Round two! Herein lies a review of the best film I saw at the festival. But what was it? You’ll have to read to find out…
The End, dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer’s fiction debut is nearly an impossible object to comprehend, and certainly not something that can be judged smack in the middle of a film festival. The basic description alone – Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon lead a 2.5-hour-long post-apocalyptic musical – is enough to drive the average viewer mad. But the longer I sit with it, the more I appreciate what it’s trying to do. When the world ends, the ultra-rich may survive in their lavishly decorated bunkers, but what does that look like? What’s the point? There were so many production logos at the start they filled the IMAX screen, and it all shows in the incredible set design. It feels like a film that could only have been made by the person behind a documentary as compelling as The Act of Killing. Less of a pivot than it may seem! Still not sure if this is a disaster or a masterpiece, but I will certainly be telling people to watch it.
The Last Showgirl, dir. Gia Coppola
While this is obviously not a good film – what is this script? – it does feel really nice to watch Pamela Anderson, a woman who has been treated as a total joke by society for like three decades, give a real, quiet, heartbreaking performance as a woman out of time. The camera is all over the place, but when it focuses on Anderson’s face, the film shines. The audience went crazy for it, especially Jamie Lee Curtis as the wacky best friend, so maybe I’m just being a stinker here. I just don’t believe Gia Coppola can actually make a good movie – but that doesn’t seem to be an issue. Sidenote: saw Coppolas everywhere at this festival. They come out of nowhere!
Hard Truths, dir. Mike Leigh
There is so much to be said about Mike Leigh’s latest triumph, the best film of TIFF 2024. The turn from uproarious comedy to heartbreaking drama is unbelievable. Marianne Jean-Baptiste will be nominated for her acidic, anti-Happy-Go-Lucky performance a dozen times over or something has gone horribly wrong with the film community. While Jean-Baptiste will get the lion’s share of praise, rightfully so, we would be remiss to overlook David Webber and Michele Austin as the overworked husband and no-nonsense sister. Webber’s physical performance is out of this world. It’s hard not to feel overwhelmingly grateful for another film from one of the finest filmmakers alive.
The Room Next Door, dir. Pedro Almodóvar
Almodóvar’s English language debut is about as uncanny as I expected – script almost feels like it was run through Google Translate at times – but Tilda and Julianne are obviously a fantastic pairing. I’m a little cooler on it than Isabelle Huppert, whose Venice jury awarded this the Golden Lion a day after I saw the film, but it’s still an Almodóvar. Moore especially has locked into the melodrama, with line readings that took me by surprise in the best way. The relationship between these women is as intense and tender as you’d expect, though Swinton’s character holds back in tantalizing manners. Great sweaters!!
Bird, dir. Andrea Arnold
As a noted Andrea Arnold skeptic, I take only a little pleasure saying her latest film is clunky, strange, and inappropriately violent at the wrong times. Mostly a magical realist tale about an understandably angry girl named Bailey growing up in a run down tenement building with her weird dad Bug (Barry Keoghan) and various other rapscallions, Bird looks and sounds great but is, for lack of a better word, stupid. The titular character is played by Franz Rogowski oscillating between cold fury and head trauma, like The Iron Giant. An unlikely partnership forms between girl and concussed man, and the animals around them seem to respond to their commands. I’m just not in the mood for dark British whimsy, especially when the climax features a brutal attack on a woman which feels so out of sync with the preceding events.
Nightbitch, dir. Marielle Heller
While Amy Adams gives a go-for-broke performance, Nightbitch cannot live up to my expectations as one of my most anticipated films of the year. It’s a fine mid-level exploration of motherhood, but cannot decide if it wants to go full body horror or relationship drama, and thus kind of gives up. Unfortunately, my beloved Scoot McNairy is part of the problem here. The attempts to make Father a real person fall flat, as does much of the back half. Mother only really turns into Nightbitch a couple times (played by a GORGEOUS dog though), and the narrative from the novel is mostly tossed aside. Marielle Heller’s great strength comes from her direction of actors, and while that has not changed, it’s possible she got lost in the weeds directing her own script. However, I am encouraged by the choices Adams makes, fearless and ready to get down and dirty for art. This we should be encouraging.
The Order, dir. Justin Kurzel
Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult do career-best work as two nasty guys on opposite sides of a white supremacist conflict in 1980s Idaho. Law plays the grizzled, rash detective while Hoult is the hardcore Nazi robbing banks and bewitching men into his thrall. Tye Sheridan gets good moments as a nice young police officer drawn into the war by his own sense of justice, unprepared for the harsh reality of the violence. Gritty, well shot, and propulsive, Kurzel’s latest proves that he has a handle on brutality that few other directors can claim. Will definitely be seeing this again when it comes out in December. Shout out to Marc Maron’s cameo as Alan Berg, the basis for Eric Bogosian in Talk Radio! Also, go watch Talk Radio!
Watch this space for Kyle’s continuing coverage of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival!
