April 17, 2026

Welcome to the TFCA weekly, a round-up of reviews and coverage by members of the Toronto Film Critics Association.

In Release this Week

180 (dir. Alex Jazbe)

“In a way, 180 is the ultimate revenge movie,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “What would be a more devastating tragedy that could happen to anyone?  When one loses a son.  In 180, a father exacts vengeance when his son is hot and killed in an accident that should not have happened – a question of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. 180 is a South African action movie that ramps up the ante in a film that feels similar to Lian Neeson’s action Taken series of films.  The result is a satisfactory action flick, though it breaks no new ground, in the fresh setting of South Africa, where violence is the more of the norm.”

Amrum (dir. Fatih Akin)

“In its direct unsentimental approach to Fanning, the film is reminiscent of Truffaut’s classic The 400 Blows,” notes Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “Though he’s not as likeable as Jean-Pierre Leaud’s Antoine Doinel, one comes to admire Fanning for his courage and resourcefulness. We see his ability to relate to the local beekeeper—after all, he needs honey—and one-armed baker and realize that Fanning is, after all, still quite young and should be able to come to terms with the new reality of post-war Germany. Given Hark Bohm’s own artistic life, clearly that is what happened. The fate of his mother is not told, and one can imagine that her later life was far more difficult.”

“Amrum is a remarkable moving little film that celibates the resilience of the human spirit, especially how the boy, Manning survives all the evils of his Nazi family’s evils, managing to do good above all the evil surrounding him,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Fatih Atkin’s best film to date.”

Assassin (dir. Zhou Jiuquin)

“Despite the film’s historical setting, the setting and story is an excuse for the following in the lineage of nonstop combat films like John Wick, The Raid, and Ong Bak, very popular and successful box-office hits,” adds Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Assassin does not disappoint as a relentless action thriller as it features elite fight choreography that will leave fans of the genre breathless amidst a few ultra-violent eye gouging scenes.  But the film differentiates from the other Chinese action films for the following reasons.  It includes with the action, espionage, and war drama with strong emphasis on patriotism and collective resistance.”

The Christophers (dir. Steven Soderbergh)

“While various double-crosses and blackmail schemes tilt the balance back and forth, Corden and Gunning — as the bumbling, cartoonish fraudsters — are mostly there to earn laughs and even some sympathy for their truly awful parent,” says Liam Lacey at Original Cin. “The Christophers is full of heady thumb-sucking questions about legacy, artistic expression and commerce, and reinvention, a subject Soderbergh knows well. This is far from blockbuster Soderbergh (Erin Brokovich, the Oceans trilogy, Magic Mike), but a return to the basics: A set, a mobile camera, a couple of terrific actors, and a story to explain what brings them there.”

“Working off of a script by occasional collaborator Ed Solomon, Steven Soderbergh is a smart enough filmmaker to know when to just frame a scene and let his actors simply cook,” says Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “It’s dialogue heavy but psychologically fascinating to see an enigmatic artist at the end of his career go toe to toe with one who never got out of the blocks to make something of themselves.  Meticulous production design and masterful direction make this feel like an Eric Rohmer film that is just dripping in glorious sarcasm.  He simply pits two actors against one another and lets them tell a story using their words.”

“McKellen is excellent in delivering his lines, exhibiting black humour, pathos, and respect for both his character and for himself as an actor. Again, another small but wonderful entertainment from Soderbergh,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“The Christophers is a film made up of delicious details; it takes us on journeys through the compromises one makes in contemporary art,” writes Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “We see Sklar in flashbacks as an acerbic critic of young artists on a terrible TV series modeled on The Voice; it’s a devastating parody. By the time Butler turns up at Sklar’s Fitzrovia digs, he has been reduced to recording video greetings to acolytes willing to pay for messages from him. She, in turn, has had to hustle as a critic and part-time teacher. The message is clear. It’s not easy to be an artist.”

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (dir. Lee Cronin)

“Much of the film focuses on the increasingly vile and violent actions of Katie, who is driven by a demonic compulsion to cause mayhem and spread her mummy-causing contagion. Hold onto your stomach as skin is stripped, toes are licked and blood, spittle and other nastiness sprays everywhere, including a shower across a tray of devilled eggs that, naturally, someone will soon be snacking on,” munches Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “More gross than scary, the film is strongest with its detective subplot. Tired of shuffling papers in her police station, Det. Zaki decides to reopen the Cannon cold case and search for Katie’s abductor.”

“If you’re conspiracy minded, you may even believe the rumours that Lee Cronin’s The Mummy arrived in its current state after it bombed so hard with test audiences that it was reworked, resulting in a tepid and stereotypical possession story hiding behind the vague concept of Egyptian culture,” writes Jackson Weaver at CBC. “In that reality, the frantic fixes led to what we have now: A cobbled together zombie-project that kept just enough mummy stuff to draw in at least a few confused audience members who might think they’re actually getting another heaping helping of The Mummy they knew and loved — or at the very least, something glancingly related.”

“Another all too familiar uninspired gross all-out horror flick,” sighs Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“If Evil Dead Rise made audiences reconsider their relationship to kitchen utensils, The Mummy quietly ruins the pedicure,” observes Thom Ernst at Original Cin. “There’s a scene—already notorious—where a mother attempts to trim her daughter’s toenails. It should be nothing. It is not nothing. Cronin stretches the moment until it becomes unbearable, turning a banal act of care into something closer to a test of endurance. It’s not just grotesque; it’s invasive in a way that feels almost rude, like the film has crossed a boundary you didn’t know you had.”

“Despite some decent gore and really squelchy sound design, the writer/director is just remaking his own Evil Dead Rise (to lesser effect),” notes Joe Lipsett at Queer Horror Movies.

Little Lorraine (dir. Andy Hines)

“There’s nothing like a little true crime in our own backyard,” says Dave Voigt on In the Seats with…. He also chats with director Andy Hines about the Canadian caper.

“Little Lorraine is a solid film with a good story reflecting the atmosphere and period of Cape Breton with credible performances all around,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“A story that has become the stuff of legend, Hines anchors Little Lorraine in a very real family drama, focusing on the personal and tragic elements,” writes Rachel West at the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. “By centering on Jimmy, a good guy caught in a bad situation, the film gains gravity. The desperation of the men and their families is palpable as the very existence of the mining community is threatened. Amell’s measured performance effectively conveys the weight of Jimmy’s predicament, offering a strong contrast to McHattie’s more scurrilous portrayal of Huey, a deceitful con artist and gambler. The fantastical narrative always remains grounded in reality, along with a strong supporting cast including Sean Astin, Matt Walsh, Rhys Darby, and Auden Thornton, which gives both tension and depth.”

Lorne (dir. Morgan Neville)

“Lorne is the story of one man while also the tale of an entire legion of artists who helped make SNL and all his other projects come to the fore. It succeeds by not trying to be definitive. It shines when it admits its inability to crack the code and snag some Rosebud-like revelation,” says Jason Gorber at POV Magazine. “Because of this, it may be one of Neville’s most interesting films formally, highlighting the very challenge of doing justice to such a seemingly mercurial subject. The only way it works, it seems, is to approach Lorne the way that SNL treats the world: with equal parts irreverence and seriousness.”

“Recommended only for true SNL loyalists,” admits Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“Overall, the tone of Lorne is light, punctuated by roundtable interviews with the likes of Andy Samberg, John Mulaney, Conan O’Brien and Chris Rock. They produce much banter, some of it funny, if not overly illuminative,” admits Jim Slotek at Original Cin. “If Lorne really is ‘the most boring’ doc of the Oscar-winning Neville’s career, it’s only because his career bar is high. As it is, Lorne is a terrific backgrounder for devout fans of Saturday Night Live. Fairweather fans, on the other hand, might find it like an overlong sketch.”

“While it really doesn’t get too far below the surface of what we already know about Lorne Michaels; Lorne is a deft little portrait of a pop culture icon that reminds us that while we’d love to pick their brain and dissect every little move that brought them to where they are, sometimes it’s important for us as viewers just to lay out a little bit and let someone who has been near the top of his game for fifty or so years, to just cook like only he can so that we can all just enjoy the show, especially every Saturday Night at 11:30PM,” says Dave Voigt at In the Seats.

Mile End Kicks (dir. Chandler Levack)

“To be fair, none of this is especially original, especially Chevy’s passive-aggressive douchery. The fact that Lena Dunham has been publicizing and telling stories about her excellent new memoir, Famesick, has made me realizes that all of this could have happened in an episode or two of Girls,” writes Glenn Sumi at Go Ahead Sumi. “And as someone who (if memory serves) sat next to Levack in a cubicle when she interned at NOW as a teenager, the vibe of those alt-weekly scenes feels eerily authentic. Also authentic? Having hundreds of articles disappear from a paper’s website.

“Chandler Levack follows her appealing 2022 directorial debut, I Like Movies, with further evidence of her knack for humanizing outsiders, square pegs and loners. The action shifts from Ontario to Quebec, specifically an artsy Montreal neighbourhood where lo-fi rock, poetry readings and unpaid rent are de rigueur,” notes Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “Grace’s authorial aspirations are interrupted by the awkwardly competing attentions of the singer (Stanley Simons) and lead guitarist (Devon Bostick) of an indie band called Bone Patrol. Levack nails the look and feel of the place and the shared sensation of ‘feeling weird and awkward all the time,’ as a character aptly puts it.”

“One can hardly describe Mile End Kicks as a feel-good, entertaining movie because of its content.  Yet, one must give credit to the director for trying his best (even though his protagonist is female) to keep her film realistic and effective,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Mile End Kicks is essentially a younger person’s film about a young person’s coming-of-age.  It takes one individual, with many faults but with some positives as well.”

Roommates (dir. Chandler Levack)

“If the film’s premise sounds uninviting, one should wait a minute and look deeper.  This is a Happy Gilmore production, and anything that has to do with Adam Sandler is not all that bad, unless one cannot stand him.  The humour is also crude but Sandler-type funny.  And the director is Canadian,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“While it’s the coming of age comedy that you’d expect, it’s exceptionally well executed and a hell of a lot of fun.  We had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the film stars; Aidan Langford to talk about getting the part, working with Sadie and Chandler as well as the joys of getting to be funny for a living,” says Dave Voigt on In the Seats with…, along with a chat with Landford.

A Festival of Festival Coverage: Here Comes Hot Docs!

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen picks festival circuit highlights coming to Hot Docs, including Jaripeo: ““Jaripeo reframes the rodeo anew as more challenges to traditional gender expressions enter the frame. Neither celebration nor elegy, Jaripeo finds a community gathering where all types—masc, femme, and everything in between—mingle gaily,” writes Mullen. “The horse and bull events fuel the crowd as audiences revel in a shower of cervezas and tequila shots. As the party ends with a dance and bodies melt together in the throb of a techno beat, Jaripeo observes a fleeting ritual where identities and labels don’t matter. But as the cameras follow the cowboys throughout their magic hour reveries, the film pensively ask why an oasis of acceptance remains but an annual affair.”

Also at POV Magazine, members Susan G. Cole, Marc Glassman, Liam Lacey, and Pat Mullen, along with Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Nirris Nagendrarajah offer stories from the documentary beat in the latest print issue of the magazine, coming next week. Pick up a copy at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema during the festival while quantities last!

On In the Seats with, for the one-day festival called Canadian Film Day, Dave Voigt chatted with Colm Feore about all things Canada.

At Original Cin, Chris Knight reports on the line-up for this year’s Blue Mountain Film + Media Festival: “The 33-film list includes features from 16 countries, but opening night belongs to Canada, with a screening of Dancing on the Elephant, a Halifax-shot comedy-drama about two friends (Sheila McCarthy, Mary Walsh) who attempt to break out of a retirement home. McCarthy and others from the cast and crew will be in attendance,” writes Knight. “And staying with Canada, the festival also includes world premieres of two Canadian films. Matthew Poitras’s The Bruce Peninsula is about two half-brothers who meet after the death of their father and head across Northern Ontario to spread his ashes. The Northman Way: A Lacrosse Story examine how Orangeville, ON became a lacrosse powerhouse.”

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At Original Cin, Karen Gordon finds the Beef: “Lee’s script is strong, and he’s given us an A list cast, superb movie actors, who take it up more than a few notches.  They’re not only watchable, they create a sense of what the characters are thinking—or not thinking—in some of the quieter moments,” writes Gordon. “Beef Season Two is addictive as hell, and terrific TV.”

On In the Seats with…, Dave Voigt calls Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story “a satirical look back at a time of national pride when Ben Johnson won the Gold Medal for the 100m Dash at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul” and chats with Andrew Phung.