSIS: Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises among the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the sport is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes. In Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya, Margot […]
Despite controversy, Jojo Rabbit takes home the TIFF Audience Award
Even with mixed reviews and a polarizing subject matter, Jojo Rabbit has been announced as the winner of Toronto International Film Festival’s 2019 Audience Award. Director Taika Waititi’s “anti-hate” satire beat out Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite for the win. The TIFF Audience Award has, in recent years, became an indicator […]
