Brendan Fraser in The Whale
I had always heard from other journalists at festivals like Sundance and SXSW that TIFF was the best one. I’m thrilled that I had the chance to attend my first in-person edition after covering remotely last year. I’m certainly exhausted – I saw 37 films at screenings and another six at home. Fortunately, almost all of what I saw was very good, and even better for you readers, the overwhelming majority is also slated for release. Of course, the crazy thing about these festivals is that, no matter how much you see, you’ll still somehow not get what others think was best (Baby Clyde’s top two films are among the six from his 25 that I didn’t see). But there’s plenty to celebrate, and without further ado, here are my ‘jury of one’ awards with release dates, if applicable, in parentheses, and some personal prizes…
The Swimmers
Top Ten Films
- The Whale (Dec 9th, theaters)
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Dec 23rd, Netflix)
- Women Talking (Dec 2nd, theaters)
- The Swimmers (Nov 23rd, Netflix)
- Hunt (Dec, theaters)
- Muru
- The Fabelmans (Nov 11th, theaters)
- Good Night Oppy (Nov 23rd, Prime Video)
- Sanctuary
- All Quiet On The Western Front (Oct 28th, Netflix)
Germany's Oscar entry All Quiet on the Western Front
Best Director: Lee Jung-jae (Hunt)
Best Actor: Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Best Actress: Adelaide Clemens (The Swearing Jar)
Best Supporting Actor: Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)
Best Supporting Actress: Sadie Sink (The Whale)
Best Screenplay: Women Talking
Best Cinematography: Empire of Light
Best Ensemble Cast: Women Talking
South Korea's Oscar entry Decision to Leave
In terms of Oscar prospects, I got to see the German, Austrian, and South Korean submissions for Best International Film – All Quiet on the Western Front, Corsage, and Decision to Leave – plus two of the five finalists from France (One Fine Morning and Saint Omer) and one from Israel that, as of this past weekend, won’t be representing its country after losing the Ophir (Valeria is Getting Married). I was also excited to learn that Muru, one of my top ten, was selected to represent New Zealand a few days ago, though there’s a good deal of English spoken so I fear it will be disqualified. From all those, I think All Quiet is the likeliest to earn a nomination, though Decision to Leave could too.
Cliff Curtis in New Zealand's Oscar entry Muru
From the rest, it’s clear that The Fabelmans will be a major Oscar player, and I sincerely hope that both The Whale and Women Talking are too. Those two films, from directors Darren Aronofsky and Sarah Polley, respectively, feature formidable ensembles and rich scripts, and made me think quite a bit while watching them. Brendan Fraser is a lock for a nomination and a likely winner for the former, but I’m worried about his absolutely fantastic costar Sadie Sink (from Stranger Things) and the cast of Women Talking, which has a few standouts like Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley, though I’m not sure any of them will be able to earn awards attention.
The stellar cast of Women Talking
I’ll note that I also enjoyed Bros and The Menu, each of which demands a specific audience, and I had a much more forgiving – if still not terribly positive – impression of The Son than most. My feelings on The Banshees of Inisherin are similar to how I felt about Martin McDonagh’s last film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and I’m not eager for an awards season lovefest for a film that I found relatively pointless if somewhat entertaining. I’ll close by expressing my enthusiasm for Glass Onion, the Knives Out sequel that shows what all sequels should be, which was a nice, affirming surprise.
Get ready to experience the delight that is Glass Onion
What are you most excited to see from the TIFF lineup when it gets released?