In The Whale, Charlie (Brendan Fraser) is an online writing teacher facing down his own mortality, when a series of surprise visitors makes him reconsider his life choices. From director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), this highly anticipated comeback was less of a celebration and more a fatphobic disappointment.
TIFF 2022 Review: If Only Riceboy Sleeps Hadn’t Devolved into Melodrama
In Riceboy Sleeps, an immigrant mother and son adjust to life in Canada amidst racism and loneliness. But when catastrophe strikes, it’s time to make connections with people and places long left behind.
TIFF 2022 Review: Bros is a Fun Queer Rom-Com That I Wish Could Get Serious
In Bros, two wildly different men who are both afraid of committed romantic relationships find that their differences are the best thing about them. But is that enough for a long-lasting relationship? Hot on the heels of this summer’s Fire Island, Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street, Difficult People, The Lion King) both wrote and…
TIFF 2022 Review: Empire of Light Is a Beautiful Film, If Overstuffed
Empire of Light follows a lonely duty manager at a cinema who finds a new lease on life when a new employee joins her workplace. But there are follies to hinging all your happiness on one person.
TIFF 2022 Review: What’s Love Got to Do With It? Shares a Very Odd Message
What’s Love Got to Do With It? sees Zoe (Lily James) making a new documentary about her friend Kazim’s (Shahzad Latif) arranged marriage. She can’t understand why her otherwise modern friend would undertake such an outdated practice for his family. But while making her film, Zoe, Kazim, and his family learn more about themselves and…
TIFF 2022 Review: My Policeman Is so Crushingly Sad, but Also Surprisingly Good?
A 1950s-set love triangle, My Policeman explores the convoluted relationships between a policeman, a schoolteacher, and an avant garde museum curator. But decades later, when the trio are reunited, it becomes clear that something tore them apart. What led to their falling out?
TIFF 2022 Review: The Eternal Daughter Is Delightfully Eerie
The Eternal Daughter follows Julie (Tilda Swinton) as she tries to piece together facts about her mother’s life (also Swinton) for a film. Has any good ever come from digging up family history?
TIFF 2022 Review: I Like Movies Is a Well-Tread Story with an Unlikable Protagonist
Teenager Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen) is obsessed with films in I Like Movies. So much so, that he’s made it his entire personality. But behind the obnoxious gate keeping, Lawrence may be struggling with hurt that only movies can save him from.
TIFF 2022 Review: Indigenous Storytellers Shine Bright in We Are Still Here
Made as a response to the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s second voyage to Australia and New Zealand, We Are Still Here showcases eight stories by 10 indigenous filmmakers, from the arrival of colonizers to the determination of the indigenous people to persist into the future.
TIFF 2022 Review: Nanny Is a Slow Burn Horror That’ll Keep You Guessing
Aisha, played by Anna Diop (Titans, Us) takes a job as a nanny in the hopes of earning enough money to bring her son from Senegal to America. But just when it seems that she’s close to reuniting with him, unexplained incidents make her question her surroundings.
TIFF 2022 Review: The Woman King Is as Epic an Action Film as it Gets!
An all-female regiment of elite warriors protects their land from invaders in The Woman King. But when a nearby kingdom gathers strength, a new group of candidates is tasked with training for the Agojie. Among them is a young, determined warrior who will make the Agojie leadership question their methods.
TIFF 2022 Review: The Hummingbird Starts Off Buzzing but Goes on Too Long
Eschewing standard chronology, The Hummingbird tells the story of Marco Carrera (Pierfrancesco Favino), from his birth to his death, and all the extraordinary people and circumstances he encounters in between.