By George Kozera
SOLO takes us into the world of Montreal’s illustrious drag queen scene, where Simon (Theodore Pellerin) is a rising star. Simon is a make-up artist during the day and has a wonderful and loving relationship with his supportive family (his sister, a seamstress, even creates his outfits), though it’s been over 15 years since he last saw his estranged mother. Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux) left the family to go to Europe to pursue a career as an opera singer and is now world renowned. One night at the club, Simon meets recent recruit from France, Olivier (Felix Maritaud), and before you can say “Mama Ru“, they embark on a steamy and drug-fuelled relationship, and, as a duet, they entertain the audience with highly charged and erotic performances at the club. Very quickly, their relationship turns toxic as Olivier becomes increasingly domineering. Meanwhile, Simon learns that Claire will be back to Montreal to perform for a short time, and he desperately wants to reconnect with her. Simon becomes stretched emotionally.
Writer/Director Sophie Dupuis’ unique vision is impressive, but the story is muddled and borderline overly melodramatic. The drag performances in the club are visually-compelling, but the poisonous relationships Simon has with his mother and his lover is presented in a bewildered and not fully formed fashion.
What takes SOLO to stratospheric heights is the magnetic performance from Canadian Screen Award winner, Theodore Pellerin. It is unabashedly hypnotic and compelling, and he almost obliterates everyone he shares the screen with. His drag performances are equally captivating.
SOLO screens at TIFF ’23:
Sunday September 10, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30PM
Monday September 11, Scotiabank, 3:30PM
By Amanda Gilmore
Director Mahalia Belo makes an assured debut feature with this adaptation of Megan Hunter’s prophetic Novel of the same name.
Climate change has caused cataclysmic flooding in London causing residents to become houseless. This sends a new mother (Jodie Comer), her partner (Joel Fry), and their days-old newborn to flee to the English countryside to stay with his family. But when his parents die and the couple reaches the end of their food supply, the family must make the choice to separate. Sending the mother and infant into a shelter and the father to find his own way of survival.
The End We Start From is an Apocalyptic Drama that leaves room for hope. It’s a rounded examination of the effect an environmental disaster would have on humanity…possibly leading it to social collapse. Belo and Screenwriter Alice Birch (who also penned previous TIFF selections Lady Macbeth, Mothering Sunday and The Wonder) keep the climate disaster and cruelty off-screen. Allowing their Actors to show the anxiety, tension and trauma they’re experiencing.
We encounter the formidable ensemble through the new mother’s journey. Each stop she makes feels episodic as we’re introduced to different characters. These characters, for the most part, remain nameless just as our core family does. They include a moving performance from Katherine Waterston who befriends our mother in the shelter and the two travel together for a new home with their infants. And Benedict Cumberbatch (who also produced the Film) makes a brief appearance as a man mourning the loss of his entire family in the disaster.
This ensemble is led by Comer, who continues to prove herself to be one of the greatest Actresses of her generation. It’s a deeply affecting performance of a woman learning to be a mother during the impossible. She must provide for her child while there is no food, water or shelter and where the threat of attack lurks everywhere. Within the environment and humanity.
The End We Start From screens at TIFF ’23:
Sunday, September 10 at 1:30 PM at Roy Thompson Hall
Monday, September 11 at 7:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Saturday, September 16 at 3:45 PM Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Sunday, September 17 at 6:05 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
By Mr. Will Wong
Robert McCallum directs MR. DRESSUP: THE MAGIC OF MAKE-BELIEVE and there will be tears shed watching this loving tribute to a national icon.
If like me, you grew-up in the ’80s and ’90s, chances are that Mr. Dressup (Ernie Coombs) babysat you weekday mornings. The former understudy of Fred Rogers found his way into the hearts of children across the country with his long-running series MR. DRESSUP airing on CBC from 1967 to 1996. This portrait captures his true essence as a devoted husband, entertainer and imperturble father figure to kids across Canada.
McCallum gets notable subjects to speak on the matter. Members of the Barenaked Ladies, Kids in the Hall, Eric McCorrmack, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, former Puppeteers on the Show and even Michael J. Fox appear with heartfelt recollections and anecdotes of what Mr. Dressup means to them. The Film also touches upon the deep friendship that Rogers and Coombs (both American) shared over the years through letters and footage.
The Documentary isn’t all sunshine. We hear from Coombs son Christopher how he used to get teased from schoolmates about his dad being a “sissy”, and tragedy strikes late in his life, making Mr. Dressup‘s story bittersweet. We could not help but feel affected and left teary-eyed. Thank you, Mr. Dressup, we will never forget you and this is your story told the way it was meant to be told.
MR. DRESSUP: THE POWER OF MAKE-BELIEVE screens at TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 9
TIFF Bell Lightbox
9:00 PM
Sunday, September 10
Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
8:45 PM
By Amanda Gilmore
Writer-Director Molly McGlynn delivers an honest, touching and hopeful film about gender, sexuality and what makes a woman a woman.
High schooler Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) is planning on losing her virginity to her boyfriend Adam (D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai). During a doctor’s visit to get birth control, she learns she has a rare reproductive condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome. This means she doesn’t have a uterus or cervix and has a shortened vaginal canal. As she navigates her diagnosis, her relationships become challenged with everyone, but especially herself.
Fitting In is a raw coming-of-age story. Lindy is full of angst and anxiety all while being genuinely funny. It’s clear from the jump that Lindy wants to have children. This diagnosis is life-altering for her, sending her into crisis. As she navigates what this diagnosis might mean for her future, McGlynn questions sexuality and what makes a woman a woman while never becoming preachy. Ziegler solidifies her talent and range in this nuanced performance.
One of the highlights is the bond explored between mother and daughter. Lindy’s single mother Rita (a fantastic Emily Hampshire) has recently undergone a mastectomy and is still reconciling with this change to her body. Possibly the most beautiful narrative in Fitting In is having two women make steps to accept and embrace the uncontrollable within their bodies. It’s a joy watching Ziegler and Hampshire ebb and flow in an authentic mother-daughter relationship.
Fitting In screens at TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 9 at 8 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Tuesday, September 12 at 11:30 AM at TIFF Bell Lightbox
As the inaugural Sloan Science on Film Showcase selection, Fitting In tells a coming-of-age story shaped by medical science. Following the September 12 screening, the Sloan Science on Film Showcase will feature a Q&A with writer-director Molly McGlynn and an expert in reproductive health.
By George Kozera
In NORTH STAR, three sisters reunite at their family home set in the visually sumptuous Itchen Hampshire England area to attend their mother’s third marriage. Katherine (Scarlett Johansson) is a Royal Navy officer, recently promoted to a new position and is ignoring many calls from her partner Jack. Middle sister Victoria (Sienna Miller) is a Hollywood Actress, single again with a 14-year-old son. Georgina (Emily Beecham) is the youngest and is quite emotional as she suspects her husband is having an affair. The mother Diana (Kristin Scott Thomas, who also directs and co-wrote the script) tragically lost two husbands, who were Navy pilots, while in action. We are now deeply entrenched with the world of one sub plot, to a second subplot, to a third subplot ad infinitum.
Don’t mistake the last comment as a negative as I enjoyed NORTH STAR for the most part. Johansson nails the British accent with aplomb and the big reveal as to who Jack is was a surprise. Miller oozes charisma and plays the Hollywood star, always getting what she wants, effectively and likability. I found Beecham’s character overly emotional and mopey, but I’d be mopey as well if I was the baby of the family with more established siblings and am married to someone who may have issues keeping it in his pants. Ever since “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, Scott Thomas has mastered the all-knowing, velvet-fisted character, yet hers was my favourite performance in the movie and I basked in her radiant smile and wisdom. Furthermore, her real-life mother did lose two husbands in combat so this may have contributed to her performance and making this her directorial debut.
Multiple storylines have enhanced many movies (think “Love Actually”) but in NORTH STAR it caused more head scratching than needed. Don’t get me started on the character who crashes the outdoor wedding reception in a helicopter, trying to win Victoria’s affection. Or why did Victoria’s teenaged son get drunk, then get stuck in a tree? Oh, then there’s the private detective that Victoria hired while still in Hollywood by interviewing candidates attending AA meetings in the U.K. So much is needless fodder. The critic in me was irritated while the audience member in me accepted the ride I was being taken on.
NORTH STAR won’t make any dents during the awards season, but there is nothing wrong with just sitting in a darkened theatre and be entertained by a talented ensemble.
NORTH STAR screens TIFF ’23 as follows:
Friday, September 15, 2:45PM, Scotiabank
Saturday, September 16, 2:00PM, Royal Alexandra Theatre
THE PEASANTS is one of the most visually astonishing movies I have seen in recent memory. Utilizing hundreds of painters and animators, each frame of this movie is an oil painting over the filmed scene. I cannot oversell how truly remarkable the finished product is and I was in complete awe as the story progressed.
Real life husband and wife, DK & Hugh Welchman directed and co-wrote this movie based on the Nobel Prize-winning set of books by the same name. Set in a tiny village in Poland in the 19th century, it centers around Jagna (Kamila Urzedowska), the stunningly beautiful young girl who has men wrapped around her finger. She is basically sold to the recently widowed rich landowner Boryna (Miroslaw Baka) by her mother for acres of land that Boryna still refuses to give to his children. His volatile oldest son, Antek (Robert Gulaczyk), is angry and combative. As much as he hates that his father has remarried, it doesn’t stop him from having a torrid affair with Jagna.
Being of Polish descent, THE PEASANTS resonated with me for a variety of reasons. The wild abandonment the villagers exhibit when singing and dancing erupts on the screen as it did at Polish events (zabawas) I attended throughout my youth and adulthood. Watching, and most importantly, hearing the elderly ladies in the village viciously and profoundly gossiping (especially about Jagna and her alleged past, present and potentially future sexual trysts) just reminded me of listening to my mother and her friends doing the same. We call that ‘plotki’. Everything in THE PEASANTS is authentic to my upbringing.
This Movie is of epic, emotional proportions and I will be totally shocked if it is not nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
THE PEASANTS screens at TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 16, 5:30PM, Scotiabank
By George Kozera
To be perfectly frank, I had some trepidations and resisted seeing Anna Kendrick’s feature film directorial debut with WOMAN OF THE HOUR. When the subject matter deals with rape, a serial killer and is based on a true story, I would assume that even the most seasoned filmmakers would think twice about tackling such sensitive topics and I questioned whether Kendrick had the gravitas and skill to undertake such a project. I need not have worried. Not only has this Oscar-nominated Actress fashioned a formidable and accomplished thriller, she skillfully blends in flashback sequences as well as addressing women having to deal with misogynistic, toxic males, all the while she laces the Movie with some much-needed humour and thrills.
Kendrick plays Cheryl, a struggling actress whose agent books her work as a contestant on the popular television game show “The Dating Game” where she will have to question three gentlemen then choose one to go on a date, depending on how they answer her queries. Contestant Number Three is Rodney Alcala, a Photographer (a star-making role and performance from Daniel Zovatto). We have already seen him at his worst as WOMAN OF THE HOUR opens with Alcala brutally pushing his victim to the ground, strangle her before resuscitating then raping her (Kendrick shows amazing restraint filming this intense sequence). We also know that Alcala has extraordinary b.s. skills as we saw him tell one victim that he studied at NYU Film School with Roman Polanski and a group of men in an office environment that he partied with Warren Beatty.
After a technical mishap during the filming of the game show, Cheryl rewrites all the insipid questions and makes all three males squirm uncomfortably with their answers, except for Alcala who is quite proficient with saying just the right things. Cheryl chooses Rodney and they win a trip to Carmel. After the taping, we see Alcala wait in the parking lot of the TV studio, see Cheryl leave and charmingly suggests they go nearby for a cocktail to which she accepts the invitation.
That is when the Film brims with tension.
It’s best to see WOMAN OF THE HOUR without knowing the particulars of this true story. Ignorance of the facts will be bliss. Kendrick’s mastery in the Director’s chair is in full force as I did have all the information beforehand and still sat in my seat, shaking with anxiety and dread. KUDOS.
WOMAN OF THE HOUR screens st TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 9, 9:00PM, Scotiabank
By David Baldwin
Luyanda Masinda (Noxolo Dlamini) is a South African investigative journalist who just watched her friend be murdered as he sat right beside her. He had been telling her about a story he was working on involving deep government corruption and secret chemical warfare tests dating back several decades. Luyanda starts digging to learn more about what he was researching and quickly finds herself in way over her head.
DEATH OF A WHISTLEBLOWER is a Political Thriller with a lot on its mind. It plays in the conspiracy space for a large chunk of the Film, extrapolating on genocide and apartheid allegories and the nose-to-the-grindstone brand of journalism exemplified by Oscar-winners like All the President’s Men and Spotlight. It becomes more horrifying and harrowing than I expected, made worse by the fact that this fictional film is very much based in truths of what actually happened – and continues to happen. The cinéma verité-style cinematography drives that point home and will keep you breathless for the first two acts.
Where the Film goes off the rails is in the third act, when it turns into a gritty revenge picture that bares little resemblance to the Film proceeding it. It is over-the-top and nowhere near as pulse pounding, trading real-world horror for something substantially more bombastic. I nearly lost the plot from the tonal whiplash. I do not fault Director Ian Gabriel nor his screenwriting team for making the pivot – as the Film is pretty explicit about what happens after the truth is exposed. I just wish it was more grounded. Thankfully, the Cast makes up for this, all uniformly solid no matter their length of screentime, Dlamini in particular. She soars through the Film, commanding your attention at every turn. The Film asks a lot of her and she more than delivers on it.
DEATH OF A WHISTLEBLOWER screens at TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 9 at 2:45 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sunday, September 10 at 9:40 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Sunday, September 17 at 3:00 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
By George Kozera
After a 50-year career with the National Ballet of Canada (first as a dancer then as the company’s Artistic Director), Prima Ballerina Karen Kain chose Swan Lake as her retirement project. Under the skillful eye of Director Chelsea McMullan, SWAN SONG is an intimate and fascinating Documentary that takes the viewer into the world of Ballet; an artform that gets the cinematic short shrift when compared to other entertainment-based industries. Actress Neve Campbell has signed on as Executive Producer.
Karen Kain has been in the public eye since she received worldwide acclaimed for her performance in Swan Lake in 1971. Her ease and demeanour in front of the camera is impeccable, engaging the audience with the minutiae of choreographing and directing a classic piece. There also is an acknowledgment of the racial diversity within the ballerinas, and a decision for them not to wear the traditional pink tights but show their skin colours. I particularly loved Kain’s story of how Rudolf Nureyev whisked her off to a party where she was overwhelmed with being in the centre of celebrities and bowls of cocaine then taken aside by Andy Warhol who made her pose a certain way, snap a Polaroid and ultimately making her the first Canadian to be immortalized on canvas by the Artist.
Kain is not the only focal point of SWAN SONG. Many young ballerinas talk about their dreams, insecurities, triumphs while we watch their gruelling rehearsals and preparations. The insight provided the Principal Ballerina for this production of the Ballet, Jurgita Dronina, is invaluable as it graphically shows us the toll dancing takes on the body.
I was transfixed throughout SWAN SONG and will admit to shedding a few tears of awe and wonderment.
SWAN SONG screens at TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 9 at Roy Thomson Hall, 2PM
Monday, September 11 at TIFF Bell Lightbox, 8:30PM
Friday, September 15 at Scotiabank, 1PM
By Amanda Gilmore
Acclaimed Writer-Director Azazel Jacobs delivers a moving portrait of the complexities within sibling dynamics with His Three Daughters. The story follows three sisters, the eldest Katie (Carrie Coon), middle Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) and the youngest Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) who coverage to care for their father when his health declines.
Jacobs heartbreakingly captures the feeling of being in limbo while watching a loved one slowly die before your eyes. It’s the mental state of grieving something that hasn’t yet completely gone. Jacobs’ meticulously written and distinct characters handle this state of being in different ways. And it’s clear from the first shot that His Three Daughters is like attending a masterclass in acting.
Coon’s captivating performance as the tense Katie speaks a mile a minute and is quick to judge any matter. She’s constantly at the throat of Rachel who’s been the one living and caring for their ill father a year before his health took a turn for the worse. Lyonne delivers a nuanced performance as the middle sister who’s quietly carried her pain alone. Then there’s the quirky Christina who attempts to maintain her internal peace while appearing to be on the verge of breaking down. Olsen gives one of her finest performances to date.
The Script is loaded with monologues that showcase the powerhouse talent Jacobs has assembled which causes His Three Daughters to feel ‘stagey’ at times. But it’s these performances that enthral the viewer into the story. An affecting story that examines the bonds between siblings and how grieving takes many shapes and forms.
His Three Daughters screens at TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 9 at 12 PM at Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
Sunday. September 10 at 2:45 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Sunday. September 17 at 5:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
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