TIFF ’25: What to See at This Year’s Fest, Sept. 10

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

As the Toronto International Film Festival marches on, so do we, seeing as much as we possibly can in the limited hours of the day. It can be overwhelming, especially with press conferences thrown in — and let’s not forget movies that are screening and streaming outside of the festival. (We will soon have reviews of the Spinal Tap sequel and The Long Walk, BTW). But we hope you enjoy reading about these films as much as we enjoy viewing them. Well, most of them anyway.

A Useful Ghost

A Useful Ghost (Centrepiece)

Wed, Sept. 10, 2:45 pm Scotiabank Theatre 3; Thurs, Sept. 11, 6:30 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 11; Sat, Sept. 13, 4:15 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 6.

It’s a safe bet this is the only film at TIFF featuring a fight between a fridge and a vacuum. The two appliances are possessed by ghosts. And ghosts, some with grudges, are driving the story in this multi-genre directorial debut from Thailand’s Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke. The ghost of a worker killed at a family-run appliance factor possesses its machinery and some of the commercial products, creating big problems. He is not the only ghost in the machines. One goes home with a customer. A different spirit turns out to be a blessing for the factory owner’s son March (Wisarut Himmarat), mourning the death of his pregnant wife Nat (the radiant Davika Hoorne), until her ghost inhabits a cannister vacuum cleaner (with attachments). To the horror of his mother and his stern aunties and uncles, March and “vacuum cleaner Nat” pick up their relationship, both emotionally and, ahem, physically. The film moves through comedy, confusion, horror and revenge which made me wish the director had streamlined it more though commentary on Thai social structures and political corruption comes through. KG

Calle Malaga (Special Presentations)

Wed, Sept. 10, 3:25 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 3; Fri, Sept. 12, 6:15 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 14.

This gentle drama from Moroccan director Maryam Touzani about late-life second chances and generational conflict features a central performance to savour from veteran Spanish actress Carmen Maura. Set in a picturesque Spanish enclave in Tangier, the film is a character study of Maria Ángeles, a widow who enjoys warm relationships with local merchants and neighbours. Trouble comes when her Madrid-based daughter Clara (Marta Etura), going through a bitter divorce, insists her mother sell her flat and move to Spain with her. Maria stubbornly refuses. After briefly trying life in a seniors’ residence, she decides to secretly squat in her for-sale apartment, raising money by turning it into a pop-up cafe for soccer fans. As Maria gets her independent groove back, she even begins a tentative romance with a local antiques dealer. A crowd-pleaser (it won the audience award at the Venice Film Festival), this warm but unresolved drama could have gone deeper in exploring how people of good will are unable to find common ground. LL

Christy (Specials Presentations)

Newly added screening: Wed, Sept. 10, 8 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 12.

Given that it has become a sub-genre of the celebrity biopic, it’s easy to forget that films about women with raw talent who fall under the spell of, and even marry, their brutal Svengali managers (What’s Love Got to Do With It, Star 80, etc.) are still stories about real people. And Sydney Sweeney deglamorizes admirably in the ultimately harrowing story of female boxer Christy Martin, who was marketed as “the Coal Miner’s Daughter” and became the face of the sport in the ‘90s. A story with a definite NASCAR vibe, it features the always-solid Ben Foster as Martin’s psychotic manager and husband. And Chad L. Coleman is laugh-out-loud hilarious (and borderline evil) as boxing promoter Don King. The movie itself doesn’t rise above its formula, but the performances are more than worthy. JS

Frankenstein (Special Presentations)

Wed, Sept. 10, 5:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 1; Thurs, Sept. 11, 11:15 am, TIFF Lightbox 3; Fri, Sept. 12, 6 pm, Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre; Sat, Sept. 13, 11:30 am, Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre.

Of course, in Frankenstein — his best, most fantastical, and moving film since Pan’s Labyrinth — Guillermo del Toro gives us delicious doses of what we’d expect: experimental half-sewn, half-alive works in progress with corpses taken from battlefields and gallows; believable steam-punk science and an obsessive madman (Oscar Isaac) whose pride and arrogance practically radiates off the screen. But what lifts Frankenstein into the level of art is its devotion to Mary Shelley’s “two stories” format, tales told in the frozen Arctic, one by the not-so-good doctor and one by “the monster,” who talks, reads, comes to understand his origins and suffers the existential angst of one who cannot be killed. The brilliant performance by Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s creation is the soul of the movie. Kudos as well to Mia Goth, who plays Elizabeth, the fiancée of Victor Frankenstein’s brother Edward. She is both sensitive and scientifically astute and calls out Victor’s dangerous hubris from the moment they meet. A must-watch. JS

Ghost School (Discovery)

Wed, Sept. 10, 3:25 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 8.

British Pakistani director Seemab’s Gul’s self-financed feature is unapologetically didactic, a portrait of Pakistan’s rural education crisis channeled through the experiences of a bright 10-year-old girl, Rabia (Nazualiya Arsalan) who arrives at her school one morning to discover that it has been abruptly closed. The semi-official explanation is that the last remaining teacher has been possessed by a “jinn” or supernatural spirit, and the school is haunted. Gul’s film then follows Rabia over the course of a day as she sets out to investigate what has happened, using the grocery money her mother has given her to finance her trips around the village, interrogating a feudal landlord and school principal, the teacher, a district commissioner, merchants and other students, as she stands as a voice of rational clarity in world of corruption, vast income gaps, gender bias, and superstition. Though there’s scant room for subtlety here, gentle pacing and astute framing of Rabia’s journeys through the arid landscape give her mission the quality of a fairytale quest. LL

Honey Bunch (Centrepiece)

Wed, Sept. 10, 6:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2: Sat, Sept. 13, 2:30 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 4.

Honey Bunch is a twisty mystery-thriller that nods to Hitchcock and creepy horror movies of the 70s and 80s. Young marrieds Diana and Homer — Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie, also at TIFF in the Midnight Madness title, Dead Love — head to an isolated old mansion that’s now an experimental treatment centre for people with traumatic injuries. Diana has been in a car accident. Once there, things don’t add up for her. Is her injury affecting her perception, or is something else going on? Homer is found whispering with the facility’s host, the caring Farah (Kate Dickey), who administers treatments and does everything including serving dinner with her husband Delwyn (Julian Richings), who also seems to be a patient. Diana begins to believe that Homer is lying to her. And the arrival of a father (Jason Isaacs) and his daughter (India Brown) who is undergoing similar treatments doesn’t ease her worries. This second film from Canadian co-writer/directors Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli is admirably ambitious, but in a genre where creepy is everything, it loses itself in the details and becomes overstuffed with ideas that it can’t quite pull off. KG

It Would Be Night In Caracas (Special Presentations)

Wed, Sept. 10, 9 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 4; Fri, Sept. 12, 9:25 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 4.

Based on the 2019 novel by Karina Sainz Borgo and set during the now decade-and-a half–long economic and political crisis in Venezuela, co-directors Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás’ political thriller revolves around Adelaida Falcón (Natalia Reyes). She is a journalist grieving the death of her mother amid the chaotic upheaval and street violence in Caracas. When Adelaida's apartment is taken over by a women’s paramilitary group, she moves into the flat of her recently dead neighbour and contrives to use the woman’s passport to escape the country. Claustrophobic tension is augmented with some of Adelaida’s psychological background — including flashbacks to her childhood and a love affair with a dead photojournalist — as is being trapped in a dead neighbour’s apartment along with Santiago (Moisés Angola), the brother of a friend who has spent time in prison before being coerced into a pro-government paramilitary squad. Though the film touches on food shortages, power outages, torture and corruption, political context is limited in a drama that plays out like a zombie apocalypse movie. LL

Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising (TIFF Docs)

Wed, Sept. 10, 7:15 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 2; Thurs, Sept 11, 11:45 am, Scotiabank Theatre 10.

Director Shane Belcourt and co-writer Tanya Talaga shed light on a 1974 Indigenous youth-led armed occupation that saw 150 people take over Anicinabe Park in Kenora, Ontario, to protest the ongoing mistreatment of Indigenous people. The documentary highlights charismatic movement leader Louie Cameron and includes powerful interviews with others who took part in the occupation — capturing stories of their protest against dire living conditions, police brutality, abuse at residential schools and the destruction of families. And what’s changed in the 50 years since? It is to weep. LB

Olmo (Centrepiece)

Wed, Sept. 10, 3:15 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 2; Thurs, Sept. 11, 2:30 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 10; Sun, Sept. 14, 8 pm, TIFF Lightbox 4.

In a just world, Fernando Eimbcke’s funny and heartwarming 1970s-era coming-of-age story should emerge as the sleeper hit of the festival. The Lopez family has a lot on its plate. Dad Nestor (Gustavo Sánchez Parra, conveying a world of hurt with his eyes) is bed-ridden with multiple sclerosis, mom Cecilia is barely making ends meet as a waitress, elder sister Ana is a coiled ball of resentment and 14-year-old Olmo (Aivan Uttapa) just wants to hang out with his pal Miguel. When Olmo and Miguel are invited to a party hosted by a cool-kid neighbour on a night they are supposed to be caring for Nestor in Cecilia and Ana’s absence, the choice Olmo makes will trigger both consequences and a profound understanding of the resilience of family. Sweet, smart, and sensational. KH

The Fox King (Centrepiece)

Wed, Sept. 10, 9:30 pm, Scotiabank Theatre 8.

The latest film from Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin is one of those films that give international film festivals their right to exist. A visually lyrical, narratively complex family drama set in a small Malaysian fishing port, The Fox King pushes borders in fresh and rewarding ways. The drama follows 15-year-old fraternal twins Ali and Amir, whose mother died in childbirth and who are all but abandoned by their father, a small-time crook and smuggler making do by working part-time in a salt fish factory for a family friend. The twins endure bullying at their traditional Muslim school. When new English teacher Lara (Indonesian star Dian Sastrowardoyo) arrives from Canada, the brothers are transfixed by her beauty and inappropriate behaviour. When Lara begins paying affectionate attention to the bright but inarticulate Ali, Amir is filled with intense jealousy at the ambiguous erotic/maternal bond, leading to a hard dramatic turn and surprise subsequent coda. LL

Train Dreams (Special Presentations)

Wed, Sept 10, 12:15 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2; Wed, Sept. 10, 3:45 pm, TIFF Lightbox 4; Fri, Sept. 12, 12:45pm, TIFF Lightbox 4.

Train Dreams is a gut-punch of a film that will leave you thinking about it for days. Director Clint Bentley's adaptation of Pulitzer Prize finalist Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella is a poignant character study set in the Pacific Northwest in the early 20th century. Joel Edgerton stars as logger Robert Grainier, working to develop the railroad across the U.S. That causes him to spend a lot of time away from his wife (Felicity Jones) and daughter. He's a man of simple means and has a hard time accepting his place in a fast-changing world. While Edgerton's performance is subtle, emotional, and impactful, what truly stands out is the breathtaking and immersive cinematography. It's a contemplative story that many will relate to. Train Dreams is sad but hopeful and explores resilience, solitude, and interconnectedness through the depiction of man's relationship with nature and the people who touched his life. Memorable supporting performances come from Kerry Condon and William H. Macy. The film hits select theatres Nov. 7 and streams on Netflix Nov. 21. BL

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Special Presentations)

Wed, Sept. 10, 9 am, TIFF Lightbox 5; Wed, Sept. 10, 7 pm, TIFF Lightbox 4; Thurs, Sept. 11, 2:30 pm, Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre; Fri, Sept. 12, 2 pm, Visa Screening Room, Princess of Wales Theatre; Sat, Sept. 13, 9:45 pm, Visa Screening Room, Princess of Wales Theatre.

Writer-director Rian Johnson stokes the fire-and-brimstone in this third outing with Southern sleuth Benoit Blanc, played with cunning grace by Daniel Craig. Blanc sets his sights on the murder of Monsignor Micks (Josh Brolin), a priest whose pulpit thunder and open condemnation of free thought and alternate lifestyles have driven away all but his most devoted flock. From that dwindling congregation come the suspects: Martha Delacrois (Glenn Close), a disciple with unshakable devotion; the town doctor (Jeremy Renner), crushed by a failed marriage; a once-beloved author chasing redemption (Andrew Scott); a far-right YouTube-loving political wannabe (Daryl McCormack); a lawyer (Kerry Washington) chasing her late father’s favour; a former cellist silenced by chronic pain (Cailee Spaeny); and, of course, every mystery lover’s favourite suspect, the groundskeeper (Thomas Haden Church).

Also in the pews is the kindly new reverend (Josh O’Connor), unconverted by Micks’ sadistic methods. Mila Kunis rounds out the cast as the police chief, exasperated by both an impossible case and Blanc’s unorthodox methods. Johnson delivers a wicked satire on faith and fanaticism, a lively mockery of far-right politics cloaked in the sacred robes of a classic whodunnit. Feel-good entertainment with just enough spiritual cleansing to seal the deal. TE