As the fest wraps up, here are some films you should see – or avoid. And check nowtoronto.com/tiff2019 on Sunday (September 15) for the announcement of the Grolsch People’s Choice Award winners, which get free screenings later that day.
SOLID BETS
37 Seconds
Japanese director Hikaru’s Berlinale Audience Award winner is an insightful and moving look at a young disabled artist’s coming of age. See review.
Sep 14, 6 pm, TIFF 3
Atlantics
Mati Diop’s Senegal-set Cannes-winning feature debut about separated lovers offers a gentle and empathetic view of the migrant crisis. See review.
Sep 14, 1 pm, TIFF 2
Harriet
Cynthia Erivo’s performance as abolitionist Harriet Tubman lingers long after the film is over and will leave many feeling empowered. See review.
Sep 14, 2:45 pm, Scotiabank 1
Martin Eden
Pietro Marcello’s Platform Prize winner is a visually striking exploration of the social and political circumstances that lead people to support to self-defeating political ideologies. See review.
Sep 14, 9:15 am, TIFF 4 Sep 15, 12:15 pm, TIFF 2
A Personal History Of David Copperfield
Political satirist Armando Iannucci embraces a fanciful aesthetic with this imaginative, diverse, ebullient adaptation of Charles Dickens’s novel. See review.
Sep 14, 12:45 pm, Scotiabank 14
Murmur
Canadian director Heather Young’s quietly devastating film about a troubled woman working at an East Coast animal shelter won critics group FIPRESCI’s Discovery program prize. See review.
Sep 15, 3:30 pm, Scotiabank 8
Sound Of Metal
Riz Ahmed gets the showcase he deserves in this powerhouse character study about a noise-metal drummer trying to cope with a devastating hearing loss. See review.
Sep 14, 9 pm, TIFF 1
Uncut Gems
The Safdie Brothers follow up Good Time with another out-of-control and wickedly funny thriller – this one starring Adam Sandler as a shady jeweller. See review.
Sep 14, 1 pm, Ryerson Sep 15, 6 pm, Ryerson
WILD CARDS
First Love
Prolific cult filmmaker Takashi Miike returns to Midnight Madness with – what else? – a yakuza romance.
Sep 13, 11:59 pm, Ryerson Sep 14, 7 pm, Scotiabank 2 Sep 15, 10 pm, Scotiabank 2
Crazy World
The closing Midnight Madness slot is a plum one, and this year it goes to Ugandan genre auteur IGG Nabwana’s Wakaliwood actioner about child kidnappers.
Sep 14, 11:59 pm, Ryerson Sep 15, 12:30 pm, TIFF 3
How To Build A Girl
Critics group FIPRESCI awarded Coky Giedroyc’s adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s novel this year’s Special Presentations program prize.
There’s Something In The Water
Ellen Page co-directed this doc about Indigenous and African Nova Scotian women contending with environmental racism.
Sep 14, 4:15 pm, Winter Garden Sep 15
DIDN’T LOVE IT
Bad Education
Hugh Jackman has nowhere to take his role as corrupt Long Island school superintendent in Cory Finley’s follow-up to his Sundance hit Thoroughbreds. See review.
Sep 13, 7 pm, Scotiabank 1 Sep 14, 1 pm, Winter Garden
Ford V Ferrari
James Mangold’s racetrack version of The Right Stuff is standard studio entertainment, but it never gets out of third gear. See review.
Sep 13, 9:30 pm, Princess of Wales Sep 14, 4:30 pm, Ryerson
Joker
Despite a typically great Joaquin Phoenix performance, this super-serious origin story about Batman’s most famous adversary is utterly hollow. See review.
Sep 13, 9:45 pm, Scotiabank 12
Check out more TIFF coverage and reviews here.
@nowtoronto
