Skip to main content

Toronto International Film Festival · 2024

Toronto International Film Festival 2024

Gala Presentations

Programme

22 films · 10 reviews

Jump to a film

Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe

A documentary about the celebrated Italian tenor, going beyond the stage to explore his upbringing and influences.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Cosima Spender)

Better Man

Review preview for Better Man

Film's ability to change scale and scope turns Better Man from a jukebox musical into something at once more and less personal.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
A documentary portrait of pop music superstar Robbie Williams.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2024; Director: Michael Gracey; Writer: Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole, Michael Gracey, based on the life story by Robbie Williams; Stars: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Frazer Hadfield, Tom Budge, Anthony Hayes)

Full review

The Deb

A musical about a once-popular young woman whose ill-advised adventures lead to her getting cancelled by her peers, but who joins forces with her very different cousin to make a splash at their small town's debutante ball.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2024; Director: Rebel Wilson; Stars: Rebel Wilson, Shane Jacobson, Tara Morice, Natalie Abbott, Charlotte MacInnes, Julian McMahon, Hal Cumpston, Stevie Jean, Costa d'Angelo, Steph Tisdell, Scarlett Crabtree, Susan Prior)

Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight

The collapse of colonialism in Rhodesia (soon to be Zimbabwe) as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2024; Director: Embeth Davidtz; Writer: Embeth Davidtz; Stars: Lexi Venter, Embeth Davidtz, Zikhona Bali, Fumani Shilubana, Rob Van Vuuren, Anina Reed)

Eden

A European couple seek a new life on a previously uninhabited island in the Galápagos, but struggle to cope with their neighbours.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Ron Howard; Writer: Noah Pink; Stars: Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Jude Law, Daniel Bruehl)

Elton John: Never Too Late

An intimate documentary about the popular musician.

(Year: 2024; Director: RJ Cutler, David Furnish; Stars: Elton John)

The Friend

Review preview for The Friend

A very New York film.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
When an author dies, his best friend is left to deal with his literary legacy, his three former wives and a dog who isn't supposed to be allowed in her Manhattan apartment.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: David Siegel, Scott McGehee; Writer: Scott McGehee, David Siegel; Stars: Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni, Ann Dowd, Felix Solis, Owen Teague, Bing)

Full review See: Scott McGehee and David Siegel on The Friend, Bing, Naomi Watts and Sigrid Nunez , Sigrid Nunez on the adaptation of her novel The Friend, Bing, and fairy tales

Harbin

During the struggle for Korean independence, a spy is sent on a dangerous mission to assassinate Itō Hirobumi, the country's first Japanese Resident-General.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2024; Director: Woo Min-ho; Writer: Kim Kyoung-chan, Woo Min-ho; Stars: Hyun Bin, Park Jeong-min, Jeon Yeo-been, Jo Woo-jin, Lee Dong-wook)

Meet The Barbarians (Les Barbares)

A small town in France preparing to welcome a Ukrainian refugee family is surprised when a Syrian family shows up instead.

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: Julie Delpy; Writer: Julie Delpy; Stars: Julie Delpy, Sandrine Kiberlain, Laurent Lafitte, Ziad Bakri, Jean-Charles Clichet, India Hair)

Megalopolis

Review preview for Megalopolis

It is described simply as “A Fable”, but there is nothing simple about this over-ambitious allegorical sprawl.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
Power play and corruption unfold in a futuristic city.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Francis Ford Coppola; Writer: Francis Ford Coppola; Stars: Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Adam Driver, Kathryn Hunter, Laurence Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman, James Remar, Jason Schwartzman, Forest Whitaker, Jon Voight, Chloe Fineman, D.B. Sweeney, Talia Shire)

Full review See: Francis Ford Coppola on Megalopolis

Nutcrackers

After his sister and her husband have a terrible accident, a real estate developer finds himself responsible for their house, farm, and four boys whom he has no idea how to raise. Then he learns that they love ballet.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: David Gordon Green; Writer: Leland Douglas; Stars: Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker, Toby Huss, Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson, Atlas Janson, Arlo Janson)

Oh Canada

Review preview for Oh Canada

Simply put, the viewer is constantly tempted to attribute the character’s old man’s ramblings both to the author of the source novel and to the filmmaker adapting it.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 2.5 out of 5
A documentary filmmaker, who is terminally ill, reflects on his life.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Paul Schrader; Writer: Paul Schrader; Stars: Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman, Richard Gere, Michael Imperioli, Kristine Froseth, Penelope Mitchell, Victoria Hill, Aaron Roman Weiner, Cornelia Guest, Dylan Flashner, Gregory Connors, Ryan Woodle, John Way, Jean Brassard, Gary Hilborn)

Full review

The Penguin Lessons

Review preview for The Penguin Lessons

Coogan is well cast in this tricky role, moving easily from humour to heartbreak..

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An Englishman in Uruguay adopts a penguin, smuggles it back to his home in Argentina, and gradually wakes up to the political violence going on around him.

(Country: Spain, UK; Year: 2024; Director: Peter Cattaneo; Writer: Jeff Pope; Stars: Steve Coogan, Jonathan Pryce, Alfonsina Carrocio, Vivian El Jaber, Björn Gustafsson, Alfonsina Carrocio, David Herrero, Baba, Richard, Micaela Breque)

Full review See: Interview with Peter Catteneo about The Penguin Lessons

The Return

Review preview for The Return

Fiennes is lean in look and in performance, bringing an intensity that proves compelling.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Odysseus washes up on the shores of Ithaca after returning from the Trojan war.

(Country: Italy, UK; Year: 2024; Director: Uberto Pasolini; Writer: John Collee, Edward Bond, Uberto Pasolini; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes, Charlie Plummer, Marwan Kenzari, Claudio Santamaria, Ángela Molina)

Full review

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band

A documentary about the musicians.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Thom Zimny; Stars: Bruce Springsteen)

The Shrouds

A widower invents a gadget that lets the bereaved connect with their loved ones inside a burial shroud... as they decompose.

(Country: France, Canada; Year: 2024; Director: David Cronenberg; Writer: David Cronenberg; Stars: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, Al Sapienza, Elizabeth Saunders, Jennifer Dale, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Jeff Yung, Matt Willis, Eric Weinthal, Steve Switzman, Paddington)

Superboys Of Malegaon

The true story of Nasir Shaikh, who turned his community into a film industry.

(Country: India; Year: 2024; Director: Reema Kagti; Writer: Varun Grover; Stars: Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, Shashank Arora)

Takin' Care Of Business

The story of Canadian rock musician Randy Bachman and his work with The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Tyler Measom; Stars: Randy Bachman, Tal Bachman, KoKo Bachman, Lorelei Bachman, Bannatyne Bachman Matson, Takeshi Kaneda, William Long)

Unstoppable

Review preview for Unstoppable

The excellent supporting cast – with Lopez impressive as ever – elevate the material,

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A disabled college wrestler dreams of going professional.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: William Goldenberg; Writer: Eric Champnella, Alex Harris, John Hindman, based on the book by Anthony Robles and Austin Murphy; Stars: Jharrel Jerome, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Anthony Robles, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Lopez)

Full review

The Wild Robot

Review preview for The Wild Robot

The film mines a lot of clichés but manages to do something a little different with them, blending traditional elements of children’s fiction with a distinctly 21st Century sensibility.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A robot designed to assist humans finds herself stranded on an island populated only by animals.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Chris Sanders; Writer: Chris Sanders; Stars: Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pasca, Catherine O'Hara, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill)

Full review

William Tell

Review preview for William Tell

An ostensibly rousing speech is aiming for Braveheart but has all the grip one would expect from an address to an adhesive sales conference.

Andrew Robertson · 2.5 out of 5
William Tell has returned home weary after fighting with the Knights Templar in the Holy Land. Now he is called upon to help a farmer who is seeking revenge against the villains of the Hapsburg court.

(Country: Italy, UK; Year: 2024; Director: Nick Hamm; Writer: Nick Hamm; Stars: Claes Bang, Connor Swindells, Golshifteh Farahani, Jonah Hauer-King, Ellie Bamber, Rafe Spall, Emily Beecham, Jonathan Pryce, Sir Ben Kingsley)

Full review

Will & Harper (Will And Harper)

Review preview for Will & Harper

Greenbaum pinpoints the tension between the hate eating away at parts of US society and the tremendous potential that the country still has.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
When Will Ferrell finds out his close friend of 30 years is coming out as a trans woman, the two decide to embark on a cross-country road trip to process this new stage of their relationship in an intimate portrait of friendship, transition, and America.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Josh Greenbaum; Stars: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele)

Full review