TIFF ’25: What to See at This Year’s Fest, Sept. 13 and Sept. 14

By Jim Slotek, Liz Braun, Thom Ernst, Karen Gordon, Kim Hughes, John Kirk, Chris Knight, Liam Lacey and Bonnie Laufer

It’s almost the end of the Toronto International Film Festival, and boy, we have seen a ton of stuff. But we soldier on, offering suggestions on what to see during the festival’s penultimate and final days. We will weigh in Monday with our rearview opinions. Meantime…

Peak Everything

Ballad of a Small Player (Special Presentations)

Sat, Sept. 13, 9:30 am, TIFF Lightbox 2.

Director Edward Berger’s adaptation of Lawrence Osborne’s discomfiting 2014 novel about a British man on the run in Macao is visually spectacular, ideal for the big screen despite its provenance as an upcoming Netflix feature. Narratively, however, the book’s intimacy — fostered by its protagonist’s inner monologue and touching on the British class system, Chinese cultural norms, and host of other, deeper issues — is sacrificed to the film’s scale even as Colin Farrell brings palpable agony to the character of Doyle, a “gweilo” or foreign ghost passing his gambling addiction off as a rich man’s lark as he recklessly plows through ill-gotten money while a no-nonsense investigator from the old country (Tilda Swinton) threatens to chase him straight to the bottom. Berger takes some necessary liberties, and the film is watchable. But there are some niggling unresolved questions, and the finale feels curiously flat. KH

Canceled: The Paula Deen Story (TIFF Docs)

Sun, Sept. 14, 3:30 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 11.

Paula Deen was railroaded. That’s the conclusion one makes watching director Billy Corben’s (Cocaine Cowboys) wrenching documentary on the onetime American television star who singlehandedly raised herself and her two sons out of poverty first with a tiny but novel catering business, then with hit restaurants, and finally and most significantly with a blockbuster Food Network show that led to countless promotional spin-off deals hinged on Deen’s Southern pedigree. It all came crashing down within two fateful months in 2013 when a threatened lawsuit led to a deposition where Deen admitted using a racial slur. That the horrendous context of that usage was never explored — or the fact that Deen had hired and promoted people of colour throughout her career — seemed to matter little as the media relentlessly piled on. Corben shows that Deen herself shoulders some blame for the backlash, but he also makes clear the proverbial punishment did not fit the alleged crime. Appearing with Corben at a TIFF screening this week, Deen and sons/business partners Jamie and Bobby Deen were moved to tears by the audience’s affectionate reaction to the film. A comeback seems imminent. KH

Dead Lover (Midnight Madness)

Sat, Sept. 13, 11:59 pm, Royal Alexandra Theatre; Sun, Sept. 14, 12:05 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 4.

There is no denying the audacity in director Grace Glowicki’s highly stylized, minimalist phantasmagoria. Glowicki, who co-writes and stars, spins a gothic tale that owes its inspiration to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The sets are intentionally theatrical, the shots framed and locked, and the performances embrace a keen sense of camp. Glowicki plays a gravedigger convinced her work has left an odour embedded in her skin that no washing can remove. Alone in a shack on cemetery grounds — where she was born, raised, and where her family now lies — she longs for a lover. Along comes a man who not only adores her but fetishizes her funk. They are an ideal match until fate leaves her with nothing but his finger. It’s all outrageous, meticulously designed, and delivered with gleeful conviction. One can hardly question its craft or intent. But the flavour? Let’s just say it’s not mine. As a Midnight Madness film, Dead Lover is not something I’m willing to lose sleep over. TE

Degrassi: Whatever It Takes (TIFF Docs)

Sat, Sept 13, 6:15 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 1; Sun, Sept. 14, 3:45 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 3.

Talk about nostalgia! The groundbreaking series, which ran in different incarnations for 37 seasons, is one of the most impactful series to ever come out of Canada. The documentary dives into the behind-the-scenes truth of the Degrassi franchise — raw, real, and sometimes troubling — while celebrating the powerful legacy of a show that made teens feel seen and heard. With candid interviews from the cast, creators, and superfans, the doc takes you deep into why this show was so iconic and touched so many people worldwide. The highlight? An exclusive in-depth sit-down with Aubrey Graham, a.k.a. Drake, and watching his rise to astronomical fame after the series. BL

Eternal Return (Special Presentations)

Sat, Sept. 13, 11:30 am, Roy Thomson Hall.

If magic is a high-wire act, Eternal Return takes a tumble. Naomi Scott stars as 29-year-old Cass, mourning the death of the love of her life. When she wanders into an obscure cartography shop in London that looks to be just off Diagon Alley, she has a meet-weird with its proprietor, Virgil (Kit Harrington). He in turn introduces her to his pal Malcolm (Simon Callow), who looks like the love child of a Doctor Who time lord and Sir Ian McKellan. Writer-director Yaniv Raz stuffs his screenplay full of arcane references — Allen Ginsberg, Paul Bowles, chakras, the ouroboros, and a touch too much astrology for my liking, but then, I am a Leo. The gist of it all is that Malcolm is looking to return to a happier moment in his past, Virgil thinks he can make it happen, and Cass gets caught up in the magic. I wish I could too, but like a cranky customer at a budget pharmacy, I wasn’t buying any of the chemistry. CK

Karmadonna

Karmadonna (Midnight Madness)

Sat, Sept. 13, 3:45 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 9.

The real draw here is the directorial debut of Aleksandar Radivojević, co-writer of the notorious shock-cinema provocation, A Serbian Film. Karmadonna doesn’t push into the same realms of controversy — or, for many, unforgivable offense — but it doesn’t shy away from blood and brutality either. Jelena Djokic stars as an older, single expectant mother who receives a phone call from God. His command is simple and cruel: kill a handpicked group of social media influencers and make them suffer. Refusal means miscarriage. It’s a long film, and Radivojević gives God far too much time to sermonize about the failings of humanity. But if you endure the rants, the payoff is pure chaos — moments of mayhem that almost justify the slog. There’s likely a message about society buried in all of this, but don’t waste too much effort hunting for it. Best to just surrender and enjoy the carnage. TE

Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (Gala Presentations)

Sun, Sept. 14, 11:55 am, Scotiabank Theatre 2.

In the age of Taylor Swift’s Eras, it’s hard to believe the idea of women successfully touring together could be radical. And yet when Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan launched the all-female Lilith Fair in 1997 — despite the prevailing wisdom that audiences had a threshold for hearing female artists — the music industry was, if not scandalized, certainly dubious. McLachlan and her team had the last laugh. Over the next three years, Lilith would present a dazzling array of women performers whose impact on contemporary artists is still being felt. And it made buckets of money, the one metric guaranteed to get the big boys’ attention. Director Ally Pankiw interviews those who participated — McLachlan, Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Erykah Badu, Suzanne Vega, Indigo Girls — as well as those like Olivia Rodrigo who were inspired by the event. Given the festival’s slam-dunk success against all odds, the film, which screens on CBC platforms beginning September 17, can be forgiven for its occasional breathlessness. KH

Peak Everything (Gala Presentations)

Sat, Sept. 13, 6:30 pm, Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre; Sat, Sept. 13, 8 pm, Roy Thomson Hall.

TIFF’s closing night film walks a fine line between hope and despair. Its main character, a Quebec dog kennel owner named Adam (Patrick Hivon), struggles with depression and the nagging feeling that the end might actually be nigh. “I just wish I could understand the world better,” he says to Tina (Piper Perabo), a tech support call centre employee at the company that just sold him a therapeutic desk lamp. She sympathizes with his plight, and the two form an odd, quasi-romantic relationship over the phone — as soon as he confirms that she’s not actually an A.I. (I’m so paranoid about the creeping advance of machines that I had the same concern when she was just a voice.) Then, when a natural disaster threatens the Sudbury call centre, Adam drives across two provinces to check in on her. Writer-director Anne Émond’s work includes last year’s excellent dark thriller Lucy Grizzli Sophie. She brings a lighter touch and a more comic tone to this one, though the stakes — the French title is Amour Apocalypse — couldn’t be higher. CK

The Ugly (Special Presentations)

Sat, Sept. 13, 9:15 am, Scotiabank Theatre 3.

The latest from Korean writer-director Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) is a marvellous murder mystery that will sneak up on you. Adapting his own debut graphic novel (Face), the filmmaker introduces us to an elderly blind stamp carver, his fastidious and devoted son, and a mildly annoying TV producer who wants to interview the old man. But then a body is found — the man’s former wife, said to have run off 40 years ago, and now revealed to have died at about the same time. The producer turns detective, the curious son tags along, in search of his own answers, and a series of interviews sheds light on the dead woman, universally acclaimed to have been very ugly. Fantastic casting throughout, including Park Jeong-min as both the present-day son and his father in flashbacks. The story has viewers yearning for answers, and it doesn’t disappoint. CK