The Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Movie Scorecard

Critics Consensus: Depicting the refugee experience through vivid animation, Flee pushes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking to present a moving memoir of self-discovery.

Synopsis: FLEE tells the story of Amin Nawabi as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Amin, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Daniel Karimyar, Fardin Mijdzadeh

Directed By: Jonas Poher Rasmussen

Critics Consensus: A strikingly assured debut for writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter unites a brilliant cast in service of a daringly ambitious story.

Synopsis: Alone on a seaside vacation, Leda becomes consumed with a young mother and daughter as she watches them on the beach. Unnerved by their compelling... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley

Directed By: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The Rescue chronicles the enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bancha Duriyapunt, Apakorn Youkongkaew, Anan Surawan, Woranan Ratrawiphukkun

Directed By: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

Critics Consensus: Beneath its deceptively placid surface, The Girl and the Spider grapples with deeply meaningful questions of personal identity in the face of fundamental change.

Synopsis: As her roommate Lisa prepares to move out of their apartment, Mara contemplates the end of an era. Furniture is moved, walls painted, cupboards built.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Henriette Confurius, Liliane Amuat, Ursina Lardi, Flurin Giger

Directed By: Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher

Critics Consensus: Ali & Ava's tender, naturalistic love story adds another powerful chapter to writer-director Clio Barnard's filmography.

Synopsis: Both lonely for different reasons, ALI and AVA meet through their shared affection for SOFIA (6), the child of ALI's Slovakian tenants, whom AVA teaches.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Adeel Akhtar, Claire Rushbrook, Ellora Torchia, Shaun Thomas

Directed By: Clio Barnard

Critics Consensus: Its premise may resonate most with hardcore film fans, but Official Competition's tight focus and sharp humor have a universal appeal.

Synopsis: Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas star as two egomaniacs commissioned by a millionaire to make a movie together in this sharp comedy skewering wealth, art,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martínez, Carlos Hipólito

Directed By: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat

Critics Consensus: A documentary with the heart of a thriller, Hold Your Fire edifies just as adroitly as it enrages.

Synopsis: In 1973, four young African-American men stealing guns for self-defense in Brooklyn were cornered by the NYPD. A violent gun battle killed a police officer,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Shu'aib Raheem, Harvey Schlossberg

Directed By: Stefan Forbes

Critics Consensus: A meditation on isolation, Aloners poignantly explores grief, or the avoidance of it, and the technological walls we build around us.

Synopsis: Jina (Gong Seung-yeon) is the top employee at a call center, but despite talking to customers all day, she has shut out the world beyond... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gong Seung-yeon, Jung Da-eun, Seo Hyun-woo, Park Jeong-hak

Directed By: Hong Sung-eun

Critics Consensus: Three Minutes - A Lengthening movingly captures a moment in time while honoring lives soon to be cut short by unimaginable horror.

Synopsis: Three Minutes - A Lengthening presents a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938 in a Jewish town in Poland and tries to postpone... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Glenn Kurtz, Maurice Chandler

Directed By: Bianca Stigter

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A man's journey to learn the story of his estranged father, a failed hitman killed several years ago.

Starring: Gian Cassini

Directed By: Gian Cassini

Critics Consensus: Bursting with ideas and ambition, Neptune Frost is difficult to describe -- and just as hard to resist.

Synopsis: In an otherworldly e-waste camp made of recycled computer parts, a subversive hacking collective attempts a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region's natural... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Cheryl Isheja, Bertrand Ninteretse, Eliane Umuhire, Elvis Ngabo

Directed By: Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman

Critics Consensus: Movingly depicting persistence in the face of health woes and economic hardship, The Gravedigger's Wife is a tender tribute to the power of family.

Synopsis: Guled and Nasra are a loving couple, living on the outskirts of Djibouti city with their teenage son Mahad. However they are facing difficult times:... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Omar Abdi, Yasmin Warsame, Kadar Abdoul-Aziz Ibrahim, Samaleh Ali Obsieh

Directed By: Khadar Ahmed

Critics Consensus: A coming-of-age story with a uniquely sunny noir spin, Murina deftly explores dark themes against a deceptively idyllic setting.

Synopsis: Tensions rise between restless teenager Julija and her oppressive father Ante when an old family friend arrives at their Croatian island home. As Ante attempts... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gracija Filipovic, Danica Curcic, Leon Lucev, Cliff Curtis

Directed By: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic

Critics Consensus: Masaaki Yuasa fans will come to Inu-Oh expecting a visual feast -- and this musical animated extravaganza won't leave them disappointed.

Synopsis: From visionary director Masaaki Yuasa, hailed by IndieWire as "one of the most creatively unbridled minds in all of modern animation," comes a revisionist rock... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Avu-chan, Mirai Moriyama, Kenjiro Tsuda, Yutaka Matsushige

Directed By: Masaaki Yuasa

Critics Consensus: Small in narrative scope but deeply impactful, Petite Maman is a delicate, powerfully acted meditation on grief.

Synopsis: Céline Sciamma continues to prove herself as one of the most accomplished and unpredictable contemporary French filmmakers with her follow up to PORTRAIT OF A... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nina Meurisse, Margot Abascal, Stéphane Varupenne, Joséphine Sanz

Directed By: Céline Sciamma

Critics Consensus: With a thought-provoking concept brought to humorous life by a pair of well-matched leads, I'm Your Man is an AI rom-com whose intelligence is anything but artificial.

Synopsis: In order to obtain funds for her research, Alma (Maren Eggert) is persuaded to participate in an extraordinary study. For three weeks she is required... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Dan Stevens, Maren Eggert, Sandra Hüller, Hans Löw

Directed By: Maria Schrader

Critics Consensus: Thrillingly provocative and original, Titane reaffirms writer-director Julia Ducournau's delightfully disturbing vision.

Synopsis: Titane: A metal highly resistant to heat and corrosion, with high tensile strength alloys, often used in medical prostheses due to its pronounced biocompatibility.

Starring: Agathe Rousselle, Vincent Lindon, Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh

Directed By: Julia Ducournau

Critics Consensus: Brought to life by a stellar ensemble led by Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog reaffirms writer-director Jane Campion as one of her generation's finest filmmakers.

Synopsis: Severe, pale-eyed, handsome, Phil Burbank is brutally beguiling. All of Phil's romance, power and fragility is trapped in the past and in the land: He... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Directed By: Jane Campion

Critics Consensus: Jockey rests almost entirely on Clifton Collins Jr. in the title role -- and he proves more than up to the task with a brilliant performance that gives this poignant drama its soul.

Synopsis: An aging jockey (Clifton Collins Jr.), hopes to win one last title for his longtime trainer (Molly Parker), who has acquired what appears to be... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Clifton Collins Jr., Molly Parker, Moises Arias, Logan Cormier

Directed By: Clint Bentley

Critics Consensus: Ben Foster's gripping work in the central role further elevates The Survivor's affectingly character-driven approach to its weighty themes.

Synopsis: After being sent to Auschwitz, Haft is forced to participate in a gladiatorial boxing spectacle along with his fellow prisoners.

Starring: Ben Foster, Vicky Krieps, Billy Magnussen, Peter Sarsgaard

Directed By: Barry Levinson

Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and brought to life by a quartet of fine performances, The Wheel spins a quietly moving story about love and relationships.

Synopsis: Albee and Walker, a young couple on the brink of divorce, rent a mountain getaway to save their fledgling marriage. Before long, their personal drama... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Amber Midthunder, Taylor Gray, Bethany Anne Lind, Nelson Lee

Directed By: Steve Pink

Critics Consensus: Night Raiders strikes grim parallels between its dystopian setting and the present, offering a disturbing reminder that the horrors of the past are often very much still with us.

Synopsis: The year is 2043. A military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are property of the State. A desperate Cree woman joins... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Alex Tarrant, Amanda Plummer

Directed By: Danis Goulet

Critics Consensus: Spencer can frustrate with its idiosyncratic depiction of its subject's life, but Kristen Stewart's finely modulated performance anchors the film's flights of fancy.

Synopsis: The marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles has long since grown cold. Though rumors of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris

Directed By: Pablo Larraín

Critics Consensus: A rewardingly unsettling watch, The Box handles its sensitive themes with intelligence and empathy.

Synopsis: Teenager Hatzín travels from Mexico City to collect the remains of his father, found in a communal grave in Northern Mexico. But a casual encounter... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Hatzín Navarrete, Hernán Mendoza, Elián González, Cristina Zulueta

Directed By: Lorenzo Vigas

Critics Consensus: A stylish and well-acted tonal blend, Medusa confronts religious hypocrisy and sexism with invigorating anger.

Synopsis: Mari and her friends broadcast their spiritual devotion through pastel pinks and catchy evangelical songs about purity and perfection, but underneath it all they harbor... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mari Oliveira, Bruna Linzmeyer, Thiago Fragoso, Lara Tremouroux

Directed By: Anita Rocha da Silveira

Critics Consensus: Dune occasionally struggles with its unwieldy source material, but those issues are largely overshadowed by the scope and ambition of this visually thrilling adaptation.

Synopsis: Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to a dangerous planet in the universe... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Critics Consensus: Sundown's emotionally muted wavelength may be difficult for some viewers to tune into, but it's enlivened by Tim Roth's strong central performance.

Synopsis: Neil and Alice Bennett (Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg) are the core of a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico with younger members Colin and Alexa... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Iazua Larios, Henry Goodman

Directed By: Michel Franco

Critics Consensus: Mothering Sunday works at a frustratingly chilly remove, but involving performances and solid overall craft mean it's rarely less than engaging.

Synopsis: On a warm spring day in 1924, house maid and foundling Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) finds herself alone on Mother's Day. Her employers, Mr. and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Odessa Young, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Olivia Colman

Directed By: Eva Husson

Critics Consensus: A deeply personal project for writer-director Kenneth Branagh, Belfast transcends its narrative deficits with powerful performances and directorial craft.

Synopsis: BELFAST is a movie straight from Branagh's own experience. A nine-year-old boy must chart a path towards adulthood through a world that has suddenly turned... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Starring: Altaf Khan, Gaurav Soni, Yogendra Singh, Durga Lal Saini

Directed By: Ritwik Pareek

Critics Consensus: Sparked by a pair of well-matched leads, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain honors its real-life subject by adding a dash of whimsy to the standard biopic formula.

Synopsis: The extraordinary true story of eccentric British artist Louis Wain (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose playful, sometimes even psychedelic pictures helped to transform the public's perception of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sophia Di Martino, Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Andrea Riseborough

Directed By: Will Sharpe

Critics Consensus: Elevated by its stars' magnetic chemistry, True Things mines complex, character-driven drama from an ill-advised romance.

Synopsis: Bored by the daily tedium of her office job, Kate (Ruth Wilson) is sleepwalking through life when a chance sexual encounter with a charismatic stranger... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ruth Wilson, Tom Burke, Hayley Squires, Elizabeth Rider

Directed By: Harry Wootliff

Critics Consensus: Compartment No. 6 can get a little stuffy within its narrative confines, but this well-acted, subtly told love story rewards the viewer's patience.

Synopsis: A young Finnish woman escapes an enigmatic love affair in Moscow by boarding a train to the arctic port of Murmansk. Forced to share the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Seidi Haarla, Dinara Drukarova, Tomi Alatalo, Juri Borisov

Directed By: Juho Kuosmanen

Critics Consensus: Uneven yet admirably ambitious, Violet takes a thoughtful look at the occasionally profound difference between a person's private thoughts and public face.

Synopsis: What would you do if you weren't afraid? After realizing she's spent years allowing fear to drive every decision she makes, Violet (Olivia Munn) must... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey, Justin Theroux, Dennis Boutsikaris

Directed By: Justine Bateman

Critics Consensus: Minor but charming, the well-acted Bergman Island uses the titular filmmaker's legacy as the launchpad for a dreamlike rumination on romance and creativity.

Synopsis: BERGMAN ISLAND follows a couple of American filmmakers, Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), who retreat to the mythical Fårö island for the summer.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska, Anders Danielsen Lie

Directed By: Mia Hansen-Løve

Critics Consensus: Its themes are occasionally undercut by its storytelling, but outstanding performances give The Mad Women's Ball a poignant, disturbing power.

Synopsis: A committed woman and a tormented nurse prepare to attend a famous ball at a neurological clinic in the 19th century.

Starring: Mélanie Laurent, Lou de Laâge, Emmanuelle Bercot, Benjamin Voisin

Directed By: Mélanie Laurent

Critics Consensus: The Eyes of Tammy Faye might have focused more sharply on its subject's story, but Jessica Chastain's starring performance makes it hard to look away.

Synopsis: THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE is an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones, Fredric Lehne

Directed By: Michael Showalter

Critics Consensus: Although it struggles to maintain its thrilling early momentum, Last Night in Soho shows flashes of Edgar Wright at his most stylish and ambitious.

Synopsis: In acclaimed director Edgar Wright's psychological thriller, Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp

Directed By: Edgar Wright

Critics Consensus: Where Is Anne Frank approaches a well-known story from a fresh angle while powerfully placing it in the context of the horrific tragedy that surrounds it.

Synopsis: Kitty, the imaginary girl to whom Anne Frank wrote her famous diary, comes to life in the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Her memories reawakened... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Emily Carey, Michael Maloney, Sebastian Croft, Ruby Stokes

Directed By: Ari Folman

Critics Consensus: The Guilty is another Americanized remake overshadowed by the original, but its premise is still sturdy enough to support a tense, well-acted thriller.

Synopsis: The film takes place over the course of a single morning in a 911 dispatch call center. Call operator Joe Baylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) tries to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Paul Dano

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua

Critics Consensus: France might have benefited from a more passionate approach to its themes, but Léa Seydoux leads an amusing send-up of celebrity culture.

Synopsis: In FRANCE, a satirical drama set in contemporary Paris, Léa Seydoux stars as France de Meurs, a seemingly unflappable superstar TV journalist whose career, home... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Léa Seydoux, Blanche Gardin, Benjamin Biolay, Emanuele Arioli

Directed By: Bruno Dumont

Critics Consensus: DASHCAM is visually and thematically provocative, although the film's grating protagonist undercuts its effectiveness.

Synopsis: At the start of the pandemic, an indulgent and self-deluded livestreaming improv musician abandons L.A. for London, steals her ex-band mate's car, and makes the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Annie Hardy, Faith Kiggundu, Seylan Baxter, Amar Chadha-Patel

Directed By: Rob Savage

Critics Consensus: Dear Evan Hansen does a fair job of capturing the emotion of its source material, but it's undermined by questionable casting and a story that's hard to swallow.

Synopsis: The breathtaking, generation-defining Broadway phenomenon becomes a soaring cinematic event as Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt reprises his role as an anxious,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ben Platt, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever

Directed By: Stephen Chbosky

Critics Consensus: Lacking the essential spark of director Nanni Moretti's best work, Three Floors does a dreary disservice to its laudable themes.

Synopsis: The lives of three families living in the same apartment building in Rome's Prati neighbourhood.

Starring: Margherita Buy, Riccardo Scamarcio, Alba Rohrwacher, Adriano Giannini

Directed By: Nanni Moretti

Critics Consensus: Burying its talented cast and worthy themes under mounds of heavy-handed melodrama, The Starling is a turkey.

Synopsis: After Lilly (Melissa McCarthy) suffers a loss, a battle with a territorial bird (The Starling) over dominion of her garden provides an unlikely avenue for... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd, Kevin Kline, Timothy Olyphant

Directed By: Theodore Melfi

Critics Consensus: Naomi Watts gives it her all, but The Desperate Hour falls short as a thriller as well as social commentary.

Synopsis: Unfolding in real time, THE DESPERATE HOUR is a "riveting and pulse pounding" thriller from award-winning director Phillip Noyce. Recently widowed mother Amy Carr (Academy... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Naomi Watts, Colton Gobbo, Sierra Maltby

Directed By: Phillip Noyce

Critics Consensus: The Story of My Wife gets a pair of strong performances out of its talented leads, but they're wholly undermined by a story that's nowhere near compelling enough to support the movie's sprawling runtime.

Synopsis: Jakob Störr, a Dutch seasoned sea captain, makes a bet in a café to marry the first woman who enters the place. And then in... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Léa Seydoux, Gijs Naber, Louis Garrel, Sergio Rubini

Directed By: Ildikó Enyedi

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: On a dark night, Xueming hits a pedestrian with his car and flees the scene. Desperate to escape his feelings of guilt, he decides to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Eddie Peng, Sylvia Chang, Yanhui Wang, Yu Zhang

Directed By: Shipei Wen

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Ajo Kawir is a fighter who fears nothing, not even death. His raging urge to fight is driven by a secret: his impotence. When he... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Marthino Lio, Ladya Cheryl, Reza Rahadian, Ratu Felisha

Directed By: Edwin

Critics Consensus: Centered on a mother's struggle to provide care for her son, The Other Tom highlights the difficulty of meeting a child's mental health needs.

Synopsis: Elena is a single mother who relies on Social Services. Her son Tom has behavioral issues and is stigmatized at school as a "problem child"... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Israel Rodríguez, Julia Chávez, Leah Miller, Malicia Domínguez

Directed By: Rodrigo Plá, Laura Santullo

Critics Consensus: Snakehead struggles to maintain a consistent grip on its narrative ambitions, but the cast really sinks its fangs into the material.

Synopsis: Sister Tse comes to New York through a Snakehead, a human smuggler. She gains favor with the matriarch of the family of crime and she... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Shuya Chang, Jade Wu, Yacine Djoumbaye, Catherine Jiang

Directed By: Evan Jackson Leong

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A movie fan strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.

Starring: Yi Zhang, Wei Fan, Haocun Liu, Ailei Yu

Directed By: Yimou Zhang

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Crista, Carloto and João are building an airy greenhouse for butterflies in the garden. The three of them share household routines, day after day... and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Crista Alfaiate, Carloto Cotta, João Nunes Monteiro, Adilsa

Directed By: Maureen Fazendeiro, Miguel Gomes

Critics Consensus: With an outstanding cast and a thoughtful story that makes the most of its limited setting, Costa Brava, Lebanon reaffirms that the personal is the political.

Synopsis: The free-spirited Badri family escapes the toxic pollution and social unrest of Beirut by seeking refuge in a utopic mountain home they've devoted years to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nadine Labaki, Saleh Bakri, Nadia Charbel, Ceana Restom

Directed By: Mounia Akl

Critics Consensus: Despite George MacKay's best efforts, Wolf remains a horror-tinged social allegory that's left to largely chase its own tail.

Synopsis: Believing he is a wolf trapped in a human body, Jacob (George MacKay) eats, sleeps, and lives like a wolf -- much to the shock... View Full Synopsis

Starring: George MacKay, Lily-Rose Depp, Paddy Considine, Eileen Walsh

Directed By: Nathalie Biancheri

Critics Consensus: The Good House creaks in spots, but with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver providing load-bearing performances, it's far from a fixer-upper.

Synopsis: The Good House follows Hildy Good (Sigourney Weaver), a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches, who loves her wine and her... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney

Directed By: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky