TIFF 2024 Preview: Our Short King’s Shortlist
Toronto International Film Festival
September 5-15, 2024
Spoiler Alert: This is my first year covering TIFF, and judging by how impeccably curated and well-structured the festival appears to be, it likely won’t be my last.
This inaugural trek to Toronto is significant for another reason: it marks the completion of my goal—an “IFF” trifecta.
The first leg of this three-festival journey kicked off last spring with the 50th anniversary of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). It was a whirlwind, pushing me to my limits as I juggled viewing and reviewing. I even slept in my van to stay close to the action. You can read all of our SIFFTY coverage here.
Next up: Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), where I’ve already secured accreditation for later this year. My last trip there was fantastic, and I cranked out a ton of content on both the festival and its films.
Now for the final leg: TIFF—the crown jewel of the North American festival circuit. Despite attending multiple festivals and publishing hundreds of reviews, there’s always that nagging doubt about whether you’ll be accepted as press.
Thankfully, both my editor and I got the green light, and we started prepping for the trip. Our early research revealed that most, if not all, TIFF venues are packed into a 20-minute walking radius in the heart of Toronto’s Art District. Seattle and Vancouver, though cosmopolitan, spread their venues out over miles, making public transit knowledge essential for keeping on schedule. But with our lodging smack-dab in this walkable zone, it looks like I’ll be exploring Toronto by foot—and I couldn’t be more excited.
Without the hassle of plotting bus and rail routes, I can focus on hustling to over 20 screenings during my five-day adventure. How is this possible? TIFF offers early-morning press screenings and nightly midnight showings.
Here’s my short list of 20 films—though calling it a “shortlist” is a bit of a stretch. And honestly, at 5’7″, I’m not really a “short king” either, just slightly above the metrics (or so I keep telling myself).
1. Anora (Directed by Sean Baker)
Sadly, I will be arriving too late to catch the North American premiere of Sean Baker’s latest film. I’ll be begging my fellow critic and editor, Matt Ashworth (the tall guy in the photo that highlights my stature), for the scoop. My love for Baker’s work began with 2015’s Tangerine. I had heard about a film shot on three iPhone 5S’s and wanted to see if it was even possible. Not only was it possible, but it became one of my favorite films of the year—a heartfelt LA story that felt so real, some of it probably was.
Baker uses the spirit of Italian Neorealism to showcase genuine stories, often using non-actors and focusing on the poor and working class. After Tangerine, I couldn’t get enough of his work. Luckily, living in Seattle with access to Scarecrow Video, one of the best libraries for physical media, I was able to rent his earlier films: Take Out (2008), Prince of Broadway (2008), and Starlet (2012). Each of these films also nods to Italian Neo-realism, but none captured the energy of films like Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) quite like Tangerine did.
Baker’s subsequent projects, The Florida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021), further cemented his place as one of my favorite living auteurs. The term “auteur” gets thrown around a lot, but Baker truly embodies it—he writes, directs, edits, and produces all his films. The critical success of The Florida Project expanded his audience, and with Anora winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes, even more people will get to experience the heartfelt Neo-realism of one of our greatest living directors.
2. Bring Them Down (Directed by Christopher Andrews)
Feature-length debuts are my favorite films to cover at festivals. They’re the embodiment of a director’s life work on screen, laid bare for critics and audiences to dissect, review, and ultimately help decide whether a follow-up is likely to get funded. Imagine being at Sundance in 1992 and watching the world premiere of a little film called Reservoir Dogs? Or Ratcatcher in 1999? Get Out in 2017? Or Hereditary, just a year later?
Will Christopher Andrews’ Bring Them Down be the next film to launch a career that rivals Tarantino, Ramsay, Peele, or Aster? This question may be answered at the TIFF Lightbox on Sunday, September 8, when it premieres to the world.
Optimum immersion is always the goal, but a small plot descriptor was all I needed to stop reading further: “Chronicling a feud between neighboring families in rural Ireland, Bring Them Down draws us into a world of desolate beauty and desperate men.”
It looks like these “desperate men” will be played by some of my favorite young actors. Christopher Abbott wowed me in my second-favorite film of last year, Sanctuary, and stole the show in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Then there’s Barry Keoghan. The last time I saw him on screen, he was dancing while his flaccid penis freely flopped about. I can’t wait to see another side of him after his bonkers performance in Saltburn.
3. Eden (Directed by Ron Howard)
Ron Howard—yep, the guy who played Richie Cunningham in Happy Days back in the ’70s—is an Academy Award-winning director. Sometimes I forget that. But looking over his extensive oeuvre, I’m reminded of how impressive it is, and I’m excited for his latest since Hillbilly Elegy (2020), which may now carries a bit of a political stain.
Howard seems to have a knack for bringing out the best in the best actors: Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, Frank Langella as Nixon, and even Glenn Close in the aforementioned Hillbilly Elegy. Can Howard wring out a second Oscar nomination for Vanessa Kirby or a third for Jude Law? If the film’s description is accurate, then he probably can: “Eden is a scintillating historical thriller that stars Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby as high-minded Europeans who seek a new life on a previously uninhabited island in the Galápagos, only to discover that hell is other people.”
4. Hold Your Breath (Directed by Karrie Crouse and Will Joines)
Horror films with festival audiences are always a treat, and being a fan of Sarah Paulson, Hold Your Breath seems like a no-brainer. The actor wowed me in Ryan Murphy’s anthology series American Horror Story from 2011 to 2021. It’s interesting that most of her film roles have avoided the horror genre, which makes this 1930s Oklahoma Dust Bowl period piece all the more intriguing.
5. It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This (Directed by Rachel Kempf and Nick Toti)
Found footage films are hit or miss for me—most fall into the miss category—but the few that have wowed me are some of my favorite theater experiences. Every Gen X’er, of course, remembers the hype and payoff of The Blair Witch Project (1999). Then there was Trollhunter (2010), which was bonkers in all the right ways. Creep (2014) further solidified the subgenre’s validity by cranking up the unease. And finally, M. Night Shyamalan gave it a go with The Visit (2015), kicking off the “Shyamalanaissance.”
Optimum immersion is key for a found footage film to resonate with an audience, so I’m only reading the first paragraph of TIFF’s description—and I recommend you do the same.
“Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf live and breathe horror movies. So when the couple begin to observe that the dilapidated duplex they just bought exhibits all the telltale signs of having a haunted history, they can barely believe their luck.”
6. The Assessment (Directed by Fleur Fortuné)
I’m excited for yet another feature film debut—this time, a sci-fi thriller starring two great actors returning to their indie film roots. Elizabeth Olsen’s debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene was incredibly impressive, followed by standout roles in other independent films like Ingrid Goes West (2017) and His Three Daughters, which should be streaming on Netflix soon. Similarly, Alicia Vikander’s portrayal of Ava in Alex Garland’s debut Ex Machina was striking. And in 2021, her turns in David Lowery’s The Green Knight and Justin Chon’s Blue Bayou were equally notable.
Of course, the world knows these actors from blockbuster roles in Avengers and Tomb Raider, but this return to their indie roots in The Assessment has me excited.
7. The Cut (Directed by Sean Ellis)
On paper, films about professional fighters seem like an interesting way to tell a story, but by the third act, they always seem to fizzle out, often turning into testosterone-laden hype. The Fighter (2010) and Warrior (2011) fall into this category—they’re universally loved but feel like they’re missing something.
One thing directors David O. Russell and Gavin O’Connor don’t have that Sean Ellis does, though, is a solid horror film under their belts. Ellis’ The Cursed was one of my favorite horror films of 2021, and if The Cut, his next film, carries over any of that tone, this story about a fighter may land much better for me.
8. The End (Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer)
The Look of Silence (2014) is one of the bleakest and most harrowing documentaries I’ve ever watched—so much so that I refuse to view its companion piece, The Act of Killing (2012), on the same subject. With his first narrative feature film, The End, it seems like genocide is in Joshua Oppenheimer’s rearview mirror, and because of that, I’m willing to give this post-apocalyptic musical starring Michael Shannon and Tilda Swinton a go. But I have a feeling I may once again leave the theater feeling crushed by the weight of Joshua Oppenheimer’s filmmaking.
9. The Last Showgirl (Directed by Gia Coppola)
Though I haven’t seen either, I’ve heard great things about Coppola’s debut film, Palo Alto (2013), and not-so-great things about her follow-up, Mainstream (2020). Either way, I’m in for what looks like a very unique third film from this young director with a famous name. Starring Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dave Bautista, The Last Showgirl could easily become a festival favorite. If Anderson can convey her love for eroticism and disdain for pornography as an actor, just as she did as a writer in 2016 (WSJ), this film might just be the talk of the festival.
10. The Life of Chuck (Directed by Mike Flanagan)
The horror auteur is at it again, but this time it isn’t really horror. Or is it? Flanagan has written, directed, and edited a string of great horror films before transitioning the genre to some very popular Netflix series. There’s only been one miss in a string of hits, and unfortunately, it was his last film, Doctor Sleep (2019). But with Oculus, Gerald’s Game, and The Haunting of Hill House being so good on both first and repeat viewings, I’m going into this one with optimism. Plus, it stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tom Hiddleston, so it’s like a supervillain team-up of Mordo and Loki!
11. The Luckiest Man On (Directed by Samir Oliveros)
Big Bucks, No Whammies… STOP! When I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal documentary in 2003, I couldn’t have imagined a feature film version 20 years later but here we are—and I’m all in. Who better to play a painfully self-unaware weirdo than Paul Walter Hauser? He nailed Richard Jewell and Shawn Eckhardt, so why not take on another real-life loser—oops, I mean winner—like Press Your Luck contestant Michael Larson?
12. The Wild Robot (Directed by Chris Sanders)
I rarely seek out animation at film festivals. Why? Maybe I’ve convinced myself that animation is more about entertainment than high art. Or maybe I think my critical brain, which I turn on while covering films at a festival, is better spent on more true-to-life live action? Wow, that sounds pretentious—especially coming from a critic who’s been celebratory of some of animation’s recent triumphs (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). Few films have moved me like those, or the emotional gems in the How to Train Your Dragon series.
The Wild Robot just so happens to be from the same studio that gave us those emotional gems. In fact, the director of this latest DreamWorks film is the original writer and director of How to Train Your Dragon (2010), a film that left me an emotional wreck. I want that feeling again, and maybe a new film from Chris Sanders, starring the voice talents of Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, and Catherine O’Hara, will do just that.
13. Nightbitch (Directed by Marielle Heller)
The title had me intrigued, but for reasons I’m somewhat ashamed of, so I was initially going to leave this film off my TIFF shortlist. I was thoroughly impressed with Marielle Heller’s 2018 film Can You Ever Forgive Me?, but I skipped her follow-up, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, mostly because I wanted the feeling of the documentary about Mr. Rogers (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) that preceded the biopic to remain intact.
The short synopsis provided by TIFF has me one part intrigued and one part trepidatious: “Amy Adams plays Mother, a former city-dwelling artist and curator who chooses to stay home (now a suburban home) with her toddler son as her husband travels frequently for business. She loves her son deeply, but that does not prevent her from feeling isolated and exhausted. How did her life become a numbing grind of diaper changes and cutting bananas into little pieces?”
Oh, and that reason I’m ashamed to admit? I don’t think Amy Adams is a great actor—actually, I don’t even think she’s a good one. I haven’t been impressed with a single role, and I always secretly hope she’ll be replaced in her latest project by Australian actress Isla Fisher. Hopefully, Heller can get a great performance out of Adams like she did with Melissa McCarthy. If so, I’ll finally revisit Junebug (2005) and Nocturnal Animals (2016)—promise.
14. Oh, Canada (Directed by Paul Schrader)
The first film directed by Paul Schrader that I truly enjoyed was 2017’s First Reformed. Sure, as a writer, he’s penned some of my favorite films, but as a director, there always seems to be something missing. My review of his follow-up to First Reformed, The Card Counter, touches on this ongoing mediocrity. As I state in the review, it’s mostly about the lead actor convincing us that the pious and rigid words being delivered are heartfelt. Ethan Hawke and Oscar Isaac succeeded—can Richard Gere?
15. Piece by Piece (Directed by Morgan Neville)
How this film ever got the green light is beyond me. But here it is, and as a huge fan of N.E.R.D., I’m all in. I’m excited to learn about the life of Pharrell Williams in this unconventional way.
16. Presence (Directed by Steven Soderbergh)
Soderbergh’s last two films that leaned into the psychological thriller genre have been fantastic. Both have been small-budget marvels that I love to rewatch. Unsane (2018) and Kimi (2022) work as thrillers because, as Orson Welles said, “The absence of limitations is the enemy of art.” Hopefully, the self-imposed limitations Soderbergh placed on himself with Lucy Liu will pay off like they did with Claire Foy and Zoë Kravitz.
17. Queer (Directed by Luca Guadagnino)
I might be in the minority, but the last three films from Guadagnino have been just about the best run of three films by any director in recent history. After the success of Call Me by Your Name, his pivot to bonkers, horrific audaciousness has been highly entertaining. Suspiria is one of the rare remakes I find measurably better than the original, and Bones and All showcases some of the best onscreen chemistry of the 21st century between Russell and Chalamet. His release from earlier this year, Challengers, had one of the greatest endings of all time. How can he top this? How about an adaptation of a William S. Burroughs novel. Audacious!
18. Saturday Night (Directed by Jason Reitman)
The last two Ghostbusters films were a waste of Jason Reitman’s writing talent, but since his next project is a return to reality, I’m going to wholeheartedly support this film about SNL—even though I have a bad feeling about actors playing the original “Not Yet Ready for Prime Time Players” from the first season. The Showtime series I’m Dying Up Here took a fictional approach and avoided having actors impersonate real comedians, which is something I wish Saturday Night would do. But maybe I should trust the writer of films I adore, like Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and Tully?
19. Shell (Directed by Max Minghella)
I love to trauma bond—so much so that I even wrote a song about it —but I’ll be damned if I ever revisit the first five seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale. Watching those characters suffer through increasing levels of misery each season has left irreparable damage on my psyche. Oh, did I mention Shell stars Elisabeth Moss of Handmaid’s fame, and is directed by her co-star from the series, Max Minghella? Oops, probably should have led with that. My bad—maybe this dark comedy will help me move on?
20. Sketch (Directed by Seth Worley)
While researching this year’s lineup, one film had me locked in just by its description:“When a young girl’s peculiar drawings come to life, leaving a wake of chaos and crayon dust, a grieving family has to band together to fight them off in this feature debut reminiscent of classics like Gremlins, Jumanji, and The Goonies.”
