20 Must-Watch Movies From the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival
The good news is: you’ll still feel the presence of movie stars at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. They’re mostly behind the camera, however — this year’s edition of TIFF, which kicks off on September 7th and runs through September 17th, is featuring what feels like an unprecedented number of films directed by actors, from both first-timers (Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Michael Keaton, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Patricia Arquette) and double-duty veterans (Viggo Mortensen, Ethan Hawke). How these actor-auteurs will handle the red carpet in the Great White North remains to be seen. But while the regrettably ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have thrown a monkey wrench into the usual awards-season rigmorale, it hasn’t stopped the former “festival of festivals” from continuing to do what it does best.
And that is: highlight the best movies from around the world, give folks a peek at what will be causing Oscar chatter over the next few months, and provide a platform for everything from future cult classics to documentaries (with an emphasis on music docs this year as well, covering everybody from Paul Simon to Nickelback to Lil Nas X — and a Q&A with all four of the Talking Heads). These are the 20 movies we’re excited to catch at TIFF ’23.
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‘The Boy and the Heron’
In what is apparently Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, a boy relocates to the Japanese countryside in the middle of World War II, with his widower father and new stepmother. A gray heron keeps leading him to a mysterious tower, which was built by a great uncle who went missing a long time ago. It may also be a portal to an alternate reality that, like so many of the anime legend’s through-the-looking-glass worlds, is fantastic, frightening and more than a little familiar to its young hero. The film has already broken records in Japan, and if it’s even half as amazing as we’ve heard, is a fitting farewell to an artist who’s permanently changed the landscape of the medium.
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‘The Contestant’
In 1998, aspiring stand-up comic Tomoaki “Nasabi” Hamatsu entered a room in a TV studio. He thought he was coming in to audition for a new project. Instead, he was asked to strip naked and fill out magazine coupons, which would help him earn enough money to “win” back his clothes. He also needed to garner enough prizes to buy food and other household items. What he did not know was that this oddball survival experience was the TV show — and one that turned him into one of the most famous people in Japan without him even knowing it. That’s entertainment! Filmmaker Clair Titley recounts this early experiment in extreme reality-TV in what sounds like a potential breakout documentary hit.
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‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’
Viggo Mortensen’s revisionist Western chronicles the frontier romance between a Danish soldier (Mortensen) and a French-Canadian florist (Vicky Krieps) in 1860s Nevada. When he goes off to fight for the Union during the Civil War, she’s left alone on their homestead to fend for herself — and fend off the unsolicited attention of a thuggish outlaw type (Solly McLeod) who co-owns the local saloon. The Deadwood vibe is strong with this one, especially since several of that show’s alumni (W. Earl Brown, Garret Dillahunt, Ray McKinnon) are in the supporting cast.
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‘Dicks: The Musical’
Two identical twins (played by cowriters Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, adapting their own stage show) discover they were raised apart by their respective divorced parents. They decide to pull a fast one and swap places in order to reunite Mom (Megan Mullally) and Dad (Nathan Lane). So far, so very Parent Trap redux — although we don’t recall either version of that film being a musical. Nor do we remember the dad being in the closet, the mom carrying her genitals in her purse, Bowen Yang playing God (!!!) or Megan Thee Stallion dressing like a dominatrix and whipping the snot out of white-collar dudes in those kids’ flicks, either. Welcome to your new midnight-movie classic, folks.
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‘The End We Start From’
When London is hit with some apocalyptic levels of flooding, a new mom (Jodie Comer) and her baby’s father (Joel Fry) head to the countryside, with the hopes of waiting out the disaster in his parents’ rural home. The problem with that plan of action, however, is that the social breakdown that accompanies such end-of-days–type occurrences isn’t limited to the city. Let’s just say you shouldn’t expect it to be upbeat, but given that Comer has been on a role, we can’t wait to see what she does with this sort of parental nightmare fodder.
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‘Gonzo Girl’
A young woman (Camila Morrone) with dreams of literary glory gets what seems to be a once-in-a-lifetime gig: to be the personal assistant of a infamously wild ‘n’ crazy writer named Walker Reade (Willem Dafoe). Should the maniacal gent with the bucket caps and cigarette holders seem somewhat familiar, that’s not coincidental: Patricia Arquette’s directorial debut is taken from Cheryl Della Pietra’s book about briefly working with Hunter S. Thompson and somehow living to tell the tale. Arquette also plays Reade’s manager; Rick Springfield (yes, that Rick Springfield), Sean Penn, James Urbaniak and Ray Nicholson get in on the gonzo fun as well.
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‘Hate to Love: Nickelback’
Look, we admittedly never made it as a wise man, but we know enough to recognize that a.) Nickelback is one of the biggest rock groups to ever come out of Canada and b.) most people either love them or really, really, really dislike them. Filmmaker Leigh Brooks’ documentary — or, if you will, “rockumentary” — charts how a few guys from Alberta turned into a massive stadium band and why they seem to inspire such vitriol in their extremely vocal naysayers.
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‘In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon’
Speaking of rock docs: The always prolific Alex Gibney adds Rhymin’ Paul Simon to his list of music-related subjects (see also: his deep dives on James Brown, Frank Sinatra, and the very publication you’re reading right now) with this three-and-a-half look back at the singer-songwriter’s career from Garfunkel to Graceland and beyond. It also captures the recording of his 2023 album Seven Psalms, which allows for a rare peek into Simon’s creative process. If we were picking at low-hanging fruit, we’d say this definitive take on the gamechanging musician proves that he’s still crazy after all these years — but we’re not, so we won’t.
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‘Knox Goes Away’
We’ve seen movies about people dealing with the mental decline associated with dementia, and we’ve seen movies about hit man doing one last job before they retire — Michael Keaton’s directorial debut may be the only film that manages to combine both of those narratives together in one movie. Suffering from a rare disease that’s causing his memory to fade fast, Keaton’s professional killer is ready to tap out and call it a day before his cognitive abilities cut out entirely. Then his estranged son (James Mardsen) shows up at his door, having just accidentally murdered someone himself — which means this veteran assassin has to use his skills at making corpses and crime scenes disappear one last time for his boy, before he forgets said skills entirely. You can’t say Keaton isn’t ambitious.
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‘Lee’
Living in Paris in the 1930s, Lee Miller was something of a muse to artists like Man Ray — until war comes once again to Europe, at which point she decides she wants to be the one behind the camera. Teaming up with fellow combat photographer David E. Scherman, Miller jumps into the fray with her cameras clicking; by the time the two enter the concentrated camps after the Nazis are defeated, she will have changed the way we view warfare. Kate Winslet steps into the photographer’s battered, scuffed boots to portray someone determined to capture truth one frame at a time. Andy Samberg — not a typo! — plays her co-collaborator Scherman. Alexander Skarsgard, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, and Noémie Merlant round out the cast, while Ellen Kuras — no stranger to the power of imagery, given her status as one of the greatest working cinematographers today — calls the shots from the director’s seat.
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‘Les Indésirables’
French writer-director Ladj Ly’s follow-up to the incendiary Les Misérables (2019) once again takes a bird’s-eyes view of contemporary France, with a special attention to the places where those that have bump up against those that have not. When the mayor of Paris dies of a heart attack at a public ceremony, a doctor (Alexis Manenti) temporarily takes over the position until the next election. His ignorance of both the local immigrant population and the residents of a divisive housing project, however, causes him to make an enemy of a political activist (Anta Diaw) who decides to run against him. Soon, the mayor’s pushback against her neighborhood after an incident turns into a full-blown declaration of war.
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‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’
Do you remember the first time you heard “Old Town Road”? It was easy to recognize that this singular hybrid of hip-hop and country had the potential to be a big hit right out of the gate — the fact that it then stayed at the top of the Billboard Top 100 chart for 19 weeks straight, however, can be credited to the instincts and chops of its creator Montero Lamar Hill, a.k.a. Lil Nas X. Then, before anyone had a chance to start slinging the “one-hit wonder” insult around, he dropped his first full record Montero and forced his critics to pour out their full bottles of Haterade. Directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel follow Hill around as he navigates the perilous waters of sudden celebrity, faces backlash from conservatives for his proudly queer songs and imagery, and bonds with fans who embrace his ability to bridge gaps while staying true to himself.
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‘Next Goal Wins’
Taika Waititi returns to the festival with the world premiere of this sports-underdog tale, about a Dutch soccer coach (Michael Fassbender) who’s hired to whip the American Samoa squad into shape. Let’s just say that the veteran footballer initially has his work cut out for him, given the nature of this ragtag bunch. If you happen to have seen the 2014 documentary of the same name, then you know what happens next. If you haven’t, you’re in for a pleasant, Waititi-esque surprise.
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‘Poolman’
In the future, every movie star will direct at least one movie for 15 minutes, and it’s now Chris Pine’s turn at bat. The Hell and High Water actor also plays the lead, a would-be social activist in Los Angeles who believes that real change starts with keeping his pool pristine. Then he stumbles across information on what may or may not a conspiracy, and starts pulling at threads with the hope that he may finally be able to make a difference in the City of Angels. The Lebowski-esque beard he’s sporting in that photo is a good omen.
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‘The Royal Hotel’
Director Kitty Green reunites with her lead from The Assistant, Julia Garner, for what sounds like a harrowing story of two women (Garner and Glass Onion‘s Jessica Henwick) backpacking through the Australian outback. In need of cash, they take temporary jobs at a rowdy bar where the men prove to be very friendly. Too friendly. Like, real textbook toxic-male “friendly.” The Matrix‘s Hugo Weaving costars as the pub’s owner, who could be their only protection from the aggressive patrons or the worst predator of the bunch.
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‘Silver Dollar Road’
Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro, Exterminate All Brutes) returns to TIFF with this look at a North Carolina waterfront property that’s been passed down from one generation of family members to another for decades. Then real estate developers tried to buy the place out in the 1970s, and kicked off a long, protracted fight that pitted the land’s historically Black owners against a host of morally dubious folks. Given Peck’s facility with keeping one eye on the socially conscious big picture while making sure the personal and the emotional factors don’t get lost in the mix, we’ve got high hopes for this one.
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‘Sorry/Not Sorry’
For years, Louis C.K. was dogged by allegations of sexual harassing a number women in and around the greater comedy community. He dismissed the accusations as nothing but rumors and refused to comment on them, until a bombshell New York Times piece forced him to admit that yes, he’d engaged in some unsavory behavior. Caroline Suh and Cara Mones’ documentary connect the dots leading up to that article, examine the aftermath and explore how and why he was able to restart his career again. But more importantly, it gives a platform to the women who were professionally damaged and personally affected by what happened to them, and talk about their side of the equation. The doc itself has already stirred up controversy when Showtime announced it was stepping away from the project for undisclosed reasons this past June; the fact that it currently does not have distribution only makes these festival screenings that much more of a hot ticket.
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‘Together 99’
Swedish filmmaker Lukas Moodysson returns to the scene of what’s arguably still his greatest work — the funny, touching, supremely bittersweet comedy Together (2000) — with this sequel, which catches up with its socialist experiment in communal living circa 1975 some 24 years later. (Which, if you consider that Moodysson filmed the first movie in the winter of 1999, replicates the time difference in real-life as well. Hooray for mathematics!) Most of the original’s cast return to reprise their roles, as they gather to celebrate the birthday of the commune’s spiritual figurehead Goran (Gustaf Hammarsten) before the end of the 20th century. For fans of Moodysson’s compassionate take on the ups and downs of putting a utopian ideology into practice, this is like a gift from the gods.
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‘Wildcat’
We’re big fans of Blaze, actor-director-Renaissance man Ethan Hawke’s biopic of outlaw-country singer and songwriter Blaze Foley — so we’re very curious about his latest behind-the-camera endeavor, which focuses on the life and work of writer Flannery O’Connor. Plus it’s a family affair: His kid, a.k.a. Stranger Things‘ Maya Hawke, plays the author behind such Southern Gothic-lit staples as Wise Blood and A Good Man Is Hard to Find. But it’s not a biopic, per se; more like an exploration of O’Connor’s preoccupations, prose and creative process, as seen from both father and daughter’s perspectives. And down the rabbit hole we go….
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‘Woman of the Hour’
Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut with this look back at an infamous episode of everyone’s favorite 1970s cringetastic game show, The Dating Game. What makes this particular half hour of TV worth a whole feature film, you ask? One of the contestants was Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), who would often pretend to be a photographer in order to lure female victims to their death. In fact, he was in the middle of what would turn out to be a prolific killing spree when he appeared as Bachelor No. 2 on the show! Truth — it’s always so, so much stranger than fiction etc.