These Are the Best Films We Watched at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Festival season always begets some of the year’s most exciting films, and after a much quieter 2023 Toronto International Film Festival swept over Ontario (owing largely to the year’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes), the 2024 fest seemed certain to come back with a roar. Indeed, the streets around the Princess of Wales Theatre seemed much more crowded this year as fans flocked to world premieres for films including We Live in Time, The Fire Inside, and Nightbitch. But just as much of their attention and adoration went to favorites from other festivals—Anora, Emilia Peréz, and Babygirl among them.
ELLE.com packed in as many screenings as possible to determine the best of the fest, and though there are buzzy titles we missed—The Life of Chuck, The Last Showgirl, and The Room Next Door, for instance—there was still much to praise. In order of release date, here’s what our writers watched (and enjoyed) at this year’s TIFF.
The Wild Robot
“Based on Peter Brown’s bestselling children’s books and helmed by Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders, this outstanding animated DreamWorks film follows Rozzum “Roz” 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), a robot designed to assist humans, which boots up on a rugged island populated exclusively by animals. Much to Roz’s surprise (and maybe even dismay), a young orphaned gosling, whom she eventually names Brightbill (Kit Connor with a nondescript American accent), ends up imprinting on her. At the suggestion of a sly fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), Roz compiles a set of practical directives to help Brightbill through his formative years, but what the robot didn’t plan for was to develop an emotional connection to this gosling. Nyong’o, Connor, and Pascal form the emotional core of this heartfelt film. It’s a perfect family movie.”—Max Gao, freelance writer
In theaters September 27.
We Live in Time
“So much more than a tearjerker, and more nuanced than your generic crowdpleaser, John Crowley’s We Live in Time is a tour de force from lead actors Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, who make their on-screen romance look as natural as breathing. As the title suggests, the film bounces around through different time periods in the relationship between 30-somethings Almut and Tobias, from their (hilarious) first encounter to Almut’s diagnosis with ovarian cancer. Not as devastating as I’d anticipated—but much more affirming than I’d dared to hope—We Live in Time is a portrait of pivotal love, and the simple courage of its perseverance. Call me sentimental—you wouldn’t be wrong!—but I adored it.”—Lauren Puckett-Pope, staff culture writer
In select theaters October 11.
Anora
“One of the strongest festival debuts this year, Sean Baker’s Anora has positioned itself as a major Oscars contender, especially after it won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May. That momentum only continued in Toronto, where the film was a second runner-up for the coveted People’s Choice Award (after The Life of Chuck and Emilia Peréz). Lead actress Mikey Madison plays the titular Anora, a sex worker in Brooklyn who soon encounters Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch, at the gentlemen’s club where she dances. Their flirtation quickly leads to an elopement, triggering Vanya’s family—and their employees—to intervene. Anora’s story could easily veer cliché, insensitive, or cruel in a lesser filmmaker’s hands, but Baker handles Ani (and her world) with stunning precision.”—LPP
In theaters October 18.
Conclave
“Edward Berger’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front dramatizes one of the most exclusive processes in the world: the election of a new Pope. A riveting psychological thriller with an absurd final twist, Conclave unfolds over the course of 72 tense hours inside the Vatican, where Ralph Fiennes’s Cardinal Lawrence finds himself investigating secrets and acts of sabotage amongst his colleagues—all under the guise of protecting the sanctity of the hallowed procedure for the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps most interestingly, the film depicts Cardinals—played by Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow—as self-serving, power-hungry politicians who spend their limited time together attempting to convince one another that, in a two-party race, they are the lesser of two evils.”—MG
In theaters October 25.
Emilia Peréz
“Jacques Audiard’s very buzzy, very unorthodox Spanish-language musical-crime-dramedy-opera Emilia Peréz purposefully evades easy summation. It is something of a tonal roller coaster, though anchored skillfully by lead actresses Zoe Salda?a, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz. The plot follows a former cartel boss (Gascón) who seeks a young lawyer’s (Salda?a) help in undergoing a secret sex-change operation, in the hopes she can live as her true self without her wife (Gomez) or new girlfriend (Paz) learning her former identity. In musical numbers that veer both campy and gut-wrenching, the cast leads us through Audiard’s fearless tale of love, violence, and freedom in Mexico.”—LPP
In select theaters November 1, and streaming on Netflix November 13.
The Piano Lesson
“After shepherding silver-screen adaptations of Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Denzel Washington’s plan to adapt the entirety of August Wilson’s Century Cycle continues with The Piano Lesson. This time, he hands the reins over to his youngest son, Malcolm, who makes his feature directorial debut with this fascinating study of a Black family haunted by the legacy of a piano with carvings of their ancestors. Danielle Deadwyler, who was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Till last year, delivers another powerhouse performance as Berniece, a widowed single mother who refuses to let her brother Boy Willie (played with verve by another of Washington’s sons, John David) sell their heirloom to buy the land their ancestors were enslaved upon. Berniece quite literally comes face-to-face with the ghosts of the family’s past, forcing her to draw upon the strength of their ancestors.”—MG
In select theaters November 8, and streaming on Netflix on November 22.
Elton John: Never Too Late
“The latest Elton John documentary, directed by R.J. Cutler and John’s husband, David Furnish, juxtaposes his iconic 1975 concerts at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles—which he considers his crowning achievement in America—with footage from his final shows at the same venue 47 years later. Using a wealth of archival material, which could probably spawn an even more compelling docuseries, the filmmakers attempt to humanize the man behind the sequined baseball costume by animating a number of the anecdotes that can be found in John’s 2019 autobiography Me, including his battle with addiction and his close friendship with the late John Lennon. Never Too Late serves as a fitting tribute to the life and legacy of one of the greatest musicians—and LGBTQ+ icons—of all time.”—MG
In select theaters November 15, and streaming on Disney+ December 13.
Nightbitch
“As a big fan of literature with a magical realist bent, I’ve long anticipated the adaptation of Nightbitch, based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder. Amy Adams is the ideal fit for the story’s unnamed protagonist, a stay-at-home mother so driven to the brink by the demands of parenthood that she discovers herself transfiguring into a dog. Director Marielle Heller takes the outlandish concept and makes it feel relatable, universal, and at times even commercial. There are many moments when I wished Nightbitch leaned harder into the strangeness and cruelty of isolated motherhood, but Heller’s adaptation is perhaps more accessible for its approach—and Adams is a unquestionable delight.”—LPP
In theaters December 6.
The Order
“In The Order, set in 1983, Jude Law brings the same brand of dogged determination showcased in Eden (more on that below) to the role of an unnervingly obsessive veteran FBI agent, tasked with curbing the rise of a white supremacist group that plans to spread their racist ideology. (It sure isn’t difficult to see the parallels with the state of today’s world.)”—MG
In select theaters December 6.
The Fire Inside
“The Fire Inside is a remarkable feature directional debut from Rachel Morrison, who—in bringing the story of real-life Olympic boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields to the screen—both leans into and stretches against the conventions of a sports drama. Ryan Destiny is ferocious as the young Claressa, and never more so than in her scenes with Brian Tyree Henry, who plays her coach, Jason Crutchfield. Although, of course, you’ll get the expected from The Fire Inside—the training montages, the wrenching blows, the thrilling victories—you’ll also see a more opaque side of the story: what happens when the gold medal does not bring the fame and fortune it promised. —LPP
In theaters December 25.
Babygirl
“With her starring role in writer-director Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, Nicole Kidman reaffirms her status as one of Hollywood’s most fearless actresses. The Oscar and Emmy winner bares it all to play Romy Mathis, a high-powered tech executive specializing in automation, who is desperate to break out of the monotony of her daily routine. In one of her career-best performances, Kidman plays a woman struggling to reconcile her desire to be submissive behind closed doors—a desire that she doesn’t feel her handsome husband (Antonio Banderas) can satisfy—with the image of the empowered boss that she projects to the rest of the world. Romy finds herself drawn to Samuel (a well-matched Harris Dickinson), an impertinent intern who quickly picks up what she’s putting down, and is more than happy to take control. hot, provocative, and surprisingly funny, Babygirl shrewdly subverts any expectations of a typical erotic thriller.”—MG
In theaters December 25.
Eden
“Although his presence in the industry has never truly waned in the past 25 years, Jude Law is in the midst of a career renaissance. His two films at TIFF showcase his range as a character actor in a leading man’s body. In Ron Howard’s Eden—a Lord of the Flies-esque historical thriller about a group of people who settle into the Galapagos after World War I, only to discover that hell is other people—Law plays Dr. Friedrich Ritter, an egomaniacal German philosopher determined to weed out his fellow settlers at any cost.”—MG
The film was acquired by Amazon Prime Video, but a release date has yet to be announced.
The Assessment
“Despite its familiar sci-fi set-up—a couple in a climate-ravaged dystopian future seek to have a child—Fleur Fortuné’s The Assessment is a deftly surprising take on the twin instincts of parental anxiety and species survival. With gorgeous cinematography from Magnus Nordenhof J?nc, the film introduces hopeful parents Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) to their so-called “assessor,” Virginia (Alicia Vikander). She has arrived as a government representative to determine whether Mia and Aaryan are fit to have a child, but as her own behavior becomes increasingly bizarre—and childlike—Mia and Aaryan realize that the world outside their own four walls is even darker than it seems.”—LPP
The film was acquired by Amazon Prime Video, but a release date has yet to be announced.
Millers in Marriage
“Writer-director-actor Edward Burns has long been interested in the study of familial and romantic relationships, and his latest outing is no exception. An intimate portrait of Gen Xers feeling adrift personally and professionally in middle age, Millers in Marriage follows three siblings—Eve (Gretchen Mol), Maggie (Julianne Margulies), and Andy (Burns)—as they navigate the vagaries of long-term relationships while weighing the pros and cons of venturing back out into the world on their own. Mol is the film’s emotional backbone; after giving up her career years ago to start a family with her alcoholic musician husband (Patrick Wilson), Eve, now an empty nester, contemplates a return to her art. She becomes charmed by a hunky music journalist (Benjamin Bratt, delightful as always) whose interest in her might be more than professional. Millers captures a latter stage of adulthood that might only make sense to those who have already experienced it, but the concept of never settling for anything less than one believes they deserve is a message that will resonate across generations.”—MG
The film was acquired by Republic Pictures, but a release date has yet to be announced.
On Swift Horses
“Daniel Minahan has developed a reputation for becoming one of television’s most seasoned directors, having helmed episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under, and, most recently, Fellow Travelers. But for his first feature film in over two decades, Minahan has chosen to bring his artistic sensibility to a gorgeously-lensed, ’50s-set romantic drama starring two of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood: Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi. Edgar-Jones and Elordi play in-laws who, despite believing they have very little in common, find themselves on parallel journeys of yearning and self-discovery hundreds of miles apart; the ecstasy of their sexual awakenings is offset with the risk that they could one day be persecuted for their actions.”—MG
A release date has yet to be announced.
Without Blood
“I was much more keen on Angelina Jolie’s latest directorial outing, Without Blood, than a number of other writers at TIFF, particularly thanks to a pair of engrossing performances from stars Salma Hayek and Demián Bichir. Much of their screen time is spent in one winding conversation at a nondescript café, yet I remained interested by the parallel sagas they unraveled. It’s true that Without Blood is not as heart-pounding as one might expect from a war drama, nor does its 20th-century setting indicate any one real-life conflict. But that is, in many ways, Jolie’s simple point: The specifics don’t matter as much as the blood itself, and all blood runs red. Flawed, certainly, but nevertheless compelling, Without Blood is a testament to Jolie’s enduring vision.”—LPP
A release date has yet to be announced.
Bonjour Tristesse
“With the sort of imagery you’ll yearn to print and frame on your wall, Bonjour Tristesse takes audiences to the south of France, where Cecile (Lily McInerny) is staying with her father (Claes Bang) and the two women (Chlo? Sevigny and Na?lia Harzoune) vying for his affections. An adaptation of the 1954 novel by Fran?oise Sagan, and a remake of the 1958 film by Otto Preminger, Durga Chew-Bose’s version doesn’t necessarily try to reinvent Sagan’s story. But it is at its most modern when it hones in on Cecile’s reluctant coming of age (and, particularly, the not-so-pretty behaviors it inspires). Despite its occasional lack of inertia, Bonjour Tristesse is lovely—and it heralds Chew-Bose as a talent to watch.”—LPP
A release date has yet to be announced.
You Might Also Like
