In an extremely slow week for notable new releases, all eyes turn to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). One of the premiere festivals on the globe, TIFF always showcases what there is to look forward to in theaters in the weeks and months ahead.
Thus, when setting out to recap the best of the TIFF, one ends up writing what also serves as a fantastic fall preview of what you should be looking out for soon in cinemas. From a thrilling yet incisive dramedy about a street-smart stripper fighting for survival a harsh world to a pair of darkly comedic dramas all built around messy characters (one of which includes a certain former Spokane-born actress) and more, there was something for everyone at TIFF 2024.
ANORA
Sean Baker's Anora is one of the most frequently astounding, consistently hilarious, and subtly insightful films of the year with a breakout performance for the ages from Mikey Madison. As the titular Anora, she guides us through this story of a struggling stripper in Brooklyn. Her fortunes initially seem like they may change for the better when she marries the son of a Russian oligarch, only for things to fall completely apart. It's a film that's sharp as hell, cutting you with each line of dialogue just as it steadily becomes about solidarity, or the lack of it, in a world where the deck is stacked against you.It's Baker's best film yet — which is really saying something considering he made Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket — and a truly stunning showcase for Madison. In every single scene, she's in complete command even as her character is not. Though it has a tragic inevitability to it, the tension Baker squeezes out of every moment makes it thrilling from its focused start all the way to its fantastic finish. It's a film that warms the soul just as it brings it all crashing down, ending with the reality that we all must go back out into the cold again. Releasing in theaters on Oct. 18.
CONCLAVE
What a wonderful film the confined, darkly humorous and masterfully confident Conclave is. This confidence comes from the precise direction by Edward Berger and the excellent dialogue from writer Peter Straughan (who adapts the novel of the same name by Robert Harris), though that all is carried with grace by a never-better Ralph Fiennes in reserved, yet still rare, form. Centered on the struggles of Fiennes' Cardinal Lawrence who must oversee the selection of a new Pope after the current one dies, it's a film that's primarily characters talking in rooms though is completely enrapturing in every meticulously framed shot by cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine. It's a story about power, politics, faith and oh so much more that is best experienced with a crowd so that you can get swept up in all the many surprises that it has in store for you. Instead of 12 Angry Men, it's 12 Angry Popes. And when all the cards are laid out on the table, Conclave takes the church for a spin that settles into being something more quietly radical in the final act. It's certain to be either the very best or the absolute worst film to see around election time. Releasing in theaters in November.
EDEN
When the world around you is a bleak one, always make sure to go to an island that you've never been to in order to find a supposed philosopher with the key to surviving the chaos. At least, that's the premise of Ron Howard's Eden, a film which is broadly based on a true story that's still quite silly and sinister in all the right ways. Set in 1929 on an uninhabited island in the Galápagos archipelago that is now home to a collection of vastly different groups, its standout is a spectacular Sydney Sweeney as the seemingly unassuming Margret who becomes the center of the whole experience where everyone is at each other's throats. There are others who give much bigger performances, but she is Eden's beating heart. Even when the film writ large is not as great when she fades into the background, she ensures it always gets back on the right path as all of the characters may soon be marching toward a grim death of their own creation. Expected to release in theaters in the fall.
THE LIFE OF CHUCK
There's a good chance that you're more familiar with writer/director Mike Flanagan for his horror works like the magnificent series Midnight Mass or the intriguing yet still flawed Stephen King adaptation Doctor Sleep. The Life of Chuck couldn't be more different in tone, structure and execution, despite being another film that adapts King (a novella, in this case). Playing out in three acts in reverse order back through the life of the titular Chuck, briefly played by Tom Hiddleston who dances off the Marvel baggage that's been weighing him down for far too long, it's all about confronting the end of everything. Yes, while not a horror film, this is a film about death. However, just as importantly, it's also about life and the precious moments we have. This could sound maudlin, but Flanagan, much like King, has always had an earnest humanist core to his art that becomes something uniquely beautiful here. It's the best film I saw at the festival, as it rips your heart out and then holds it up to the dwindling light of the galaxy, observing its rough edges just as it turns inward to ponder the mind. It's moving, mirthful and magnificent. Expected to release in theaters in the fall
THE SUBSTANCE
The best horror film of TIFF and the festival season as a whole, writer/director Coralie Fargeat's The Substance is more than a little blunt, though that doesn't stop it from blowing the doors off any expectations you have for it. Starring the delightful duo of Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, it follows two different versions of the same woman who is trying to reclaim her fame after being fired from her exercise show by her sexist boss for being too old. The doubling comes after she tries out a product called "the substance" that gives her far more than she could have bargained for. That mainly involves her body coming apart at the seams as she doesn't follow the instructions for how this is supposed to go, pushing things further and further.Fargeat, who previously made the stylish action horror film Revenge, makes this all into a tragicomedy with many high highs and just as many low lows. It's a film that's more than bound to be a bit divisive as it grapples with the unfair standards put upon women, the impact this has on labor, and what it takes to be happy, but with all the blood it throws at the screen, you'd expect nothing less. Just make sure to bring umbrellas for when it all comes raining down on the viewer before landing one final fittingly painful punchline. Releasing in theaters on Sept. 18.
WE LIVE IN TIME
While you might be most aware of this film due to the hilarious image that was going around of a merry-go-round with the most ridiculous looking horse you've ever seen upstaging charming stars Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, it's actually a quite terrific little dramedy. Following Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh) as they fall in love and then go through a much more complicated life, its nonlinear construction serves to bring into focus the unexpected ways our life's choices can echo through time. As we see, there is tragedy that awaits in the future for the couple that we know is coming and they don't.It's simple, but effective, maintaining a clarity of vision throughout that is distinctly unsentimental. Though there will be plenty of familiar emotional beats if you've seen any romantic movie ever, it always finds new ways to recontextualize and reflect on them. This includes one of the most unexpected yet oddly poetic birth scenes ever put to film, that ends up being about the everyday people who support us. It's never as cheesy as this sounds as both Pugh and Garfield give layered, often appropriately messy performances, painting a portrait that's heartfelt, honest and, in the end, humble. Releasing in theaters in October. ♦
