#TIFF23: “ALICE & JACK” REVIEW

By Mr. Will Wong

Premiering as part of TIFF‘s Primetime Programme dedicated to Television, Channel 4‘s ALICE & JACK stars Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson as two lovers who meet online and despite not having much in common initially, the sparks fly.

Alice however, is cold and adamant that Jack should never call her again, though they both cannot stop thinking about one another. This goes off and on for several years and amidst the gaps, Jack is forced to move on with his life and this poses problems with mysterious Alice suddenly resurfacing again in his life. Why is she so afraid to let him in?

Victor Levin writes and Juho Kuosmanen directs, with some phenomenal work by our two leads, particularly Riseborough who keeps us hanging with her outbursts of anger, which are balanced by sudden acts of kindness that keep us guessing what her deal is.

The limitations of the television format push the pacing along too rapidly and things unfold and get resolved some times a little too conveniently despite the Series never backing away from exploring the complex messiness of love. In fact, we are seeing a recurring theme among some of the biggest titles at TIFF ’23 – an exploration of dynamics between men and women and also the psychological impacts of trauma. Our attention was kept throughout the 83-minute runtime.

ALICE & JACK screens at TIFF ’23:

Saturday, September 16
Royal Alexandra Theatre
5:00 PM

Sunday, September 17
TIFF Bell Lightbox
9:15 AM