You know why you’re here, no need for an intro. We went to our first TIFF this year, and with it closing just yesterday, here’s our picks for the 10 best films of the entire fest. Lots of exciting things to be on the lookout for, including some big Oscar plays. Let’s get things started – from 10 to 1 – here we go! The Best Films of TIFF 2022 : (editors note: all known release dates have been accounted for, if you don’t see one, they haven’t been announced yet)
10. Return to Seoul
Davy Chou’s second feature-length film has a premise that’s intensely appealing in an elevator pitch. A French adoptee from South Korea returns to the land of her birth to meet her biological parents. Sounds intriguing, right? And while at times the film approaches a level of twee-ness in short bursts that I find a bit off-putting, it’s largely overcome by the emotionality of its central character, Frankie, and her struggle to understand where she comes from and her own central identity. Beyond just being a striking looking film, particularly in its middle section where Chou and team explore the neon streets of Seoul in a way that’s right up my alley, he also employs a narrative device that employs an unexpected amount of scope, furthering not only our understanding of Frankie, but the building relationship and the struggles therein with her father and her own place as someone of Korean descent. That Return to Seoul goes very unexpected places was, in of itself, thrilling enough and that those places made for a memorable film overall, allowed me to skirt past any other qualms I had and it built to what was basically the first truly enjoyable film of TIFF for me in the early days of the festival. (Kyle Pinion)
9. The Whale
Packing the most powerful performance of the year in Brendan Fraser’s comeback, everything about The Whale screams the 90s – for better and for worse. The latest from director Darren Aronofsky, The Whale examines the life of a dying man, Charlie (Fraser), who wishes to reconnect with his daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), whom he has neglected since his divorce from her mother. Suffering from grief and depression, Charlie struggles with a binge eating disorder that leaves him around 600 pounds and generally unwilling to go out in public. And for good reason: every time Charlie comes into contact with someone he isn’t familiar with, people react with visceral shock, like he’s the phantom of the opera.
When it’s examining Charlie’s emotional state, The Whale is unstoppable, in most part due to the film’s performances – Aronofsky is a master at getting some of the most impressive performances of an actor’s career into his films, and this is no exception. Fraser is the most serious Best Actor contender I’ve seen from TIFF, but audiences shouldn’t sleep on Sink’s performance as his angry and neglected daughter, nor Hong Chau’s performance as his friend Liz.
On paper, several of this The Whale’s most pivotal moments don’t work at all, and the anachronistic way it approaches Charlie’s body and society’s reaction to him won’t be for everyone. But for Fraser, Chau, and Sink’s performances alone, it offered some of the most captivating moments of the festival. The Whale releases theatrically on Dec. 9. (Hannah Lodge)
8. Triangle of Sadness
The first English-language feature of director Ruben Östlund (The Square), Triangle of Sadness is one of the meaner, eat-the-rich films of the year, and it’s delicious – if you’ve got a strong enough stomach. While films like Glass Onion might attempt to skewer the vanity of the rich from the aesthetic wonderland of a tropical island, Triangle of Sadness gets right into the bowels of the societal sickness, portraying the elitest-of-the-elite on the cruise from hell. As weather conditions and other forces conspire to create some of the most graphic depictions of cruise-related dysentery you’ll ever see, Östlund’s satirical comedy puts its characters through the wringer.
Although the film stretches on a little too long, Triangle of Sadness is able to slowly zoom out and away from its characters and give us a more macro view of the systems and sociological elements that have placed them there. Seinfeldian in one moment, Lord of the Flies in the next, Triangle of Sadness manages to accelerate the shock factor up until its final beat. Triangle of Sadness releases in theaters Oct. 7. (Hannah Lodge)
7. R.M.N.
Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu’s return to the big screen after a 6 year absence (one of two high profile filmmakers making big come-backs in 2022 during TIFF), R.M.N. (the Romanian acronym for M.R.I.) centers on Matthias, who returns to the Transylvanian region after working abroad in Germany, where he faced significant challenges based in xenophobia against him. Once back, he finds himself struggling, not only to find good work he’ll be happy with, but also with a son who is no longer speaking after seeing something terrifying in the woods, a critically ill father, and his own temptation to rekindle a romance with his ex-lover. As a character piece, R.M.N. is striking and absorbing throughout, but once you realize what Mungiu is pulling together in the background, it becomes all the more engrossing. Because while the protagonist is attempting to re-ingratiate himself into the community, the local bakery (co-run by that same on and off again paramour) has hired a few Sri Lankin immigrants and these new additions begin to tear the community apart. This examination of racism and xenophobia comes specifically to a head in maybe the best 15 minutes I saw all festival, which features a still shot of a “townhall meeting” where the entire community lays bear their feelings, and the irony of how these same people are treated when they go abroad vs. these newcomers to their community can be lost on no one, with Matthias seated somewhere uncomfortably in the middle; both wanting to continue his relationship with the woman who supports the influx of immigrant labor, but also wanting to remain friendly with his longtime pals who are abhorrent racists. A portrayal of cultural indifference the likes of which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before. To say the least, R.M.N. is an exceptional film in an increasingly troubling time. (Kyle Pinion)
6. Holy Spider
A movie with a killer (no pun intended) premise, Holy Spider is based on the true story of serial killer Saeed Hanaei, who murdered 16 sex workers over the course of a year in Mashhad, Iran. Writer and director Ali Abbasi spins his fictional tale around the story by giving us dual points of view: the first, from Saeed himself (Mehdi Bajestani), and the second from a perspective of a journalist, Rahimi (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), who is investigating the killing spree. From Rahimi’s point of view, we understand not only the terror these murders evoke from women, but the ambivalence: ambivalence from the government to take action against a murderer who kills sex workers, as well as ambivalence from the police and investigators she works with to take her seriously as a colleague.
It’s hard not to compare Holy Spider to Zodiac, which is a serious compliment, but at the end of the day the film has something else on its mind. Less of a character piece than a critical thesis, Holy Spider thoughtfully illuminates the systems and beliefs that can breed and fester a killer of this kind. Holy Spider releases in select theaters Oct. 28. (Hannah Lodge)
5. How To Blow Up A Pipeline
My first experience with the work of Daniel Goldhaber, but in the lead-up to TIFF, the buzz around his (and co-writers Ariela Barer and Jordan Sjol’s) adaptation of the academic work of the same name was palpable. Based on the word of mouth, I expected an enjoyable thriller, but I didn’t expect a literal 21st century version of Sorcerer. Backed by a propulsive electronic score, Goldhaber and team tell the story of a group of young climate activists who, after connecting over the internet and other means, decide to strike against the oil industry by strapping explosives to a pipeline in rural Texas. The film details their step by step plan and execution of same, while at specific points, flashing back to each character’s past, how they found themselves at odds with the oil industry, and what brought them to take part in this larger group. At just a little over 100 minutes, it is a lean film, and hits like an absolute freight train – not only in its larger political message of direct action and sabotage as the strongest means of creating change, but also in its group composition. These aren’t all left leaning twitter users, but instead you have college age activists, someone who has literally lost a family member due to the impact these industries has had on the environment, a Native American who has grown disaffected with the passive nature of the efforts he’s taken part in to date, and even someone who might be seen as traditionally right-leaning joining the cause due to the encroachment of eminent domain. The filmmakers’ broader point being relatively simple, the environment and how its degradation impacts us isn’t a right or left issue, but a human one. And while there were a number of films shown during the festival that one could call progressive, this was the only time I walked away thinking “these guys are the real deal”. Essential viewing and I’m so delighted to hear Neon picked it up for distribution, hopefully later this year. (Kyle Pinion)
4. Aftersun
You can’t ask for a better directorial debut than Aftersun, from writer/director Charlotte Wells. The film made a splash at Cannes and has been getting steady festival buzz since. Starring Frankie Corio as Sophie, an 11-year-old on vacation with her father Calum (Paul Mescal) in Turkey, Aftersun is told from the perspective of an adult Sophie reminiscing on her childhood as she pores over film from the trip. As such, the first half of the film is fairly straight forward and built of small moments she recalls from the trip: disappointment in the hotel, sunbathing near the pool, wanting to hang out with older kids.
After the film’s halfway point, I honestly began to wonder if the buzz for the film was overrated. It felt like a formula I’d seen before (Pen15 special, anyone?). But as the film ventures further into the trip, Calum comes into clearer focus. Although being a good father is clearly his priority, over the time we begin to see little chips in his veneer that give way to someone struggling. Aftersun’s slow and steady buildup culminates in its final 15 minutes, giving way to a surprisingly sharp and affecting end. That the strength of the end takes you by surprise makes it all the more powerful. Aftersun comes to theaters Nov. 18. (Hannah Lodge)
3. The Banshees of Inisherin
From director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), The Banshees of Inisherin is the kind of break-up tale that is so common but so rarely portrayed on screen: the dissolution of a close friendship. When Colm (Brendan Gleeson) decides his friendship with Pádraic (Colin Farrell) is having a negative effect on his life, he decides to end the relationship in the same way one might end a romantic one. But their small Irish community makes it difficult to avoid one another, so Pádraic continues to pry at Colm’s decision, with increasingly negative effects for both.
The Banshees of Inisherin mines its comedy from life’s darkest trenches. It also finds its most profound melancholy in the banal. This adept combination of comedy and tragedy is reminiscent of A Serious Man from the Coen brothers, and it’s what makes Banshees sing. That, and the chemistry of its actors. Farrell has perfected the art of awkward characters, particularly in his recent roles in Yorgos Lanthimos films. Pádraic’s child-like vulnerability and hard-headed nature make it hard not to take his “side” in the aforementioned breakup, but Gleeson’s turn as Colm give us enough insight to understand that this is a man who is not OK and who needs to make a change with his life, however hard it might be for others to accept. The Banshees of Inisherin releases in theaters Oct. 21. (Hannah Lodge)
2. Decision to Leave
How has it been 6 years since Park Chan-wook last released a film? The debut of his newest feature, Decision to Leave, at Cannes just shortly before TIFF may have chilled some of the anticipation at our screening (people are always drawn to the latest bright shiny object more than anything), but if there was one movie I made it my mission to catch the entire festival it was going to be the newest work from our greatest living filmmaker. And, needless to say, Decision To Leave did not disappoint. The basic thrust is that a detective (Park Hae-Il, who you might remember as the is he/isn’t he killer from Memories of Murder) is tasked with investigating the murder of a mountain climber, and the prime potential suspect (played by the mesmerizing Tang Wei) is the victim’s widow. They begin to fall for one another, and it goes in all kinds of twisty directions that I dare not spoil… but if you’ve seen a few Park movies, you know flipping a genre on its head is his MO. And while Park has always been a bit indebted to thriller pioneers, specifically Hitchcock, this may be where that influence is most profoundly felt…which given this is the man who made Stoker, is really saying something. The entire time, with every new piece of information added, and the haunting vision of obsession creeping ever closer to the fore of our protagonist’s psyche, all I could think was “this is Park’s Vertigo”. In any other year, that would be more than enough to top this list, but it’s 2022 after all, and an unpredictable finish is more than fitting. Decision to Leave comes to theaters on Oct. 14. (Kyle Pinion)
1. The Fablemans
Easily the most high profile debut of TIFF, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical take on his own adolescence (along with regular collaborator Tony Kushner) is, on paper, the most indulgent thing imaginable. But when one takes into account that Spielberg is probably one of two, maybe three directors literally anyone off the street knows; the idea that he’d produce a dramatization of his family, upbringing and burgeoning love of cinema makes all the sense in the world. After all, Spielberg is an IP unto himself. That The Fablemans is as good as it is, begets its own cinematic miracle. The latest from the master of populist cinema is easily his best film in 20 years, and arguably sits comfortably in the top 5 of his work overall. An instantly absorbing slice of cinephilia, Americana, and retroactive self-reflection. And it just gets more and more powerful as it goes – particularly as it settles into “Sammy Fableman’s” high school years and hearkens back to the kinds of coming of age stories that Spielberg and his contemporaries made their bread and butter on their way to building media empires. Two hours of pure joy, I nearly found myself welling up with tears of happiness…something that almost never happens to me. An essential piece of cinema, and one of the best things I’ve ever seen. The Fablemans releases in theaters on Nov 11. (Kyle Pinion)