June 20, 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

28 Years Later (dir. Danny Boyle)

“Making his appearance two-thirds of the way into the film, Ralph Fiennes delivers a gonzo character that is heartbreaking and human. Fiennes and Williams are dynamite together, bonded by trauma and the deep desire for human connection,” notes Rachel West at That Shelf. “Young Williams is a star in the making, never feeling out of his depth against acting heavyweights or gory set pieces. He’s able to keep the intensity and thrill ratcheted up throughout his screen-time, communicating what it’s like to be born into a world full of rage, trauma, isolation, and fear, but also humanity. He is born into survival with the instincts of the generation before him bred into his very being, even if he can’t understand the true losses his elders have endured.”

“Fiennes’ appearance so late in the film turns out to be worth the wait, as he’s easily the most interesting character in the mix, spouting Latin aphorisms one moment, shooting poison darts the next,” agrees Chris Knight at the National Post. “Though it must also be said that young Alfie Williams as Spike delivers a credible melange of innocence and gravitas that helps carry the movie. Not sure what to say about the film’s final act, except that it doesn’t so much set up a sequel as demand one.”

“28 Years Later’s premise is a compelling one. The world has managed to confine the lab-created virus to the U.K., leaving its inhabitants to fend for themselves. A village on an island off the coast of Scotland is surviving – in an almost medieval fashion, with a causeway to the mainland that is only passable during low tide,” adds Jim Slotek at Original Cin. “The medieval theme is hammered home by jump-cut visuals of that era’s soldiers firing volleys of arrows at invaders. And indeed, bow-and-arrows are the weapons of choice in this society, which has devolved technologically in a single generation.”

“28 Years Later is an extremely intense, well-shot horror zombie film that combines emotional drama in the coming-of-age experience of a 12-year-old boy as he tries to save his ill mother despite the zombie apocalypse,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“The tonal shifts and avalanche of characters make it hard to fully embrace 28 Years Later, especially when the reality dawns that Boyle and Garland are stretching out the story not because the tale needs the time, but because they want it to be a trilogy,” says Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “So, after 28 years, we get not a satisfying resolution but a frustrating promissory note: a film mutating as restlessly as its infected monsters, shifting from primal horror to melodrama, pausing only to daub itself in narrative iodine.”

“At times heady and surreal instead of straightforward and dynamic, 28 Years Later wants to challenge its audience to some extent, but those more artful and philosophical touches often run counter to a story about family togetherness and bonds that’s admittedly hokey and overblown,” writes Andrew Parker at The Gate. “It’s a movie that’s more interesting than it is great, but also not something that will easily evaporate from memory.”

Ash (dir. Steven Ellison)

“Nothing much happens in this slow-burning horror mystery space thriller, which suffers mainly from a weak narrative and stylized visuals that make matters all the more confusing,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The best thing about the film is an imagining of what space exploration on another planet is like.  Perhaps in the future, when spacecraft take humans to other planets, the same atmosphere could be experienced.  The film also shows that with beauty comes the accompanying dangers.”

Bride Hard (dir. Simon West)

“Everything goes wrong that could go wrong in the action-comedy Bride Hard, and I’m not talking about the on screen events that set its plot into motion,” says Andrew Parker at The Gate. “Devoid of anything approaching genuine laughs, mirth, suspense, or decent action, Bride Hard is a near perfect zero of a film; a failure on every level that should’ve been stopped before going into production and certainly before it’s foisted upon the public in barely releasable condition.”

“Bride Hard is enjoyable, but it is sloppy. The film uses devices like an industrial size vacuum cleaner to transport Sam and Betsy from one side of the island to the other, while neglecting to have an intake device for the machine,” notes Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “Errors abound. At one point, Betsy hides a huge gun in her skintight dress in order to hand it over to her father, a former military man. We never see the gun hidden away, nor do we see the handover of the weapon, since it couldn’t have happened as outlined in the script.”

Elio (dir. Domee Shi)

“This latest offering from Pixar has finally arrived in theatres after a year-long delay and a wildly shifting strategy, possibly resulting from its fraught behind-the-scenes trajectory. The result is a disparate, possibly alienating tonal melange of a UFO movie — somehow even more disorganized than that congressional hearing on UFOs we are all somehow fine with having happened,” says Jackson Weaver at CBC. “The movie’s originality is something to be marvelled at. Unfortunately, like Meet the Robinsons, it’s probably too original and too divisive to find a massive audience. A polarizing study in loneliness that, unlike the intentionally tame and wildly successful Lilo & Stitch remake, is anything but conventional, Elio is a joyous, tragic, miracle of creativity. What’s most sad is how unlikely it is to be rewarded for that.”

“Although the film has enough tension and drama to hold attention, it’s easygoing. Elio is a happy, sweet positive boy, and although we understand that he doesn’t feel comfortable with his life, or that he fits anywhere on Earth, he’s not morose or easily discouraged,” says Karen Gordon at Original Cin. “But aunt Olga is not so easily fooled, something Elio doesn’t see — but we do. That perfection is not what she is looking for in him or why she loves him. It’s part of the biggest message for kids, who can feel like they don’t matter or that they never get things right or they just don’t fit in. Wanting to run away with aliens into space or another planet where he’ll be unique is a lovely metaphor for aiming to find your place in the universe where you’ll be seen and accepted as you are, flaws and all. That theme speaks to adults as well.”

“Heartwarming and packed to bursting with visual ingenuity, tearjerking moments, and sharp humour, Elio is one of Pixar’s absolute best,” notes Andrew Parker at The Gate.

Calling it “a coming-of-age tale that flips the E.T. narrative,” Peter Howell speaks with Domee Shi at the Toronto Star about being the “gal from Toronto” at Pixar: “I hope so! I think so. Turning Red and Bao are both very Canadian stories,” says Shi. “I try when I can to repay my hometown and my home country. It kind of just creeps out of me unintentionally. I can’t help it – I was raised here. I wish there were more (references to Canada in Elio).”

“As in all Pixar and Disney Studios animated features, the animation is top-notch notch with many of the films winning Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. Elio follows Disney’s formulaic procedure of making films. There is the lonely boy who finds satisfaction and saves the world, in this case, an alien world, in the process,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “A successful formula works and why change a formula that works well? Elio is terribly boring in its storytelling, and this critic is having a really difficult time staying awake.”

Eye for an Eye (dir. Colin Tilley)

“Eye for an Eye is a fast-moving horror feature with interesting enough characters for the audience to like or hate,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Gore and violence add to the ‘entertainment’ in what might be deemed a satisfactory excursion for horror fans.”

Grenfell Uncovered (dir. Olaide Sadiq)

“There are two key elements that make this doc stand out,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “One is that it is a disaster and disaster films are always a hit with film audiences, all the more if the disaster is a real-life one, like the Titanic or the Titan.  The other element is a cover-up story, which makes the doc feel like a true crime drama, which in a way it is.”

His Father’s Son (dir. Meelad Moaphi) 🇨🇦

“The superior drama His Father’s Son reinvents the way we see families in cinema; this is a whole new animal, shot in Toronto by Meelad Moaphi whose rich cinematic vision is a treat,” raves Anne Brodie at What She Said. “There’s a world of hurt inside each family member, revealed with delicacy, authentically and without sentimentality. Can a parent prefer one child over another?  Can Mayhar’s illicit relationship survive?  And who was Parviz? Why won’t anyone say? A well crafted, impressive, fresh and moving film that spans a spectrum of emotions.”

“The message is effectively communicated in this otherwise quiet, moving and insightful film,” agrees Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “It takes sensitivity, love and tolerance for a family to stay together. And if there is an argument, one must give in though both may be at fault.”

“The film, which won an audience award and a Director’s Guild of Canada prize at last November’s Reel Asian Film Festival, is a polished work, attentively crafted and acted by a solid Iranian Canadian cast, drawn from across the country,” notes Liam Lacey at Original Cin. “The film’s themes are male sexual possessiveness and the way fathers can project their own inadequacy onto their sons – not necessarily just in immigrant families, but perhaps more emphatically. Refreshingly, it’s an Iranian story that doesn’t involve a backstory about prison, torture, or threats from Iran’s theocratic dictatorship. Apparently, some Iranians had other reasons for emigrating.”

Meet the Barbarians (dir. Julie Delpy)

“Meet the Barbarians shifts back and forth between comedy and drama, which is clearly the director’s intent,” says Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “But Delpy struggles to keep the film’s tone consistent. Has she made a comedy with a serious subtext or a drama with enough humour to keep viewers engaged with all the characters–even the slightly mean ones? In the end, Delpy counts on the good will of audiences to enjoy her light-hearted exploration of racism.”

“Actress Julie Delpy (star of films by Godard, Kieslowski and Linklater) directs her own film, proving herself totally apt and a force to be reckoned with,” observes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “She centres her sights on comedy with a message with a film that matters that she delivers in style with lots of hilarity, drama and a bit of satire.  The story is set in Paimpont, a small town in France, preparing to welcome a Ukrainian refugee family and is surprised when a Syrian family shows up instead.”

Semi-Souther (dir. Joshua Rous)

“Director Rous and the actors try to be funny, but they are more all over the place with unfunny attempts than anything else,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film, obviously aiming at situational humor, family chaos, and warm moments, does not deliver the familiar charm it intended. The only redeeming quality of the film is the fumbling shot in South Africa, where the tourist spots are touted and the audience gets to see how the wealthy white people live.”

Surviving Ohio State (dir. Eva Orner)

“The doc makes a skin-crawlingly clear case that ultimately lays the accountability on the school and system that let Strauss claim countless victims over two decades,” writes Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “Among them is the daughter of a forming fencing instructor, who tells how her mom listened to athletes’ concerns, filed a complaint with the administration, and refused to let Strauss examine her players. It’s telling that the lone voice from the institution was a woman speaking out against locker room culture.”

File Under Miscellaneous

At the Toronto Star, Winnie Wang interviews Materialists director Celine Song: “A romantic comedy for the modern age, the film interrogates our obsession with material concerns in the pursuit of love, when shallow desires and prejudices are disguised as preferences. The film asks: What is lost when we believe our soulmates can be distilled into data points, when we eliminate contingencies and pre-emptively write off possibilities?”

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz reports on the good vibes and cautious omens for Canadian film and media out of Banff: “There were fleeting moments throughout the week that promised brighter days just around the corner. Such as when Vicky Eatrides, chief executive of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, pledged in her keynote address that her agency is ‘making progress’ on the official definition of ‘Canadian content’ as it relates to C-11. Or whenever someone mentioned the success of the new Canadian comedy series North of North, which marked an unprecedented partnership between Netflix, the CBC and APTN. Were you to play a drinking game at the festival in which you had to take a shot every time someone in power mentioned either that series or Netflix’s Adolescence as programs to emulate, you would’ve been good and plastered by the afternoon of Day One,” writes Hertz. “Yet there were far more sobering scenes that brought the festival back down to earth.” Hertz also reviews the Canadian film Fortescue ahead of its July release.

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At What She Said, Anne Brodie remembers Rob Ford, who gets global attention in Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem: “Ford was colourful enough to warrant international media attention in some of the worst ways.” From Trainwreck to Outrageous, Brodie binges wild behaviour, this time with a British twist: “So many stories, so many twists and turns, and World War II, all given a keen, modern sensibility. It’s fast and snappy, ambitious and speaks of their time and ours and its political edge is tres today.  You can’t make this stuff up!” And some odious folks fuel The Waterfront: “The people are vile, amoral, rotten to the core and it never lets up.”

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen looks at Netflix’s Rob Ford documentary Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem: “The blunders, soundbites, and gaffes, however, are so wild that one wouldn’t believe them in a scripted drama. Even one familiar with the tale can’t help but laugh aloud at the snippets.  The documentary admittedly delivers superficial thrills aplenty at the expense of the deeper questions, but Trainwreck won’t go there by design with the poop cruise on deck for next week. It falls into a specific variety of true crime trap: easy infotainment without much interest in the systems that create and perpetuate such chaos.”