August 21, 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

All Night Wrong (dir. Jason James)

“Perhaps an odd spot to mention this, but the opening credits play like a calling card for someone’s expertise in that craft. Like a mix of Hitchcock, Casino Royale and Catch Me If You Can, they are a swirl of groovy, moody, blocky animation. They don’t quite match the movie that follows, but they’re wildly entertaining,” says Chris Knight at Original Cin. “At the other end of things, I didn’t love the final product, but neither was it horrible. All Night Wrong was, in the end, just alright.”

All Wishes Come True (dir. Zhengxing Mu)

“While the film amuses with non-stop jokes and action, the moral of the story brightens the spirit. In a real world that rewards the self-serving, virtues of fairness or justice are considered unrealistic or even stupid at times,” notes Alice Shih at Original Cin. “Conversely, in the film’s universe, though some characters begin with bad intentions, benevolence prevails, and our protagonists find their inner Robin Hood, and a willingness to sacrifice for the meek and weak.”

Chompoo: Lost and Forgotten (dir. Nontawat Numbenchapol)

“For the majority of Netflix viewers unfamiliar with the case, the true crime documentary (the first one reported from Thailand) is a fascinating watch, as the director manipulates the data to provide the audience with a real mystery whodunit, with the suspect only revealed at the very end,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “And with a solid message to the viewers as well.”

Facing El Chapo (dir. Chava Cartas)

“Facing El Chapo is interesting for the fact that it is based on true events at the time, when the material is current with the war going on between the drug cartels and the cops in Mexico,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Director Cartas invests time into his characters, which pays off, despite the rather predictable way the story unfolds. An entertaining and intriguing film, nonetheless.”

Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing (dir. Rory Kennedy)

“Director Kennedy amasses a solid group of interviewees that include Boeing staff whistleblowers as well as victims of the Boeing crashes. The film is well-paced with a lot of secrets about the company coming to light,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “A true crime drama, the doc is, in a way. The doc gets emotional when the victims speak out at the injustices carried out. The plea bargain prosecution that Boeing gets from the DOJ if they meet requirements is met with disbelief by both the victims and the quality staff working for Boeing.”

Insidious: Into the Further (dir. Jacob Chase)

“It’s unfortunate for a standalone story that devilishly tongues at the freedom of new characters, locations, and ghostly entities—and the boundary-pushing opportunities that come with them. Instead, what remains is a film that, while at certain moments constructed with potent mood, striking imagery, and careful, purposeful staging and blocking, is undone by an incessant penchant for returning to tepid, tried-and-true horror mechanics and payoffs,” says Prabhjot Bains at But Why Tho. “The result is a horror experience that not only stifles and dilutes any sense of danger and wonder, but one that mires itself in toothless, uninspired bite-sized scares that produce more unintentional laughs instead of jaw-clenching scares—despite, ironically, revelling in extended bouts of dentist-fueled terror.”

“Of course, this wouldn’t be an Insidious movie if it didn’t have the psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), the breakout star of the franchise, and, alongside Halloween’s Jamie Lee Curtis, a model for actresses of a certain vintage in horror films,” writes Jim Slotek at Original Cin. “Realistically, her role is to deliver breathless exposition so time isn’t wasted convincing anybody that this stuff is real. At this point, the parts in an Insidious movie are invariably greater than the whole. We know where it’s going, we know the beats of the plot, we know the explanation for certain things is going to be ludicrous.”

“Even though this film delivers a few solid jump scares, it relies heavily on audience’s potential phobias to make them uncomfortable. Dentistry figures prominently in the narrative, which many may find unpleasant to watch,” admits Sarah Gopaul at Imagery at the Movies. “When shadowing Gemma at work, filmmakers skip over the mild rinse and spit routine in favour of close-ups of teeth cleaning and scraping. The disgusting build-up she removes from people’s mouths is gag-inducing. There’s also a sadistic, drill-happy dentist in The Further, as well as some patients he’s disfigured.”

It Ends (dir. Alexander Ullom)

“The film works as both a horror and a parallel metaphor for life,” adds Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “And it is entertaining in both areas. The metaphor is never mentioned in the film but cleverly integrated into the story.”

“It’s an interesting commentary on people’s dual needs for companionship and solitude,” says Sarah Gopaul at Imagery at the Movies. “It also explores the effects on their mental health as a lack of purpose diminishes their sense of self and motivation to continue. Before they become stuck on the endless road, the camera tends to stay back. Wide shots show multiple characters in the frame, focusing on their interactions and camaraderie. The longer they’re trapped, the more the shots become tighter. As their hope of escape wanes, the camera isolates them from each other.”

Late Fame (dir. Kent Jones)

“Late Fame is an appealingly humane movie, kind to its characters’ foibles in a way that a lesser film might play for laughs. There are random, scattershot references to intellectuals needing a ride from parents, and the big night of performances is clearly attended mostly by friends and relations. But we’re never invited to chuckle, except perhaps in knowing sympathy,” writes Chris Knight at Original Cin. “Dafoe perfectly embodies the role of the aging poet-turned-clerk, at one point visiting his local bodega to buy a package of cigarettes, ‘whatever the young people are smoking.’ He’s taken aback by the price.”

“Late Fame is unique: a true character study. Willem Dafoe, who has lived in New York for decades and was a founding member of the great Manhattan based theatrical troupe The Wooster Group knows the literary scene better than most,” says Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “He’s a brilliant character actor and makes no false moves in his portrayal of Ed Saxberger. Dafoe gives us an unsentimental look at an aging man of sensitivity and discretion whose talent has deserted him. This is the kind of performance that should win awards but doesn’t because it lacks flash and drama. But you will rarely see an actor inhabit a role in the manner that Dafoe does in this film.”

The Magic Faraway Tree (dir. Ben Gregor)

“The film, though containing many fairytale elements like magic, fairies, sweets and toys, does not feel like a children’s film because of director Gregor’s crazed vision of the film,” observes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Though noted as catering to the adult audience, too. Characters like the know-it-alls add absurdist humour, which brings the laugh-out-loud laughs.”

“With its mixture of the familiar—wash basins, pots and pans—with the fantastic—pixies and elves—Blyton’s Faraway Tree captured the imagination of children for decades,” notes Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “For the film, Farnaby has embellished Blyton’s fantastic lands with great sets and a brilliant group of actors playing magical creatures: Rebecca Ferguson, fearsome and odd as Dame Slap; Jessica Gunning (of Baby Reindeer) perfectly cast as Dame Washalot; the wonderfully eccentric Nicola Coughlan (of Derry Girls) as Silky and the very likeable Nonso Anozie as Moonface.”

Novak Djokovic: Wolf in Winter (dir. Jason Hehir)

“The Wolf in Winter arrives at the precise moment when Djokovic’s greatest challenge is no longer proving he can win, but determining when to stop,” says Rachel West at That Shelf. “The same unwavering belief that propelled him to greatness now guides him toward an uncertain final chapter. At this stage of his career, he has options – to walk away on his own terms, to have an injury decide for him, or to be eventually surpassed by the next generation. Whatever comes next, Hehir’s documentary offers a rare glimpse of an athlete forced to consider the one thing he has spent his career avoiding: the end.”

Rosebush Pruning (dir. Karim Aïnouz)

“It is without doubt that director Aïnouz’s perverse and demented tale of a wealthy, dysfunctional family is played more for show, just as the story’s characters exist for fashion and meaninglessness,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film holds interest for its weirdness that includes homosexuality, incest, murder and deception.  It cannot be compared to its source material, Fists in the Pocket, for its originality and controlled diabolical and unpleasant (in a good way) tone.”

Spa Weekend (dir. Jon Lucas, Scott Moore)

“Quite honestly, Leslie Mann deserves better than this story as she is undoubtedly one of the most under rated comedic actors of recent memory,” writes Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “She elevates mediocre material into something cute and memorable that at least gets us invested in her character as these women all navigate the men in their lives that range from moderately insensitive to hilariously boorish. Michelle Buteau alongside her is high octane comedy that deserves to get more screen time, I’d pay real money to see Mann and Buteau in just about anything else then this, and they are that good and bring this film at least up to a passable level.”

“Spa Weekend is also a film that celebrates the individual, reminding the viewer that self-care matters,” notes Steve Norton at ScreenFish. “For each of these women, their retreat to pampering becomes an opportunity for healing. For some of them, it’s simply a chance to remind themselves who they are. But, for others, their experience points out aspects of their lives which need deeper healing than a simple massage or oil bath. With Fisher’s Mel serving as the explosive comedic force, each of these women is given the chance to learn something about themselves and, if needed, return home with a new determination to work on their souls.”

File Under Miscellaneous

At Original Cin, Kim Hughes dives into the cat fancy of Lion: “It’s certain that anyone watching the new four-part documentary series Lion will find themselves repeatedly shaking their heads and asking, ‘How on Earth did they get that shot? Surely, the lions and giraffes and zebras weren’t in on the production… were they?’” she writes. “It can also, at times, be slightly tedious as one becomes gently hypnotized by the beautiful but same-y images of African game frolicking across wide, largely featureless, sun-drenched plains. And lions sleep. A lot. But the ennui is fleeting and the rewards for perseverance are evident.”

At CBC, Jackson Weaver investigates the accuracy of the dinosaurs in The End of Oak Street and asks experts to help answer the question on everyone’s mind: Is that really how dinos did it? “Director David Robert Mitchell has said he wrote the scene quickly and without much scientific consideration, but as a way of showing that dinosaurs had full lives and did more than hunt. Yet simply modelling their behaviour after living animals may not be as scientifically far-fetched as it appears,” writes Weaver. “Dinosaur mating has been a mystery, and it’s still most likely going to be a mystery because behaviours don’t really fossilize very well,” Carleton University PhD student Caelan Libke tells Weaver.

At POV Magazine, the fall/winter 2026 issue is going to the printer. This issue features stories by TFCA members Susan G. Cole, Marc Glassman, Jason Gorber, Liam Lacey, Pat Mullen, Alice Shih, and Victor Stiff, and Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Award winner Nirris Nagendrarajah.