February 14, 2025

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

In Release this Week

7 Beats Per Minute (dir. Yuqi Kang)

“Despite having a scientific background (a PhD in clinical pharmacology), Lu is a creative thinker pursuing self-knowledge and spiritual exaltation through freediving the way Buddhist monks pursue those things through meditation. This unstated but perceptible parallel is one of 7 Beats’ most resonant themes,” says Kim Hughes at Original Cin. “And in director Yuqi Kang’s quietly beautiful film, Lu mostly finds what she is looking for, though not without experiencing acute physical and emotional challenges. Kang, who discovered Lu while learning to freedive herself, followed her subject for five years with seemingly unrestricted access as they became close friends.”

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (dir. Michael Morris)

“While one of the major departures for the franchise has already given some fans of the character pause (despite it always being a part of Fielding’s source material), Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy emerges as the best offerings in the series since the first, offering up some charm, laughs, and emotional heart-string tugging that stops just shy of being overly maudlin and contrived,” says Andrew Parker at The Gate.

Captain America: Brave New World (dir. Julius Onah)

“Directed by Julius Onah (The Cloverfield Paradox) and scripted by a committee of five, the film feebly attempts to apply defibrillator paddles to the barely beating heart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rather than summoning the reviving jolts of Robert Downey Jr., whose first Iron Man movie started the MCU in 2008, the franchise instead chooses the low-voltage buzz of the ongoing Captain America actor/character switch,” sighs Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “The sorry scribblers seem to be marking time for a bigger and better Marvel gathering to come — there’s talk of reuniting the Avengers — but they could have tried harder to hide their boredom.”

“For all its CGI adrenaline, there’s not much to Captain America: Brave New World as far as the character dives go. Apart from lending gravitas, President Harrison Ford does what he does to try to reconcile with his long estranged daughter (Liv Tyler). We know, because he says so a couple of times,” writes Jim Slotek at Original Cin. “As a turn-your-brain-off, tech-heavy action movie, Captain America: Brave New World succeeds well enough. As a Marvel movie that connects with other Marvel movies in any meaningful way, or charts a new direction (other than that vague suggestion of a ‘New Avengers’), it’s little more than a space-filler.”

“Marvel Comics have long taken inspiration from hot-button social issues, perhaps most famously in the way the X-Men comics have paralleled the civil rights movement. But as these stories pass through the corporate sieve of comics publishing, those messages get filtered out. And they become even more non-specific as they undergo another round of sifting on their way to the screen,” says Jackson Weaver at CBC. “Brave New World provides a perfect example of this with the Marvel Comics character Sabra, a Mossad-affiliated, Israeli flag-wearing hero. The movie character, played here by actress Shira Haas, has had her superhero name removed and her backstory changed in what Marvel Studios told the New York Times was a ‘new approach’ for the character, amid protest from both Palestinian and Israeli fans. The decision to include her at all speaks to one of Brave New World‘s biggest problems: the MCU’s tendency to always gesture vaguely toward difficult conversations without truly having them.”

“The bombast is always fun, but seeing a cultural hint hint from these stories allows us to get back to the core of so many Marvel stories that have delighted audiences for decades with the simple yet genuine premise that we are stronger together then we are apart,” says Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “Onah does a solid job with this, establishing characters that will ultimately build something stronger then we can see now…It’s a little less super, but potentially a lot more perilous as we begin to get into the mindset of the next layer of heroes who will stand for humanity, especially when things start to get dark again.”

“The stunning failure of Onah’s set pieces – from a toothless shootout inside the White House to a preposterously boring naval dogfight high above the Indian Ocean – are especially egregious when compared with previous Captain America movies,” groans Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “Any single moment from, say, 2014’s The Winter Soldier – like the intense Nick Fury ambush on the streets of Washington or the brutal fight between Steve Rogers and a small army of henchmen inside a tiny elevator – so thoroughly crushes the entirety of Brave New World that it is genuinely sad. Not even the typically puckish charms of Mackie or the grizzled growl of Ford can save the film from feeling so unappetizing. Imagine having steak one night, a gas-station hot dog the next. And then, on your way out of that gas station, you retch the wiener right back up.”

“Then, after all the bombast, the overlong coda kicks in with eye rolling attempts to be apolitical and patriotic that fall flat and feel woefully out of touch with the absolute state of the world (and America, in particular) at the moment,” observes Andrew Parker at The Gate. “You could write plenty about just how loathe this film is to get even the slightest bit critical of the American government, but really it’s a waste of energy and time for something this sloppy. Everyone lives to fight another day. The credits roll. Then the most useless post credits scene of all time hits and everyone can go home in a shade under two hours, which, to be fair, is less time than most MCU offerings take, so there’s a silver lining even if one (wrongfully) chooses to slog it out to the bitter end.”

The Dead Thing (dir. Elric Kane)

“The film is ok to a point, though the slow burn might frustrate horror fans expecting more,” suggests Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “It does not help that the film contains a totally muddled ending.  The extremely slow build-up, lack of scares and muddled ending make the film more frustrating than anything else.”

Death Before the Wedding

(dir. Tomasz KoneckiIwona and Ogonowska-Konecka)

“That is a lot going for Mirek and the film in particular,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “It is amusing to watch the racist and male chauvinist Mirek bumbling his way around trying to balance all his tasks while keeping a sound mind.  But hilarious it is not with the film being mildly entertaining at best.”

The Gorge (dir. Scott Derrickson)

“Casting is an art, and this film certainly needed two strong leads which it delivers in Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.  To their credit, neither plays their mysterious operatives as overly bad ass or sexy, rather these are two broken and lonely people who we find ourselves inexplicably drawn to,” writes Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “It takes talent to flirt via sniper lens before they ultimately meet in person but these two actors have a chemistry that makes it work and one that holds together when they descend into the gorge.  Sigourney Weaver rounds out the ensemble in this psychological duel of right and wrong as Teller and Taylor-Joy finally find some kind of purpose outside of the mission, it’s in the love and broken souls that they’ve found in each other.”

“For the movie’s first half-hour, Levi and Drasa engage in a rather charming and nearly dialogue-free game of long-distance flirting: She writes down messages on sheets of paper for him to spy on with his high-tech binoculars, and he does the same,” notes Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “This game of old-school texting evolves into chess matches, dance-offs, and other ritualistic acts of loner-meets-loner courtship. It’s mostly cheesy stuff, but Taylor-Joy and Teller sell the shtick exceptionally well, the pair creating chemistry without sharing the same physical space. By the time that Levi concocts a daredevilish way to actually visit Drasa’s tower, you might be turning to your own significant other and wondering whether they would go to one-10th of the trouble.”

Honeymoon Crasher (Nicolas Cuche)

“Honeymoon Crasher got a higher rating from me than most other critics or viewers would give it for a reason that I love French comedies,” admits Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “This one is no exception to the rule – with a fresh premise and good clean entertainment with some dramatic moments put in that actually work, the film just waiting for a Hollywood remake, but there are some things one cannot remake, like the performance of Rossy de Palma as Gloria the Spanish actress who has been seen many times in Pedro Almodóvar’s films – performing to the point of pure hilarity.”

Know Mercy (dir. Pernell Richardson)

“Though Know Mercy is watchable and entertaining to a point, it ends up a puzzling and mostly frustrating enterprise in which nobody cares for the message (if it can be deciphered) or for the story’s characters,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

La Dolce Villa (dir. Mark Waters)

“Romcoms are my least favourite film genre, but this one caught my attention for a while.  There are several reasons that make La Dolce Villa watchable,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “One is the gorgeous Italian countryside and quaint village. Filming took place in Rome, eastern Lazio, and Tuscany. The villa’s interiors were constructed at Cinecittà Studios in Rome.  The second is the initial fast-moving and quite witty dialogue in the script and thirdly, the subject of an older person falling in love is a welcome change.  But the attention lasted only 15 minutes before it fell into cliched territory. It does not take a genius to guess that Eric Field falls in love with the pretty town mayor.”

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (dir. Robert Ronny)

“Despite the Chemistry of the two leads and the fresh setting of modern Indonesia (most of the films arriving here are Indonesian horror flicks set in rural Indonesia) and the parody of reality television The Most Beautiful Girl in the World almost succeeds,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

One Night in Tokyo (dir. Joshua Woodcock)

“The film succeeds more as an observational piece,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “There is much to observe about the cultural differences between Japan and the West, about human personalities and character as well as human relationships.  The film does not strive to work as a drama, romance or moral tale.”

The Oscar Nominated Short Films (dir. various)

“The Oscar-nominated shorts are always a delight, year after year and 2025 is no exception.  Highly recommended!” exclaims Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen looks at the Oscar nominated short docs with Bill Morrison’s Incident being the standout: “The potent assemblage unfolds the grave miscarriage of justice in realtime. The split screen reveals the officers’ efforts to contain the scene and cover their butts. This includes a high-speed getaway to bring Halley to safer ground as his superior advises him to keep quiet. The competing pieces of the visual puzzle evoke the chaotic nature of the incident. Morrison adeptly forces viewers to re-orient themselves and examine the evidence.”

Paddington in Peru (dir. Dougal Wilson)

“Paddington in Peru isn’t quite in the same league as [Paul] King’s two previous films, but that’s a hard dual act to follow,” says Andrew Parker at The Gate. “What matters most is that the enterprise is still being carried out with love, care, and joy, three things that are in short supply in the world at the moment. I laughed. I cried. My heart soared and swelled. And while it didn’t do all those things as much as the first two films, I can think of thousands of other films I’ve had to sit through over the years that don’t come close to that same depth of feeling and inspiration.”

“[T]his formula is so bullet proof that I probably could have directed this with similar results,” admits Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “That being said, it’s the indomitable Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington that can’t help but wrap up audiences like they’re in the middle of warm marmalade sandwich.  Seeing him navigate the story of the Browns as they all get older was let another quality installment as we understand how Paddington truly learns the meaning of home.   The ensemble bounces off of each other effortlessly as Hugh Bonneville and Emily Mortimer never get the credit they deserve as the patriarch and matriarch of what has quickly become our favourite on screen family that’s always up for adventure.”

“The British sense of humour is evident throughout the movie, which is hilarious enough to entertain any adult who has brought his children to see the lovable bear,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The values (very clever indeed) include the importance and difference between family and clan, as well as where one belongs and where one comes from.”

Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)

(dir. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson)

“The question of Black genius, moreover, hangs throughout the film. Thompson clearly recognizes the expectations he set for himself after Summer of Soul!. Feature debuts are rarely as strong as that one,” says Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “Perhaps inevitably, he follows a similar pattern of archive and intimate conversational interviews. It’s a model that works, but one that invites comparison. With Summer of Soul!, he unearthed something new with the rarely seen footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. That footage included some great images of Sly and the Family Stone, which don’t appear here, although Sly Lives! boasts lots of concert scenes from the earliest known footage of the band to a coked-out jam at Woodstock. What’s new here is the perspective as artists re-examine the rise and fall narrative through the lens of double standards.”

Something Is About to Happen (dir. Antonio Méndez Esparza)

“There is clear audience anticipation at this point in the movie and the 45-minute mark, that indeed Something Is About to Happen, and likely it will not be good,” advises Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film covers many genres, making it more interesting a film.  It is a part romantic drama, surreal suspense, character story and sexual thriller.”

Timestalker (dir. Alice Lowe)

“Written and directed by Alice Lowe – she should be credited for taking daring risks in a romantic comedy set for release on Valentine’s Day,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “As far as production values go, the sets, wardrobe, dialogue are all spot on.  The only problem with the film, touted as a comedy is that it is not funny enough to elicit any laugh-out-loud laughs.  The film is funny amusing at best. The story also contains lots of loopholes that Rowe expects her audience to overlook.”

The Witchers: Sirens of the Deep (dir. Kang Hei Chul)

“The animation, though not bad (always check out the animation of water in any animated feature) is nothing really out of the ordinary.  The main fascination with the film is the animated story that comes from the Polish Witcher universe, which at present has quite a cult following,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Though not as famous as Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Rings Universe, The Witcher series has its devout followers.”

TV Talk/Series Stuff: Checking in to The White Lotus, SNL, Oscars

At Original Cin, Karen Gordon packs her bags for the return of The White Lotus: “White’s brilliance is creating multiple characters dealing with a range of issues. But canny understanding of human nature is just part of the fun. His direction finds that sweet spot between drama, tension, comedy and menace, and that’s enhanced and underscored by his choice of music,” says Gordon. “As is his habit, White right up front shows us a scene from farther in the series. This telegraphs that, health program or not, there’s a good chance one of the guests won’t make it home, giving this canny series the vibe of a thriller.”

At The Gate, Andrew Parker assess the return to the homicidal getaways: “The best case scenario for something that’s more or less a high end soap opera full of intrigue, buried secrets, wild twists, and death, The White Lotus takes a more measured and slow burning approach to this third instalment, but it’s no less intriguing and captivating than White’s previous escapades into similar territory. Once again backed up by gorgeous settings, outstanding writing, and an all-star line-up of performers, White reaffirms The White Lotus’ status as one of the best shows on television.” It’s also season three for Yellowjackets: “After an atypically rough start to this latest cycle in the time shifting story put forward by creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, I’m still intrigued to see where Yellowjackets is heading,” says Parker.

At Zoomer, Brian D. Johnson marks the 50^th anniversary of Saturday Night Live with an appreciation of a TV milestone: “SNL has been in the milestone business from the beginning, ever since its first episode aired on Oct. 11, 1975,” writes Johnson. “Right out of the gate, it was on a mission to disrupt network TV with the subversive energy of a cast fuelled by sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll – steered by a circumspect producer with deep Canadian roots. Born and raised in Toronto, Michaels (who changed his name from Lipowitz early in his career) literally married into a founding family of  TV sketch comedy. His high-school sweetheart and first wife was Rosie Shuster, daughter of Frank Shuster, who pioneered the craft with Johnny Wayne in a duo that was a staple of The Ed Sullivan Show.”

At Classical FM, Marc Glassman makes some early picks ahead of the Oscars broadcast, including Adrien Brody for Best Actor: “Adrien Brody, an Oscar winner for The Pianist, is back in award-winning form as a psychologically damaged architect in The Brutalist. The character of László Tóth, Jewish-Hungarian architect, is a difficult one to portray, even for Brody, whose heritage and religion mirrors that of the person he is playing. Tóth is an elusive figure, one who never plays his family, friends or employer for sympathy, which perhaps makes him more deserving of our respect and compassion. Brody shows us the architect’s vulnerability and dignity throughout, making a complex individual understandable, if never beloved.”