Toronto International Film Festival — A–Z of films

For the most part...the rooms speak for themselves.

Physical and metaphorical layers pile on top of one another.

With a past working for a management company used by YouTube stars, Bongard knows his subject matter well.

There is talk of “hungry ghosts” and shadows but little of substance to show as the gambling cliches stack up like bad debts and the plot twists are signposted as brightly as the casinos.

Rosi expertly paints a picture of a community with all its widely varied facets.

The sheer warm-heartedness of this film means that it is always a delight to watch.

As Blue Moon progresses it becomes clear that the one thing Hart really wants is to be wanted.

When you get old, hope you find someone who looks at you the way Mascaro looks at Tereza and Roberta.

Improvised by an exceptional cast of intelligent actors.

The lads’ delight at their early success is engaging, and both stars acquit themselves well.

This isn’t a fuzzy celebration of making do with what you have as you get older but of embracing the passions that endure.

The performance [Sweeney] gives here, slipping easily into Christy’s skin, is going to knock some people for six.

Animator Momoko Seto primarily deserves praise for imbuing each seed with a distinctive personality so that although the film is without dialogue we always know which of our adventurers we’re observing.

The expressionist feeling of early 20th century cinema is further enhanced by the specific colour scheme, resembling a very early version of Technicolor, while the sound recalls that of the early sound films.

The blurry, hazy images recorded entirely on a discontinued Sony Ericsson cellphone – frequently in long takes – make it a hardly digestible slow cinema challenge, yet rewarding as an aesthetic experience.

Aleñar Iglesias... presents the ordinary world as loaded with meaning.

There is a magnetism to it all.

Playful biopic that rips up chronology and frequently tears down the fourth wall so that we’re never sure if we’re going to be the ones looking into the fishbowl of his life or the ones being inspected.

Arsalan really does have something special.

Donner's era-defining adventure is at once lighthearted, serious, scary and lots of fun.

DaCosta has managed to create something which feels acutely contemporary and fresh.

You’re unlikely to see anything quite like it any time soon.

One of the many reasons why High Fidelity is essential viewing is how well-observed it is when dealing with love and relationships.

There’s a genuine unpredictability to Honey Bunch, both structurally and thematically.

Rose Byrne anchors the whole damn thing with a performance that gives the sense of wobbling for eternity on a tightrope without ever quite falling off.

The takes are usually long and static, but every cut and move is justified for the purpose of dramaturgy.

Jaws is a well-made, nuanced, gamble of a film that paid off handsomely and assured Spielberg's future.

It holds nothing back – it’s funny, violent, suspenseful and tense while still discussing our current cultural moment, both locally and globally, and being very incisive and dangerous about it.

The performances are thrilling, emotionally direct and physically exacting, but they function as narrative instruments too.

Her honesty cuts through you like an Arctic storm

The title stops being metaphor and becomes a wound you can watch forming in real time.

Amélie doesn’t just narrate but completely dominates this film as a personality.

Maddie’s Secret is indeed a three-course meal, but it’s being served all at once on one plate

Sinai portrays the situations one might find quite common and “close to home” with precision and emotional clarity.

One of the most impressive films of the year to date.

Rivers' dreamlike approach has the quality of memory in places, full of figments and fragments, although that inevitably means some episodes are more engaging than others.

With its genuine Versailles locations and sumptuous costuming, Marie Antoinette is a feast for the eyes.

Stars Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll and Kayla Lorette give the film a lived-in feeling and a lot of heart.

It is all very gently done.

As is true of many a tale, not all motivations are on the table right away, and finding rescue and respite with strangers can only last a mere while.

The underlying formula is a simple one but the chaos around it is managed magnificently so that you can never be sure what will happen next.

Guillaume Marbeck as Godard is pitch perfect, trademark dark glasses and tobacco smoke his indispensable props with even the voice uncannily resonant of the man himself.

It relies on often clumsy exposition, a common construction of "only if X" with a cut to "X has happened" leaves one asking "why?".

Obsession is not just a real indicator of talent but an absolute treat.

Offers food for thought in the realm of a slightly ungainly and sprawling all-you-can-eat buffet rather than a satisfying sit-down feast.

It’s the mass of minor incidents along the way which give it power, and it’s Charbonneau’s commitment to presenting them in this way that makes this an important work.

All of this fine work has potential, but too often the deeper ideas in the book are teased only to be abandoned.

Émond’s mastery can be best observed in her perfect comedic timing and the use of sex as a tool both for comedy and emotional impact.

Nayyef and Qasem are marvellous, completely natural and without a hint of self-consciousness.

The film doesn’t answer every common question that people have in this situation, but it does provide some context.

It’s not a showy performance, but it’s a standout.

Jenkin’s style, impressionistic when it comes to places, is particular in regard to objects, the real anchors of our lives.

Marcelo is at home in the fine tradition of flicks where the fact that they are an agent is mainly a secret to them.

What marks Trier out is his ability to take on intellectual ideas like this but make them play out in ways that don’t feel forced or overly constructed.

The film looks amazing, but it sounds even more incredible.

Repetition also works against Safdie, with matches towards the end of the film feeling as though he is labouring the point.

There are no weak links in the top-notch cast.

The lives mirror each other, build on each other, contradict each other, haunt each other.

Ahmed, who has long deserved this kind of opportunity, really shows what he's capable of.

A film that gently tackles adult themes including grief, being an empty nester and memory but in ways that make it accessible to all ages.

Made with consummate care, the film stands out for its exquisite cinematography.

There are no doubt those who would argue this magic-hour drenched vision of America through the 1900s is a bit too chocolate-boxy for their liking but the weight of tradition can exert an impressive pull and does so here.

Chillingly restrained and quietly devastating

Not only ambitious – a term often used to damn films with faint praise – but successfully so.

There is some very good work here, and all of it tempered where it needs to be, to give due prominence to Hind herself.

As a director Adamik is good when it is close up and claustrophobic.

Dano has chosen to use the same flat vocal expression throughout, a technique well suited to satire which might have worked if only the rest of the film had been a bit more lively.

An atmospheric, beguiling piece of work.