By: Trevor Chartrand Animation studio Laika Entertainment has a reputation for dark and brooding content with releases like Corpse Bride (2005) or Coraline (2009), but this year’s Missing Link breaks their mold as a fun-for-most-ages adventure story.
There’s been a modest resurgence of oddball, family-friendly fantasies. We were reminded of it with Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and now with Eli Roth’s The House with a Clock in Its Walls. While I’m more of a fan of how the former balanced all of its supernatural factors, I still really liked and admired Roth’s kooky flick about an uncle teaching his nephew the tricks of the trade to sorcery.
Supa Modo hit an emotional sweet spot with me, as I’m sure it will with TIFF Kids audiences. It’s easy to engage with a film that has this much optimism and zest.
Let There Be Light is a gratuitous entry into the popular faith-based sub-genre, but it acknowledges some interesting albeit heavy-handed ideas about being open to change.
I didn’t believe anything in Considering Love & Other Magic. These characters are so disengaged, you could set them on fire and all they would do is shrug. They’re all too busy pondering about death; mostly the long-term existentialism that lingers when a loved one passes away. The press release describes Dave Schultz’s film as a “family movie”. Try explaining that pitch to your kids. You’ll owe them ice cream after the show.
Currently, the TIFF Kids International Film Festival (April 7 – April 23) is hosting a variety of content; including exclusive film premieres, industry insight, and interactive activities. I was fortunate enough to catch a couple of the premieres at this year’s TIFF Kids, and both films were encouraging examples from future storytellers.
Sieranevada is an often charming, occasionally tedious, and relentlessly honest family drama written and directed by Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu).
