May 30, 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

Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (dir. Ivona Juka)

“The film is more positive in the first half before turning really harsh in the second half with a few very hard to watch segments like the beating of the gay characters,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The segment really makes the audience wonder why there is so much hate and disgust for fellow human beings.”

“There is so much heart in this Croatia-Canada co-production – Croatia’s official entry to the Academy Awards earlier this year – but the beats are too infrequent,” admits Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “Although the performances are strong and Juka’s arguments against bigotry and fascism are sincere, the filmmaking carries an air of conventionality, its images stark but somehow superficial at the same time.”

“Much violence ensues in the film’s concluding section. Lovro and his friends suffer grievously for their naïveté. It may be a fair criticism of Tito’s Yugoslavia but Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day is hard to watch. It snookers the film, forcing a symbolic, ‘magical realist’ ending,” writes Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “If viewers can handle a very tough ending to a wonderfully made film, Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day is well worth seeing. If not, please consider watching the first two-thirds of this honest, hard-hitting film.”

“It’s an imperfect assembly of a lot of moving parts and characters of varying depths, but as an examination of historical oppression and cultural repression, Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day manages many moments of dramatic power and grace,” notes Andrew Parker at The Gate.

Bono: Stories of Surrender (dir. Andrew Dominik)

“‘I‘ve certainly got some imposter syndrome here, impersonating an actor on the Croisette, walking the plank that is the red carpet,’ Bono says, not at all convincingly,” writes Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “‘It was strange making this film, because I thought maybe I wouldn’t be very good at acting? I found it quite overwhelming, having to go to all those places.’ … Bono is well-aware that the new film is something of a vanity project – he cops to it right in its opening. But the musician also knows that he didn’t get to where he is, headlining world tours and bending Apple to his whims, by shying away from the spotlight.”

“Shot in handsome black and white by Erik Messerschmidt (Mank, Ferrari), this desaturated aesthetic has long been used to capture some of U2’s most iconic moments, usually under the direction of their long-time collaborator Anton Corbijn,” says Jason Gorber at POV Magazine. “The effort does fit with the expected look, but one can’t help but wonder whether the smallest amount of colour saturation would have made it feel a more intimate and less staid. This is, after all, meant to be a stripped down version of the man’s psyche and musical output, so there’s already a lot of minimisation at play. The choice seems akin to a hat placed atop another hat.”

Bring Her Back (dir. Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou)

“The trauma in Bring Her Back is big and unapologetic, but also entertaining and spine rattling in the ways one expects from a well-made genre film. It’s nothing short of a modern classic and a work of dark art,” says Andrew Parker at The Gate.

“[A]ll but the most horror-averse will likely piece together what’s hiding under that surface no longer than about 10 minutes after the character archetypes establish themselves. There is the innocent lamb here, the penitent but sin-stained martyr there, and the ill-advised deals with the devil that can only ever go one way for those foolish enough to enter into them,” writes Jackson Weaver at CBC. “That’s compounded by an ending that feels like a step back from the edge, an at-once predictable yet vaguely disappointing finale that undercuts its own message. This kind of failsafe turn, while something of a relief from the unrelentingly dour atmosphere up until then, also feels like the Philippous are unable to trust that their audience knows what kind of movie they’ve agreed to.”

“Unrelentingly bleak in its story and gag-inducing in its imagery, the film offers stone-cold proof that the Philippous possess a two-way portal into the abyss,” writes Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “The shocks here are not meant to inspire fits of giggles, like so many contemporary horror flicks. Instead, the terror is palpable, designed to snap your head away from the screen for genuine fear of what sights might flash upon the screen. Extra-evil points go to the foley artists assigned with figuring out just what it might sound like for someone to [redacted] or stick a [redacted] in their [redacted].”

“The Philippous (directors) have created one horror segment in this film that is so scary that it is guaranteed (almost) to have anyone turn away,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “This is the scene in which Andy hands the disturbed Oliver a piece of melon at the edge of a sharp knife. It is truly the best horror film opening this year and is on my list for the top 10 films of 2025.”

The Heart Knows (dir. Marcos Carnevale)

“Though the film explores themes of love, loss, identity, and redemption, offering a poignant narrative about how lives can intertwine in unexpected ways, the film feels condescending to its audience, with too much sentimentality all mired in clichéd territory, the script cannot seem to escape from,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Karate Kid: Legends (dir. Jonathan Entwhistle)

“Ultimately, there’s nothing really wrong with Karate Kid: Legends but there’s nothing really right with it either,” sighs Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “It’s a piece of intellectual property that kept the costs low (which opens the door for potential sequels, spin-off’s and more importantly studio profit) but it serves as reminder that the rose coloured eyes that many people my age look upon the original films don’t always translate to the light of day when it comes to the original films or even the Cobra Kai TV series. It’s a fun little timewaster of a movie (with a mid-credits cameo that’s worth waiting for) but it’s nothing that adds to the legacy or the lore of the franchise either.”

“I can’t say that I was bored or that I wasn’t thoroughly entertained by what I was seeing, and not necessarily in a ‘this is so awful it’s secretly great’ kind of way,” admits Andrew Parker at The Gate. “I was genuinely charmed by this hyperactive, scrappy mess of a movie, even if it stands up to almost no critical scrutiny whatsoever. Karate Kid Legends is an example of a bad movie that’s inherently watchable, which, given the state of most modern tentpole blockbusters and franchise movies these days, is something rare and special.”

Sabbath Queen (dir. Sandi Dubowski)

“This film explores what it means to navigate seemingly incompatible currents of faith, belonging, place, tradition, heritage, and identity on personal terms, rather than institutional ones,” writes Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “But Sabbath Queen has lots of material and many contradictions to reconcile in the 21 years of footage upon which Dubowski draws. Simply put, there’s so much terrain to cover here that the portrait inevitably feels lacking and somewhat dated, if very well-intentioned and both thematically and representationally significant. This doc is an expansive portrait of the complexity entailed in keeping the faith as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, but not necessarily a dramatically satisfying one.”

Two Women (dir. Chloé Robichaud 🇨🇦)

“The way Robichaud allows her actors to treat these characters with the utmost compassion and without judgement makes all the difference here, making Two Women a slight, but fun little movie that proves empowerment and bittersweet feelings can sometimes go hand in hand,” observes Andrew Parker at The Gate.

“In Robichaud’s clever remake of a Quebec farce that was a huge hit in the early Seventies Canadian era of ‘maple syrup porn’—titillating bawdy comedies—she makes Florence into a self-aware intellectual, who decides to take control of her body,” says Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “While she’s liberating herself, Florence brings the quirky Violette along for the ride. And what a ride: there isn’t an exterminator, plumber, electrician or milkman who doesn’t get more than a regular tip from the newly freed ladies of the condo.”

“The film begins to drag a bit towards the end, once all the characters have been introduced and their idiosyncrasies revealed,” writes Gilbert Seah at Toronto Franco. “Still, this is a free-spirited flowing film including anything that can happen.”

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Two Women, for all its entertainment value, is silly and shallow, though deeper than porn, it must be said. The conclusion finds one couple separating while the other finds a way to stay together, but one could easily imagine those conclusions being reversed with little impact on the story,” writes Chris Knight at Original Cin. “What most surprised this Gen-X critic was the fact that the film is a remake, based on Claude Fournier’s racy 1970 comedy of the same name. You’re telling me they’d already invented sex that long ago? Mon Dieu!”

“Robichaud (Days of Happiness) works wonderfully with cinematographer Sara Mishara (Viking) to make average and oversized bodies the objects of desire,” says Pat Mullen at That Shelf. “Two Women embraces natural shapes and curves. It finds mundane eroticism in ugly-hot men, dad bods, and belly rolls. It’s a winning reminder that anyone with the flabbiest gut can be the sexy with the right outlook.”

We Were Dangerous (dir. Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu)

“It’s an oddly exuberant film. For all their travails, the reform school girls are entirely full of life — sitting together in a field after outdoor work, performing a spontaneous haka, dancing together in a classroom with absolute joy and abandon,” writes Liz Braun at Original Cin. “These youthful creatures are set in a breathtakingly beautiful landscape (and soundscape) and almost nothing seems capable of diminishing their energy or their capacity for hope. In friendship they find strength.”

“The film is entertaining to the point of fault.  Though the abuse of the girls is displayed, the physical and mental torture is not as brutal or as violent as in Peter Mullan’s film (The Magdalene Sisters),” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The result is that We Were Dangerous finally comes across as a feel-good film of escape, compared to one where mental anguish and physical abuse have long-lasting effects.”

A Widow’s Game (dir. Carlos Seles)

“The film combines fidelity to the actual events with a focus on psychological intrigue, utilizing real police recordings and judicial documents,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “It can be best described as a fiction film inspired by true events.”

File Under Miscellaneous

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz previews the Canadian Screen Awards as they continue to seek their foothold in the market. “This year’s CSAs…– arrives at a particularly poignant time for Canadian culture, given the trade-war tensions with the country’s neighbours to the south,” writes Hertz. “What the CSAs mean to the country, though, is another question, with the show having struggled to engage audiences over the past several years. The 2024 show, in which director Matt Johnson’s comedy BlackBerry swept the awards, earned an average audience of 141,000 in the ‘2+’ age market – a 4-per-cent increase over the previous year’s broadcast – but a 32-per-cent dip when it came to the coveted ‘25-54’ demographic. Meanwhile, the show’s performance on CBC Gem was unknown, as the service does not publicly disclose viewership figures. Hertz also speaks with NFB chairperson Suzanne Guèvremont about the Board’s new strategic plan.

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen speaks with NFB chairperson Suzanne Guèvremont about the Board’s new strategic plan, and how it aims to innovate with new platforms and technologies. “I can see where we’re going in that direction and I can challenge it. I think the NFB is in a position to be very forward-looking,” says Guèvremont. “That’s part of our DNA: to be innovative and to be bold and take risks.”

A Festival of Festival Coverage

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz previews the Blue Mountain Film + Media Festival, which is enjoying something of a TFCA takeover: “Each event offers general audiences and members of the industry something different, but the most intriguing development might be happening at the top of Blue Mountain,” writes Hertz. “There, in something of an unprecedented move, the lunatics (film critics) have taken over the asylum (film festival). After the departure of artistic director Helen du Toit following last year‘s edition, the festival has appointed long-time Toronto-based critic Jason Gorber, editor-in-chief of film-review site That Shelf, as its new director of programming.” And at Cannes, TIFF broke the rain, threw a party, and provided some details about its upcoming market: “In Cannes, enthusiasm regarding the market hovered around the level of cautious optimism,” reports Hertz. “TIFF needs to make the initiative economical in an era of industry belt-tightening – a popular suggestion was subsidizing travel for international buyers – but organizers also need to ensure that there are enough buzzy for-sale titles making their world premiere in Toronto to make the event a can’t-miss affair.”

At Original Cin, Jim Slotek previews the Blue Mountain Film + Media Festival and speaks with the team behind the opening night film Racewalkers: “We thought we were fast. And we definitely got faster during the shoot. But on one of our days with [Olympian] Evan [Dunfee], we were like, ‘Can you show us a little heat?'” star Robbie Amell tells Slotek. “So, he was like, ‘Okay, you guys go ahead.’ The rest of our runners were pretty athletic dudes who grew up playing hockey, and they were awesome, and they trained and got their strides correct. And we’re all moving and think we’re going at a pretty good clip and all you hear is (makes drumming noise on the table) and Evan just goes flying past us. The guy flies.”

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At What She Said, Anne Brodie calls Dept. Q “a simmering look at law enforcement in Edinburgh…This series is DEEPLY gritty and unpleasant at times but what it offers is nothing short of astounding.  I’ll let you investigate, but trust me, Dept. Q is killer.” Meanwhile, The Better Sister is “a helluva tale woven over eight episodes interconnecting personal and family failures” with “Elizabeth Banks in a fearless performance.” And the Brits have a double whammy with Death Valley (“riotously funny, sarcastic, ironic and uniquely entertaining – never grim”) and I, Jack Wright (“another terrific crime series”).

At Original Cin, Liam Lacey also binges The Better Sister: “The Better Sister was adapted by Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado from a best-selling 2019 novel by Alafair Burke, a work that fits squarely into the “domestic noir” crime fiction genre popularized in the 2010s. These are novels in the mode of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl that involve twisty narratives about secretly bad men and toxic marriages and family crimes hidden beneath a veneer of privilege and respectability.”