Blood in the Snow 2023: ‘My Animal’
My Animal, the feature-length directorial debut from music video cinematographer Jacqueline Castel, is a dramatic horror that offers a unique breath of fresh air to the coming-of-age sub-genre.
Drama
Raging Grace
Joy (Max Eigenmann) is a Filipina immigrant living in the UK with her young daughter, Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla). Because of her undocumented status, Joy struggles to make ends meet and provide a safe, stable home for Grace — often living secretly in the homes she cleans while the wealthy families who live there are away on vacation. But when the aloof and uptight Katherine (Leanne Best) hires Joy as a live-in care-worker for her…
Hands That Bind
Kyle Armstrong’s sophomore feature Hands That Bind is a western that’s more introverted than expected.
The Delinquents
A reclusive bank employee, Morán (Daniel Elías), is tempted to use his privilege to take advantage of his workplace. His plot to rob the bank is on standby until the perfect moment – cue Román (Esteban Bigliardi), a teller who leaves work early and is used as an incidental accomplice once Morán steals $650,000. Román, now more aware, is brought into the fold by the amateur thief and is told to hold the money while…
Toronto After Dark 2023: ‘The Deep Dark’
Nobody “phones it in” for Mathieu Turi’s subterranean thriller The Deep Dark, although their efforts are for naught; simply because this movie isn’t a good fit for their work.
Anatomy of a Fall
With Anatomy of a Fall, writer/director Justine Triet gives audiences one of the most realistic courtroom dramas ever made for the big screen.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
By: Jolie Featherstone Ariane Louis-Seize’s feature film directorial debut, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, is an intriguing horror-dramedy that has the makings of a cult classic. Think gothic Wes Anderson, or Richard Ayoade’s Submarine (2010) meets Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In (2008).
The Persian Version
As the youngest child in a large family of Iranian immigrants, Leila (Layla Mohammadi) has always felt like she hasn’t lived up to expectations; especially her often distracted mother Shireen (Niousha Noor). In her current years as a young adult, Leila has felt more distance grown between her and her mom. And as an expectant mother after a one-night-stand with an eccentric actor (Tom Byrne), Leila only anticipates the worse.
The Royal Hotel
News of Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel had me excited. Previously impressing me with her strengths as a documentarian with Ukraine Is Not a Brothel, Green would be drawing inspiration from another documentary that I really admired – 2016’s Hotel Coolgardie.
Fair Play
In Fair Play, Emily (Phoebe Dynevor of Netflix’s Bridgerton) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich of Solo: A Star Wars Story and Cocaine Bear) are financial analysts who are discreetly dating but individually on the offence at the workplace. The hedge fund they work for is highly competitive, but unprofessional when dealing with internal matters. An open promotion heard through the grapevine makes everyone more sharp and vicious, but it’s Emily who is eyed for the position….