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Toronto International Film Festival · 2023

Toronto International Film Festival 2023

Industry Selects

Programme

12 films · 2 reviews

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Amelia's Children

An adoptees search for his biological family turns to horror when he discovers he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.

(Country: Portugal; Year: 2023; Director: Gabriel Abrantes; Writer: Gabriel Abrantes; Stars: Alba Baptista, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Carloto Cotta)

Bonus Track

A 16-year-old believes he is a future star musician, even when no-one else in his small town does. The arrival of the son of a famous musical duo, who helps him rehearse for a talent show, leads both boys to learn from each other and grow closer.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Julia Jackman; Writer: Mike Gilbert, Josh O'Connor; Stars: Jack Davenport, Josh O'Connor, Alison Sudol, Ellie Kendrick, Josh Cowdery, Ray Panthaki)

Borderline

A bodyguard protects a pop superstar and her athlete boyfriend from a determined stalker in 1990s Los Angeles.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jimmy Warden; Writer: Jimmy Warden; Stars: Samara Weaving, Eric Dane, Ray Nicholson, Jimmie Fails, Alba Baptista)

The Boy In The Woods

The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Rebecca Snow; Writer: Maxwell Smart, Rebecca Snow; Stars: Richard Armitage, Christopher Heyerdahl, Jett Klyne, Ari Millen, Berkley Silverman, Masa Lizdek)

Dance First

Review preview for Dance First

While offering some notion of Beckett’s feelings towards key people in his life, his works feel very underrepresented.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Biopic of author and playwright Samuel Beckett.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: James Marsh; Writer: Neil Forsyth; Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Fionn O'Shea, Sandrine Bonnaire, Léonie Lojkine, Aidan Gillen, Bronagh Gallagher, Maxine Peake, Barry O'Connor, Lisa Dwyer Hogg, Caroline Boulton, Rebecka Johnston, Gráinne Good, Caleb Johnston-Miller, Andrew Hefler, Patrik Piró,)

Full review See: Gabriel Byrne, James Marsh, Neil Forsyth and Fion O'Shea on bringing Beckett to the screen

The Home

A man comes to believe that the residents and caretakers in the retirement home where he recently started working are concealing sinister secrets.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: James DeMonaco; Writer: James DeMonaco, Adan Cantor; Stars: Pete Davidson, Marilee Talkington, Jimmy Gary Jr., Matthew Miniero)

Inheritance

A young woman suddenly finds herself at the centre of an international conspiracy after discovering that her father was a spy.

(Country: US, UK, Egypt, India; Year: 2023; Director: Neil Burger)

My Mother's Men (Les Hommes De Ma Mère)

A young woman is shocked to learn that her eccentric mother wanted her ashes to be scattered among her five ex-husbands.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Anik Jean; Writer: Maryse Latendresse; Stars: Léane Labrèche-Dor, Marc Messier, Benoît Gouin, Patrick Huard, Colm Feore, Anne-Marie Cadieux)

Orah

A Nigerian immigrant taxi driver in Toronto, agrees to launder dirty money for her boss in exchange for bringing her son over from Nigeria. When the plan goes horribly wrong, she takes matters into her own hands to settle the score.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Lonzo Nzekwe; Writer: Lonzo Nzekwe; Stars: Oyin Oladejo, Lucky Ejim, Morgan Bedard, Agape Mngomezulu)

Queen Of Bones

A folktale about twin siblings who suspect their father is hiding secrets to their deceased mother's connection with the supernatural.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Robert Budreau; Writer: Michael Burgner; Stars: Jacob Tremblay, Martin Freeman, Julia Butters, Christopher Heyerdahl, Taylor Schilling)

Umbrella Men II: Escape From Robben Island (The Umbrella Men: Escape from Robben Island, The Umbrella Men 2)

Review preview for Umbrella Men II: Escape From Robben Island

The film delivers well on action, and Barker knows how to shoot fights which are both fun to watch and capable of advancing our understanding of the characters.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
When it emerges that they were double crossed during the heist in the previous film, two of the Umbrella Men are arrested, and it is up to the women to bust them out of the supposedly escape-proof prison.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2023; Director: John Barker; Writer: John Barker, Philip Roberts; Stars: Shamilla Miller, Bronté Snell, Jacques Da Silva, Keenan Arrison, Kagiso Lediga, June van Merch, Joey Rasdien, Sivuyile Ngesi, Rob van Vuuren)

Full review See: Interview with John Barker, Bronté Snell and Shamilla Miller about The Umbrella Men: Escape From Robben Island, part two , Interview with John Barker, Bronté Snell and Shamilla Miller about The Umbrella Men: Escape From Robben Island

Vera And The Pleasure Of Others (Vera Y El Placer De Los Otros)

In between school and volleyball classes, a teenager rents out an empty flat to classmates looking for a place to have sex. A way to make money develops into her discovery of her own sexual desires.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2023; Director: Federico Actis, Romina Tamburello; Stars: Inés Estévez, Luciana Grasso)