Chandler Levack

There’s a zaniness to this film that feels refreshing, a going-for-broke energy reminiscent of an Adam Sandler movie at its peak.

This Barbie is a modern movie masterpiece that must be seen to be believed.

Luckily for us, the flawed but charming Mr. Malcolm’s List has Indian actress Freida Pinto as a winsome romantic lead, finally receiving her flowers in a perfectly matched role.

At its best points, Sharp Stick functions like a cinematic mixtape of every Taylor Swift song, presenting romantic clichés and immediately pulverizing them into dust. At its worst points, Sharp Stick is a twee, porn-ified Napoleon Dynamite, humiliating the very heroine who we should empathize with the most.

The first 90 minutes is an audacious shock, petering out with an exceptionally messy and chaotic climax. But while Fresh takes obvious cues from Get Out and Promising Young Woman, it’s something unique, a balm to any singleton that promises to turn you off online dating and red meat forever.

There is something magical in Sorrentino’s tender, flawed familial portrait that risks social taboos. I’d rather watch something beautiful and dumb vying for real emotional truth than the woke-est and most sanitized cinema, which only wants my approval. The Hand of God is a sprawling, gorgeous mess, but one you can’t look away from – and it might just break your heart.

The final shot is one of the most poignant images I’ve ever seen.

The coolest-looking movie of the year is surprisingly lame.

While the film first regales us in sightseeing tours of the scenic Faro Island, the film ends in an unexpected wallop of heartbreak as Chris begins to describe the film-within-a-film she’s writing in her notebook to her unattentive partner.

Spencer works best when Princess Diana gets to be wickedly alive – playing a game with her sons, joking with Hawkins on the beach. When Stewart is given permission to play a person, not a dynasty, she offers up some of her best work yet.

Thanks to the specificity of Richardson’s performance in particular and Giles Nuttgen’s gorgeous cinematography (the movie is shot on 35 mm), Montana Story evokes a grandiose style of American frontier filmmaking, somewhere between John Ford and Kelly Reichardt. See it on the largest screen you can find.

It’s a beautiful work of cinematic concentration that’s purely Apichatpong.

With great humour and heartbreak, Whether the Weather is Fine is the kind of film intrepid cinephiles long to discover at TIFF.

Although the most dramatic events in the film tend to happen off screen, both men endure jail time, devastation of their property and familial heartbreak for participating in such a high-risk, high-reward career.

Alison Klayman’s documentary about the making of Jagged Little Pill should be as raw as its source material, but plays it incredibly safe instead.

Trier has an incredible ear for dialogue and can observe the pitiful drama of a millennial breakup like no other.

Vacation Friends could’ve been the fun, lackadaisical resort comedy it wants to be. Our ensemble has considerable chemistry and are all charismatic performers in their own right. It’s fun to watch Cena in goading jock mode, until Howery jumps off a cliff with his glasses still on. Unfortunately, Tarver’s film soon veers hard on its cinematic jet skis, and falls flat on its face.

While the film is tonally incongruous and confusing at points, Ivan and Gerardo’s powerful love story has such high stakes, you can’t help but swoon.

This is a film with an unforgettable story and performances that will edge into your DNA.

The two actors at the centre of these high-concept comedies are good, giving and game, but they’ve been cut a raw deal by trite material that belittles their very existence.