#TIFF26: “STUFFED” REVIEW

By Nicholas Porteous

Harry Melling bemoans his meaningless existence as a cheese sandwich assembly line worker, yearning to leave any kind of legacy behind. Meanwhile, Jodie Comer searches for a volunteer body to build her ultimate human taxidermy project. The two cross paths and… Stuffed happens. Did I mention it’s a musical? You could be forgiven for thinking, like I did, that this wild mashup of themes and genre might result in a sleeper cult hit at this year’s fest, but I’m sad to report Stuffed is dead on arrival.

For starters, there’s no engine propelling these characters forward beyond an abstract desire to be memorable and die. That wouldn’t be enough to spark a conventional narrative, and it sure doesn’t motivate a musical. Almost every song in Stuffed is just a melodic delivery device for information we already understand. The lyrics are practical, the observations are obvious, and the laughs are absent. There may be comedy to glean from the central musical subversion–characters singing with grandeur about their empty lives–but this ain’t it.

Stuffed has a polished exterior. The production design is textured, the visuals are sharp, and Melling and Comer do their damndest to bring life to the stagnant screenplay. There’s even some clever choreography, making use of Melling‘s sandwich assembly line. But the obvious metaphor can’t be avoided: beneath its glossy surface, Stuffed is a hollow experience, lifelessly lurching to an empty end. Unless you’re BIG on death and taxidermy, stay away.

Stuffed screens at TIFF ’26:

Fri. Sept 11 at 9:20 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

Sun. Sept 20 at 7:00 PM at Scotiabank Theatre