TIFF 2023: ‘Seagrass’
In Seagrass, writer/director Meredith Hama-Brown uses a tired-and-true formula of the “family getaway” to uncover new wrinkles in an, otherwise, ordinary unit.
Festival Coverage
TIFF 2023: ‘Summer Qamp’
By: Jolie Featherstone Jen Markowitz’s documentary Summer Qamp follows several teens as they attend Camp fYrefly – a camp in rural Alberta where queer, non-binary, and trans teens get to be themselves, surrounded by peers and counsellors who can relate to their experience. From the moment the campers arrive, the camp implements a framework of care. Whether it’s coming out as trans or climbing a rock wall, the campers are supported.
TIFF ’23: ‘The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed’
By: Jolie Featherstone Joanna Arnow directs, writes, edits, and stars in the smartly droll The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed, a feature-length directorial debut that takes an unflinching, but not bleak, look at Millennial ennui.
Wylie Writes @ TISH ’23 – ‘Mind Leech’
By: Jeff Ching Mind Leech was the closing film at the Toronto International Spring of Horror & Fantasy Film Festival.
Toronto After Dark 2022: Canadian Short Films
Toronto After Dark has been a great platform for short films to be showcased. Former Wylie Writes critic Shahbaz Khayambashi believed that the short selections were the festival’s strong suit and are sometimes better than the feature-length films – and I kinda agree with him.
Toronto After Dark 2022: ‘Evil Eye’
If you’re looking for genuine scares, look no further. Evil Eye (Mal de Ojo in Spanish) is the real deal. Get ready for great special effects, maximum impact jump scares, and chills.
Toronto After Dark 2022: ‘The Lair’
Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, Doomsday, Hellboy) knows how to make a horror film. The writer/director is responsible for the early 2000’s cult classic The Descent, a film that has been praised for its mature characterization of a group of women (a relatively novel concept, as far as early ’00s horror was concerned). In addition to its dramatic and psychological elements, The Descent was also freaking terrifying. Even the toughest, most hardened horror fans are quick to admit…
Toronto After Dark 2022: ‘Here For Blood’
Horror-comedy Here For Blood features Shawn Roberts (of the Resident Evil franchise) as Tom O’Bannon, an all-around good guy who has a solid reputation in the world of wrestling and only shows a smidge of an attitude when his girlfriend Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) asks him to babysit a 10-year-old for a few hours while she prepares for college exams. The kid, Grace (Maya Misaljevic), is stubborn at first, but warms up to Tom over some…
TIFF 2022: ‘Triangle of Sadness’
Triangle of Sadness pitches itself as a sophisticated comedy with “biting” satire about elitist attitudes during class wars. However, the jabs made by writer/director Ruben Östlund are nothing more than the filmmaker taking hackneyed swings at low-hanging fruit for a really, really long time.
TIFF 2022: ‘So Much Tenderness’
Environmental lawyer Aurora (Noëlle Schönwald) has sought out refuge in Canada after her husband is mysteriously killed. She flees across the border from Colombia and then, after some additional information is explained about Aurora’s backstory, the film fast-forwards to the refugee’s contemporary lifestyle in Toronto. Despite finding new roots and separating herself from the past, some new reminders and concerning sightings have Aurora second-guessing her identity.