June 13, 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

Best Wishes to All (dir. Yûta Shimotsu)

“But once the mystery is revealed, which is roughly at the film’s halfway mark, the film seems to go nowhere, leading to an ending in the air.  But the biggest flaw is the credibility of the whole exercise,” sighs Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Why is the nursing student the only one not in with the happiness ploy?   What about the rest of the population?  There are too many unanswered questions in the hokey plot.”

Bleeding (dir. Andrew Bell)

“Director Bell has devised a good variation of the vampire genre by making what is basically another vampire flick to be one in which more authenticity involving blood and more human gritty matters,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film is also set in marginal North America where the characters are far away from the American dream.”

Boxcutter (dir. Reza Dahya 🇨🇦)

“But the real charm of Boxcutter is just how Dahya and his cinematographer James Klopko capture the city as Rome criss-crosses it. Without jackhammering the point home, the film’s vision of Toronto is one of a city shedding one skin to wear another, in the process forcing all the creative forces who make it so special further and further outside its boundaries,” observes Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “It is a portrait of a city that feels both nuanced and universal – you don’t need to know the specifics of Regent Park redevelopment to understand why Rome and Jenaya feel so unnerved when passing by its glass-box condos and giant construction pits.”

Cheers to Life (dir. Cris D’Amato)

“Cheers to Life fails to elicit much wonder or insight or intrigue though it does attempt to explore the themes of identity, forgiveness, and the bonds of family, wrapped in lighthearted humour and scenic travelogue,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Endless Cookie (dir. Seth Scriver, Pete Scriver 🇨🇦)

“Both hilarious and heartbreaking, this animated family album is a jam-packed visual memoir from half-brothers Seth and Peter Scriver — Seth is White, and Peter is Indigenous,” writes Liz Braun at Original Cin. “Endless Cookie is a treasure. It’s a fantastic family story — you will fall in love with Peter’s creative offspring — but also a disheartening look at the realities of Indigenous life in Canada. The movie was a hit at Sundance and at Hot Docs 2025, where it won the Audience Award.”

At POV Magazine, Jason Gorber chats with Seth and Pete Scriver about recording the latter’s stories for the world to experience. “I always love Pete’s stories, and a lot of the stories in the movie are family stories that everyone loves to tell or hear, you know?” says Seth. “And then, it was like yeah, let’s do this project and shoot for the stars. You don’t think you’re going to get to the highest level, like Sundance. When you do, it’s, like, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ I mean, we love these stories and we’re stoked that other people do too. You want to make fun of yourself first, so no one else makes fun of you first. It’s better to do it that way, right?”

“Pete’s stories are told in a low-key style often punctuated by a laugh. His main one is about having his hands caught in a beaver trap and trying to figure out a way to extricate himself,” explains Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “Constantly interrupted by his family, whom Seth also loves, it takes over a year to record and animate that tale. Other—supposedly shorter—tales are recounted involving stealing chickens in Toronto’s Kensington Market; the RCMP misinterpreting the very bloody gutting of a caribou as a criminal act and arresting a youngster simply for a moment of hi-jinks.”

“[E]nds up a fresh innovative indigenous animated documentary with looney and arguable accurate depictions of what it is to live in the Manitoba reservations,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“The sheer randomness of Endless Cookie, however, amounts to a wonderful design. This film illustrates the pleasure to be found in nostalgia and the importance of passing down stories by generations,” says Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “Pete’s fish stories have great markers of time, place, and history in their own roundabout ways. As Seth burns through a pile of public money to his brother’s stories, the adventure provides a cathartic laugh. The film shares the importance of humour in keeping a community spirit alive and healthy. If it means focusing on seemingly mundane fables that kind of/sort of have a moral, but at least provide some levity, so be it. Endless Cookie may be the strangest, most seemingly nonsensical documentary in some time. But there’s one truth to a whackadoodle odyssey like this one: you will definitely have a story to tell afterwards.”

How to Train Your Dragon (dir. Dean DeBlois)

“Like the animated version, Toothless is the real star. Muscular and scaly while retaining his panther-like charm, he is every bit as endearing as his cartoon self,” writes Rachel West at That Shelf. “His relationship with Hiccup is charming. Thomas shines as Hiccup, a perfect human personification of Jay Baruchel’s animated version. Watching the duo soar into the clouds and through the air is as exhilarating as anything one might see in Top Gun: Maverick – especially on the giant IMAX screen where these sequences add an extra layer of adrenaline.”

“The original’s already digitally rendered, video-game-like dragons are more or less indistinguishable when CGI-ed into our live-action Viking paradise, while DeBlois years ago told the New York Times he aimed to ape real-world cinematography with these films,” says Jackson Weaver at CBC. “That vision lends itself to the limited benefits 2025’s version have over 2010’s: The action-first set pieces hit harder when they’re flying through the hauntingly beautiful rock spires of the Faroe Islands. And both chases and fiery fights pack an extra oomph when given the thumpy realism of, well, reality.”

“Dean DeBlois, the Canadian writer/director associated with the Train Your Dragon franchise from day one, directs this latest version. DeBlois could have settled for accurately recreating the original—which, in part, he does—but whether intentional or as a by-product of the exercise, his direction transcends the source material, sparking a seamless evolution of ideas and performances,” writes Thom Ernst at Original Cin. “DeBlois elevates a beloved cinema memory and creates a spectacle, a mythical fairy tale—Game of Thrones lite—with enough DreamWorks Animation magic to warrant its own theme park ride. There are scenes in How to Train Your Dragon that reinforce just how disappointing Gladiator II is.”

“Cartoon logic doesn’t work in this live-action version. Hiccup and his fellow slay mates gather in an arena that resembles Rome’s Coliseum to train against a fire-breathing group of dragons that includes one resembling an obese budgie, and another with two heads that may have wandered out of a Japanese monster movie,” notes Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “How to Train Your Dragon works best as a showcase for talented young actors. They badger each other with one-liners that give the film much needed humour. Besides Thames and Parker, the other young dragon wranglers are played by Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn.”

“Stunning CGI dragons, especially Toothless’s emotional expressions; faithfulness to the original’s tone and structure, together with the film’s strong visuals and score, make How to Train Your Dragon a wonderful film, allowing audiences to take the emotion of wonder away with them,” adds Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

The Life of Chuck (dir. Mike Flanagan)

“To be fair, beneath the set dressing is the message. Without getting too specific, it all boils down to Chuck’s own legacy, and the weepy It’s A Wonderful Life moral of a life well-lived,” says Jackson Weaver at CBC. “But what makes The Life of Chuck so infuriatingly, outrageously, quintessentially Stephen King is how this so closely follows the paint-by-numbers framing of all his non-horror outings. As this movie grapples with the terrifying fear of impending, unavoidable death — and having every one of the experiences and memories we have of the world die along with us — we are told that whole pocket universes of our experiences exist within ourselves.”

“The Life of Chuck is meticulously crafted by writer/director/editor Mike Flanagan, keeping much of the spirit of the Stephen King’s story, which is feel good with lots of spirited and inspired dancing aided by the wonderful performance if both Jacob Tremblay and Tim Hiddleston as the young and older Chuck,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“The Life of Chuck feels endearing despite its slips. This is a movie that, like its central dance, aims to please,” notes Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “Flanagan’s third adaptation of a Stephen King work – following 2017’s Gerald’s Game and 2019’s Doctor Sleep – The Life of Chuck is more Stand By Me than The Shining, a life-affirming tale dripping with both the author’s trademark sentimentality and exceptional layers of narrative intrigue. Nearly impossible to describe without completely ruining its mostly clever structure, the story is split into three parts, told backward.”

“Flanagan stays faithful to King’s story in both structure and tone. The Life of Chuck is presented  in three acts, starting with the third and working back to act one.  It’s an interesting technique that gives the film extra layers of meaning. The one thing he does differently is bring in a narrator, Nick Offerman, who gives the film some context,” writes Karen Gordon at Original Cin. “Act three is anchored by teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Like the rest of the people in his town, he’s dealing with a series of unexplained phenomena and natural disasters. The internet is going down. TV broadcasting is intermittent.  Parts of the city are collapsing into sink holes.  Some people have already given up on going to work.”

“The Life of Chuck could be a gem, a rare film that touches the heart,” says Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “All of the elements are there but Flanagan doesn’t trust the material enough to let scenes play out to let characters show their nuances and true humanity. Moments are set up for Chuck (at various stages) to truly interact with the young dancer Cat or the older one, Janice, or with his Zaydee and Bubbie. But they aren’t written or directed in a way to make us care, even though the film has made us ready to feel that emotion.”

Materialists (dir. Celine Song)

“[I]ntimate, elegant, assured; there are silences, and not a word is wasted,” says Johanna Schneller at The Globe and Mail, who also speaks with Song about her sophomore feature. “It’s about getting to the bottom of what people actually want, asking a question that touches their heart,” Song says. “What makes you feel safe, what makes you feel good? What makes you feel this is a person you can share a bathroom with? I can’t believe I let my husband share my bathroom. I don’t like it.” She laughs. “The specs are never going to work. The only thing that will work is discovering the way you want to be in this love.”

“While a lot was conveyed visually in Past Lives, and even in the silences, Song leans heavily on the script in Materialists,” writes Barbara Goslawski at Screen Anarchy. “It’s the main element that drives this film forward. Past Lives had a stylistic nuance where the camera flowed through complicated situations and feelings. The longing between the characters was palpable and even painful to experience. In essence she and her actors created a haunting tone poem. Here there is a somewhat interesting message about how shallow our social media-based society has become and how the consequences affect people. But it’s nothing new and becomes tiresome rather quickly.”

“Drawing from her own life experiences, writer/director Celine Song not only avoids the ‘sophomore slump’ here on Materialists but she blasts it out of the water as this story is both emotionally engaging but also exists in a world so ridiculous and horrible that you can’t help but believe it since it’s born of our own insecurities,” notes Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “Dakota Johnson actually leans into the vibe of the early act of the film by being mildly unlikeable but also sympathetic all at the same time.  She takes us on a journey where hope actually doesn’t feel attainable until it actually is because we are allowed to see the cracks in the glossy armor of the matchmaker who feels like she’s at both a personal and professional cross roads without an actual clue of what to do.”

“Dakota Johnson stars as Lucy, a beautiful, sharp-minded businesswoman working for a high-end matchmaking company in Manhattan. And although she’s the bridge to making love matches for others, she’s single,” says Karen Gordon at Original Cin. “Lucy is an interesting character. She’s looks like the ultimate catch. She sizes up clients in minutes and sells them on the idea that their perfect match is out there, and she can help them find that. She’s pushing a romantic notion yet she’s not romantic about it all…Even still, the cast is so skillful and grounded in their characters that it feels true. Materialists is fun and satisfying and, thanks its wonderful cast, full of tender sweetness.”

“Where Past Lives was achingly romantic and tragic, Materialists is something completely different. It begins as something conventional, then becomes something inherently more dark and confronting. The turning point results in a more complicated, and therefore interesting film, but the transition in and out of the crisis is a challenging emotional rollercoaster for viewers,” says Joe Lipsett at Queer Horror Movies. “Materialists is more interesting because of Song’s resistance to romantic tropes, but this ain’t no crowd-pleaser (even if it is being sold as one).”

Our Times (Chava Cartas)

“[A] sweet and charming, funny and insightful sci-fi rom-com about societal norms, while not being too demanding of its audience,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

That They May Face the Rising Sun (dir. Pat Collins)

“Reminiscent of the beauty of the recent Irish film, a few years back, The Quiet Girl, That They May Face the Rising is a quietly moving drama about living it out in nature in rural Ireland,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Trials also exist though the film largely contemplates the lasting happiness that passes unnoticed.  A beautiful film!”

Things Like This (dir. Max Talisman)

“Despite the filmmaker’s bold move to make his movie he seems destined to make, to dispel the negativity of a fat man getting into a relationship, the film falls into all the traps of a Harlequin romantic comedy type that fails to impress,” sighs Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Titan (dir. Mark Monroe)

“Going underwater to great depths or travelling thousands of miles into space spins awesome adventures,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “But with these journeys come imminent dangers.   The new Netflix documentary focuses on the dangers of the Titan.”

File Under Miscellaneous

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen and Marc Glassman speak with Julian Carrington about his new role as the executive director of the Documentary Organization of Canada, and coming to the position from his role as a programmer, critic, and advocate. “I had been at TIFF … as a programming associate. TIFF is a massive festival and features documentaries, but is primarily oriented towards features and to high profile features at that,” says Carrington. “That exposed me to a side of the industry that is more commercial, more driven by the promise of fame and fortune, and that can attract a certain ambitious individual. Whereas, once I stepped into that role at DOC and got to know more filmmakers in the documentary community, I felt a sense of belonging in that documentary filmmakers tend to be very values driven, very socially and politically conscious. Those values resonated with me.”

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz picks the summer movies that should be atop your radar, including another return to Jurassic Park: “Just like a stubbornly profitable franchise, you cannot keep a good dinosaur down,” writes Hertz. “In a seemingly speedy sequel to the last Jurassic trilogy (which only wrapped its run in 2022), director Gareth Edwards’s Rebirth plops a bunch of new scientists/fresh meat onto yet another secluded dinosaur lab (how many of these things did original park creator John Hammond finance, anyway?). The results may not surprise you – chomp, chomp – but maybe new stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey will let off a few good quips before being devoured.”

A Festival of Festival Coverage

At Original Cin, Jim Slotek reports on the Blue Mountain Film + Media Festival where Racewalkers scurried off with the audience award: “The film about the goony-bird Olympic sport of competitive walking – directed by and starring the Toronto duo of Kevin Claydon and Phil Moniz – continued its winning ways at the verdant Blue Mountain Film + Media Festival, where it was the opening night gala,” writes Slotek. “But my highlight was Dog Night, a trio of programmed films that included an outdoor screening of the classic Christopher Guest film Best in Show, The Friend (a cute mutt story starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray), and a true revelation in Guan Hu’s film Black Dog, about a Chinese ex-rock star turned ex-convict, who becomes the protector of a fugitive dog in a wannabe-gentrified town that’s trying to purge stray dogs.”

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz speaks with figures from Canadian film and telefilm at Banff and learns why Canada needs a star system. “It’s so anti-Canadian to put money toward marketing,” Kyle Irving of Winnipeg’s Eagle Vision tells Hertz. “We have a social system that supports our industry, and we’re the envy of the world for that. We are lucky, because it’s the only way we can have an identity when the big machine is right there on the other side. That being said, we need to change the philosophy around that money. This idea that Canadian taxpayer dollars might go to promote Canadian shows, it’s been something that you can’t do. And why?”

At Original Cin, Liam Lacey previews the Toronto Japanese Film Festival, which offers a mix of youth and aged wisdom: “Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world with more than 28 percent over 65, and thus a tradition of films that focus on resilience and second chances,” writes Lacey. “The 35-Year Promise (June 14) is a drama based on the true story of an illiterate senior who took night classes to write his wife a love letter for their anniversary.  Less optimistic is Teki Cometh (June 17), black-and-white psychological study that swept the recent Tokyo Film Festival, winning for best film, best director (Daihachi Yoshida), and best actor for Nagatsuka Kyōzō for his tour-de-force performance as a retired French professor and widower, drifting in and out of his imagination, haunted by fear of an attack from enemy invaders, the ghost of his late wife and indiscretions he may have committed.”

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen speaks with James L. Freedman about his documentary on actor Charles Grodin, which closes out the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. “I hope it makes them think that he was one person and he did a lot,” says Freedman. “It’s amazing what one person can do if they put their mind to it and that maybe it makes them think a little bit about helping someone else on the smallest level. You don’t have to work for 20 years to get someone out of prison. You can bring a neighbour some food if they’re an elderly woman or a man who needs help, or you can just do things to help your fellow man. Charles Grodin was a mensch.”

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At What She Said, Anne Brodie explores a Toronto cad in ROMCON: “[A] true-life crime two-parter on a horrifying real life case of a Toronto man, Jason Porter, a first-class serial scammer who preyed on older women,” writes Brodie. “He used flattery and heavy-duty pretence of loving them, and robbed them. Three of his victims speak out detailing their experiences. Realtor Heather Rovet connected with him on PlentyofFish based on his appearance, he was a ‘super cute guy’ (I beg to differ) and ‘he made me feel beautiful, sexy, desired’.” Meanwhile, Katie Uhlman’s Cows Come Home is “a breath of fresh air!” And the return of Fubar is a “silly, 80s style action and adventure.”