Toronto film festival 2023
From Poor Things to American Fiction: where does this year’s Oscar race stand?
With the major fall film festivals out of the way, this year’s unusual strike-affected awards season is starting to shape up
Benjamin Lee
20, Sep, 2023 @4:07 PM
Literary satire American Fiction takes Toronto film festival’s top award
Cord Jefferson’s story of a novelist (Jeffrey Wright) grappling with the publishing industry’s expectations of black writers is now practically guaranteed serious Oscar consideration
Andrew Pulver
18, Sep, 2023 @11:19 AM
Toronto film festival 2023 roundup – solidarity, swearing, swimming and one standout film
While a clutch of directorial debuts by actors mostly misfired, a return to form for Alexander Payne and award-worthy performances by Jamie Foxx and Jodie Comer offered plenty to get excited about
Wendy Ide
16, Sep, 2023 @7:00 AM
The Royal Hotel review – feminist thriller starts strong but can’t stay the course
Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick are both impressive in an uneasy Australia-set film toying with genre expectations but tension dissipates in the finale
Benjamin Lee
15, Sep, 2023 @8:01 PM
Nyad review – swim biopic lifted by Annette Bening and Jodie Foster
Two stellar performances add weight to Netflix’s uneven retelling of the story of Diana Nyad, who attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida at the age of 64
Benjamin Lee in Toronto
14, Sep, 2023 @8:34 PM
Fingernails review – Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed’s chemistry can’t save paper-thin love story
Christos Nikou’s English-language debut aims to be a sadistically comical treatment of relationship insecurity, but ends up saying little
Charles Bramesco
14, Sep, 2023 @4:44 PM
The End We Start From review – Jodie Comer compels in solid survival drama
A magnificent lead performance elevates a simple, yet mostly effective, adaptation of Megan Hunter’s apocalyptic novel
Benjamin Lee in Toronto
13, Sep, 2023 @7:17 PM
Wildcat review – Ethan Hawke directs daughter in mediocre literary biopic
Maya Hawke makes for an unconvincing Flannery O’Connor in an obvious, misfiring drama that takes big creative swings but mostly misses
Charles Bramesco in Toronto
13, Sep, 2023 @12:36 PM
Rustin review – Colman Domingo shines in by-the-numbers civil rights biopic
Story of Bayard Rustin, an often unsung Black queer man who fought alongside Martin Luther King, is adapted into a rousing, if creaky, drama
Benjamin Lee in Toronto
12, Sep, 2023 @7:32 PM
Pain Hustlers review – Emily Blunt rises above clunky pharma drama
A knockout central performance isn’t enough to save Netflix’s misfiring tale of seedy sales reps kicking off the opioid epidemic
Benjamin Lee in Toronto
12, Sep, 2023 @4:01 AM
Paul Simon says he is ‘beginning to’ accept his hearing loss
Having a disability ‘changes how you interact with life’, singer-songwriter says, months after revealing he has almost completely lost hearing in his left ear
Sian Cain
12, Sep, 2023 @2:32 AM
The Critic review – a devious Ian McKellen anchors uneven thriller
A delicious performance as a catty gay theatre critic in 1930s London almost saves this Patrick Marber-scripted drama
Benjamin Lee in Toronto
12, Sep, 2023 @1:19 AM
1 / 4 pages