Dispatches from the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival

Featuring reviews for: Cloud, Harbin, Love in the Big City and K-Pops

(Lee Dong-wook and Hyun Bin at TIFF)

While people often love to complain about the city they live in, I actually enjoy what the Toronto International Film Festival does to my hometown once September rolls around. Having attended the festival for 13 (!!) years, this was my third year covering the event as a member of the press.

One of the things I’ve made a bigger point of doing in recent years is supporting more Asian films. Though like any awards show nerd, TIFF has often been considered a precursor to the Oscar season. Along with prestigious festivals like Cannes and Venice, Toronto usually is the place to check out buzzy films. And for that reason, I’ve often cleared my schedule to check out some glitzy world premieres.

In the weeks to come, I plan to roll out more in-depth pieces about the Asian films I got to see at TIFF. But given that I am in a bit of recovery mode, I wanted to go a bit against the grain and share some thoughts about the movies I got to see so that you can also check them out when they release in theatres.

Below are some observations I made as I hopped from one screening to the next.

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What I watched:

Cloud

A satirical thriller that is very over the top and silly, but very fun to watch. The film follows a reseller in Tokyo who goes to extreme lengths to scam people on a TEMU or Amazon-style website. It soon becomes a full-blown thriller after the reseller discovers that people are out to kill him for his actions.

Cloud has since been announced as Japan’s entry as Best International Feature for the 2025 Oscars. I’m not sure it is enough plot-wise to make the shortlist, but it’s a wild ride for anyone who wants to check it out.

Side note: When the guy next to me said the movie was about TIFF ticket resellers, I could not help but laugh out loud.

The Life of Chuck

As of writing, this film still has no U.S. distributor. But it won this year’s TIFF’s People’s Choice Award (previously won by Oscar-nominated films like La La Land, Slumdog Millionaire and American Fiction). That honour is usually known for being an indicator of what to expect during the awards season.

Because it is based on a Stephen King novella, I went into this movie with trepidation as I thought it would be a horror film. Instead, I left crying because it challenges your ideas of mortality and to embrace spontaneity in life. Overall, this film is lovely and a major crowd-pleaser. It’s incredibly sentimental and earnest, so you might not like it if that isn’t your thing.

We Live in Time

Upon watching the trailer, my friend told me that she thinks the film is going to be “traumatic.” The woman next to me was bawling her eyes out watching this movie. So yes, I can confirm it’s a real tearjerker. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh play a couple in love. Told in a non-linear storyline, we see the pair go through ups and downs over the years. It’s a slice of life drama. But if you love sappy films, this is the one for you. After all, who wouldn’t have chemistry with Andrew and Florence? They were incredibly natural together.

K-Pops

I have a couple of things in the works about this film, so I’ll save detailed thoughts until later. All I’ll say is, it’s not a cinematic masterpiece. This is a cute family comedy that really lets Anderson .Paak bond with his real-life son Soul Rasheed. There are some absolutely crazy (and expensive) cameos. (And sorry to disappoint! Despite what is being reported, none of the BTS members make a cameo).

But WHO DOES make an appearance is Vernon from Seventeen. I am very upset that the people around me did not have the same visceral reaction I did when he showed up on screen.

Nightbitch

A title like that is sure to catch anyone’s attention. Based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder, Amy Adams plays a burnt out stay-at-home mom whose nightly routine takes a surreal turn when she starts transforming into a dog. I’ll admit the trailer for this looked horrendous. So while the movie isn’t my favourite, I can say it was a lot better than I thought. That’s largely due to the absolutely unhinged, 100 per cent committed Amy Adams. However, I admit that I was wishing for something bigger to happen and it never came. Nevertheless, I feel like this film will likely become fodder for meme content on Facebook groups for moms.

Harbin

This is a typical wartime film based on the real-life Korean independence activist Ahn Jung-geun. This story offers insight into the Japanese occupation of Korea, though my biggest issue is it plays out more like a cat-and-mouse chase that paints each side as good vs. evil. Historical conflicts are complex, and it would have been better to get a clearer picture of each side’s motivations. Interestingly enough, even Hyun Bin, who portrays Ahn, said he initially rejected the role given the huge responsibility of playing the part. Nevertheless, I am glad he took the risk, even if it doesn’t always land. What was cool though, was the score for the movie was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. The music was great and so was the cinematography.

Side note: It was clear most people in the audience were there to see Hyun Bin and Lee Dong-wook in person. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of them both. But I was a bit irked by the people taking pictures during the film, using their phones and chatting with their friends throughout. Context, people! It’s a world premiere, not a fan meet.

Anora

This movie won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, so anticipation was high for it. The story revolves around a sex worker (Mikey Madison) who gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and marries the son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). This film is chaotic and stressful as hell, and is what I can only describe as Uncut Gems meets Pretty Woman.

Queer

Daniel Craig is making some of the most interesting acting choices post-James Bond. In this collaboration with director Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me by Your Name), Craig plays an expat in Mexico City who becomes infatuated with a young man named Allerton (Drew Starkey). At 2 hours and 45 minutes, this film is a challenging watch and won’t necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s abstract, and the visuals are similar to what you might see in a body horror film. I watched this at 10 PM on a Monday night and all I could think was, “Wow, Daniel Craig is real freaky and COMMITTED in this!” That said, every frame in this film feels like a picture you’d hang on a wall and the clothing (designed by LOEWE’s Jonathan Anderson) are to die for.

Side note: Calling it now….Drew Starkey is gonna become the next IT BOY.

Love in the Big City

Based on the novel of the same name, Love in the Big City follows the story of two unconventional best friends played by Kim Go-eun (Little Women, Goblin) and Steve Sanghyun Noh (Pachinko). It is a platonic love story that tackles themes like pressures of youth, LGBTQ issues and misogyny. The film itself felt like a movie-length K-drama, and it was greatly supported by the amazing chemistry between the two leads. This movie is also proof that some of the best love stories are about friendship.

Side note: Kim Go-eun and Steve Sanghyun Noh have amazing face cards. Kim Go-eun also came out in a pixie cut, which I found so edgy and cute! She slayed the look so hard.

Friendship

This film portrays a suburban dad (Tim Robinson) who goes through extreme lengths to win the friendship of his neighbour (Paul Rudd). But over time, the lead character’s obsessive personality eventually begins to alienate his new pal.

While this film is a major cringe-fest, there is something incredibly earnest about a movie portraying a lonely man who simply wants to be accepted. I was not at the midnight screening of Friendship, but apparently a woman yelled at the director telling him it’s an “awful movie.” I disagree, I thought it was hilarious.

And apparently, so has A24. The company just bought the film following its premiere at TIFF.

Side note: We need a moratorium on audience Q&As because half of the questions are never relevant and many of them are just comments.

The Substance

Now this is how you end a festival with a bang! In The Substance, Demi Moore plays an aging aerobics star who faces a devastating blow when her boss fires her. Distressed, she takes a black market drug that promises to transform her into an enhanced younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley).

To me, this is the more grotesque, disturbing version of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. But given the commitment of both Qualley and Moore, this film had me at the edge of my seat. I usually hate body horror, but the way the movie uses it to challenge ideas of body image and beauty standards is so good even if it is on the nose. I highly recommend seeing this on the big screen when it releases Sept 20, even if it will come out on streaming services soon.

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Ending notes and observations:

This year’s TIFF felt like a rebound year, after the lacklustre red carpet presence of 2023 given the writers and actors strikes. The crowds descended into the city, whether they were film lovers or star gazers. I could just feel the excitement around me!

Though with all the excitement, TIFF also made headlines for other reasons. The opening night gala was met with Pro-Palestine protestors. Then in the second week, TIFF paused screenings of the Russian-Canadian documentary Russians at War due to “significant threats.” The documentary tells the stories of Russian soldiers on the frontlines fighting against Ukraine, who at times express their criticism of their government and disillusionment with the war. The latter story was one I covered pretty closely at work, and it made headlines around the world. Though as of this week, TIFF says it plans to go ahead with screenings after postponing them during the festival.

Lastly, one of the things I found particularly curious about this year’s TIFF is its partnership with TikTok. Business-wise, I can see why the two would join hands. But not many journalists were fans of TIFF’s choice to bring in content creators to co-moderate Q&As at some world premieres. At a time when culture journalism and media outlets continue to be decimated, this certainly felt like a choice. But at the same time, I could not help but wonder if content creation is the future for aspiring journalists to tell stories because there are fewer and fewer platforms to do so.

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