After the disappointment of not being able to attend the Toronto International Film Festival last year, I am thrilled that I was able to go back this year!
Since I’ve solo traveled to Toronto several times since first going to TIFF in 2024, it was much less daunting to navigate it on my own this time around. It was a real struggle to get tickets both during the presale and general onsale, but I did manage to snag a couple. And then I stalked the resale sites like it was a new part time job. But I was successful in getting more tickets as face value!
Leaving work early on Friday means that after battling traffic, I stilll managed to get downtown and checked in all before my screening of Below. Which, I learned in my seat at the theater was in fact a miniseries that we were getting treated to two episodes of. I’ll admit that I thought it was a movie. I just saw Josh Hartnett and speed read the premise, which to me sounded like it could easily be covered in a film. Wrong. I believe it will end up being eight episodes in total when it releases on Netflix in October. It’s about a small Newfoundland town that dips more into the supernatural than I was expecting! The first two episodes definitely has me wanting to find out what all will happen! The show’s creator/writer/director was there to talk about it and it was really cool! Great start to the festival.
What made my festival experience even better was how close I was staying to it! Walking distance people! That made my long Saturday at the fest less daunting. As I was thinking about the day ahead, I realized I had basically back to back films if I wanted to get to the venues 30 minutes early as recommended. I started off the day with Being Heumann, directed by Sian Heder (CODA), which chronicled the story of Judy Heumann, the “mother of the disabilities movement” and her actions in the 70s, which finally got section 504 signed to start making changes to help get access for disabled Americans. It was a really moving film, and honestly just really eye-opening for how long it took for things to finally start getting done for disabled people. Heck, I know of sidewalks in my town that have only just been made accessible in the past couple of years. Crazy. It was also nice to hear the process of Sian and Judy working together before her death a couple of years ago.
Next I got to see Closing Night, which was the premiere screening – a real treat! Cody Fern was there to introduce the film, then him and his female starrs did a Q&A after the film. Before going into the theater, I was standing really freaking close to Sarah Paulson as she was getting her red carpet shots. And Naomi Watts was just down the way from her! Paulson plays a middle-aged actress just diagnosed with early onset alzheimer’s disease, with a pretty grim prognosis. Making things more complicated is the fraught relationship she has with her older sister and mother. There are some long-buried secrets that really upend all of their lives at this critical juncture. There are healing moments, along with really heartbreaking ones, but this movie was spectacular! And Dianne Wiest is such a sweetheart. I was seriously impressed with Fern’s first feature – he’s not just a pretty face!
I then hoofed it over to Scotiabank Theatre to see the encore screening of Girl Group, directed by Rebel Wilson. It’s meant to shine a light on female power, though if you weren’t really looking for that message, I wouldn’t say it was too obviously stated. Wilson stars as Tazzy, a former girl group member, a la Spice Girls, who decides she’s better off on her own. Life choices means she doesn’t see the same level of success, and a drinking and driving incident lands her in a community service gig where she reluctantly mentors a group of girls who have their own dreams of making it big one day. She shapes them into mini versions of her younger self, which was more about pleasing men than actually being themselves, and I just felt like that lesson came rather late in the story. But all in all, there were plenty of laughs and some honestly fun songs. I’d watch it again! And Rebel was there along with a ton of other people involved with the film for a Q&A at the end. I had to duck out a little early, but it was fun to see how excited she was to talk about the film.
The night ended with a screening of Smudge the Blades which focused on a rough indigenous hockey team who get kicked out of their city league. With no coach, the local zamboni driver steps up to the plate, mainly to try and impress one of the players’ moms. But the teens and their coach have a lot to learn from each other. This film sheds a light on the racism that indigenous hockey players face, as well as their more common unstable home lives. The movie does end on the lighter side, though you know there are more heavy moments awaiting these characters in the future. An audience member asked if a series could come from this show, and we got a “never say never” answer, so who knows! Literally so many people from this film was in attendance, including co-stars Ed Helms and Jana Schmieding, who were previous co-stars on the hilarious Rutherford Falls! It was especially nice to see writer, director, and start Cody Lightening there, as he explained his mother had just passed the week before. He was super emotional, and I just wished I could have hugged the guy! But he should be proud – really enjoyed it.
With all of the movies I saw on Saturday, I was nervous I wasn’t going to have any time to walk around the festival grounds or stake out any red carpets, but I managed to squeeze stuff in! I made it to the shop to snag a t-shirt, and I walked through the food vendors and special booths set up along King and University streets. I also scored a got spot to see Andrew Scott arrive for his In Conversation discussion, so that was surreal! After my final screening, I also caught a few glimpses of Cole Sprouse on the red carpet – eek!
Sunday saw me score a last minute ticket to the second screening of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother while I was eating breakfast. People don’t have to wait too long for this one to hit theaters, but it was still a special thing to see ahead of mass audiences. We also got to see it in 35mm, which did add some real character to the story. It follows muslim hitman in Houston who’s just lost his wife. In trying to get out of his time consuming work to care for his three children, his boss has other plans. John Cho has an amazingly ridiculous, though sadly pretty realistic role, but this was a really fun and emotional ride. I loved getting to hear the process of coming up with and making this film by the writer/director Bassam Tariq – he’s a very well-spoken and intelligent human being!
My finaly film of the festival had me nervous I was going to be in tears for two hours, but thankfully Onwards and Sideways had lots and lots of humor laced throughout. Two strangers meet on the same day they are both diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and then their lives continue to intertwine. Told from the perspective of the “good years” they have left, it was really interesting to see how the disease manifests differently in the two of them, as well as the side effects from the medications a procedures available to them. The script being written by a man who has been suffering from the disease since 2011 is certainly good source material, but it was truly a good story. This one had me closest to acually shedding a tear, but I managed.
All in all, it was a terrific festival! There were plenty of things I wish I could have seen, but short of spending the whole two weeks there, I think I spent my short time pretty well. I do hope I get to go back!
