TIFF: Viggo Mortensen’s ‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Courtesy of TIFF

Western films tend to deal with violence in some capacity, presenting a world either defined by lawlessness or exploring what it means to set up a system of law and order to ensure that it isn't. When everyone has a gun and collecting bounties is a popular pastime, it can be difficult to instill a sense of moral consequences in a society that may not be interested in it. The Dead Don’t Hurt weaves a love story into a portrait of a town on the edge of becoming modern. A bleak view of humanity emerges... 

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TIFF '23: Jodie Comer astounds in "The End We Start From"

by Matt St Clair

The first glance of the title The End We Start From, immediately brough the past few years to mind. Once the COVID pandemic turned the world upside down, we all lived in physical and mental isolation, fearing what the coming days would bring. While the virus hasn’t disappeared, we have found ways to move forward and start anew during uncertain times. This film's nameless protagonist (a sublime Jodie Comer) experiences a cataclysmic crisis and does the same thing.

Just as the heroine has given birth to a newborn, a catastrophic flood strikes England...

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TIFF '23: Bening swims for gold in "Nyad"

by Cláudio Alves 

Amid arthouse offerings and experimental fare, daring feats of international cinema and midnight madness, the traditional Oscar movie can have a hard time standing out. Still, coexistence is possible, and there's always that beautiful occurrence, once every blue moon, when a festival's boldest piece is its most likely to succeed with awards. I wish I could say Nyad was that movie, but Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's narrative feature debut falls short of such lofty expectations. Yet, don't let this curmudgeon film critic's dissatisfaction dissuade you from predicting it in several categories. Sink or swim, Nyad is going for gold…

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TIFF: Julian Dennison in ‘Uproar’

By Abe Friedtanzer

Courtesy of TIFF

By Abe Friedtanzer

The intersection of inherently comedic characters and unexpectedly dramatic situations can be a difficult thing to get right, but when it is, it’s quite satisfying. Uproar introduces a misfit protagonist who uses humor as a defense mechanism to mask his own discomfort with and uncertainty about his identity, and it warmly and effectively traces his journey towards self-discovery and an untapped passion for activism... 

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TIFF '23: "A Ravaging Wind" delivers an acting masterclass

by Cláudio Alves

Sergi Lopez and Alfredo Castro work miracles in "A Ravaging Wind"

I swore to myself that, if ever I got to attend TIFF, I wouldn't capitulate to the tyranny of awards buzz. Smaller pictures and international sensations deserve as much attention as those movies bound for Academy consideration. Now that I'm here, that intention remains true, though new frustrations compound with old ones, especially concerning actors. In such a wide array of world cinema offerings, it's dispiriting that the only thespians that can headline articles and cause social media stirs are either Hollywood institutions or Sandra Hüller.

That's not a dig at those lucky few, merely an appreciation that there's greatness beyond the mainstream spotlight. In other words, everyone at TIFF should be talking about what Chilean star Alfredo Castro and Catalan star Sergi López  achieve in A Ravaging Wind… 

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