TAGGED AS: festivals, Film Festival, movies, toronto
(Photo by © Netflix)
The Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Movie Scorecard
2021’s awards and festival season continues with the Toronto International Film Festival celebrating its 46th year with opening musical selection Dear Evan Hansen and closer One Second, by Zhang Yimou. Other directors debuting new works include Mélanie Laurent (The Mad Woman’s Ball), Antoine Fuqua (The Guilty), Phillip Noyce (Lakewood), and Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye).
Below, we’re listing every movie playing at TIFF that has received enough reviews for a Tomatometer score, including movies playing at the festival but which debuted earlier in the year, like Dune, The Power of the Dog, Spencer, and Last Night in Soho. We’ll be adding new movies up to the fest’s conclusion on September 18th, so check back often as we update the Toronto Film Festival 20201 Movie Scorecard! —Alex Vo
#79
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
[More]
#75
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
[More]
#74
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
[More]
#72
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
[More]
#70
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
[More]
#69
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
[More]
#68
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
[More]
#67
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
[More]
#65
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
[More]
#64
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.
[More]
#63
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
[More]
#62
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
[More]
#61
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
[More]
#60
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
[More]
#59
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
[More]
#57
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
[More]
#55
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
[More]
#53
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
[More]
#52
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
[More]
#51
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.
[More]
#50
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.
[More]
#49
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.
[More]
#48
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
[More]
#47
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
[More]
#46
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
[More]
#43
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
[More]
#42
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
[More]
#41
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
[More]
#40
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
[More]
#38
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#36
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
[More]
#35
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
[More]
#34
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
[More]
#33
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
[More]
#32
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
[More]
#31
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
[More]
#30
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
[More]
#28
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
[More]
#26
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
[More]
#25
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
[More]
#23
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
[More]
#20
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
[More]
#19
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
[More]
#18
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.
[More]
#17
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
[More]
#16
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
[More]
#15
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
[More]
#14
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
[More]
#11
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
[More]
#10
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
[More]
#9
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
[More]
#8
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A movie fan strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
[More]
#7
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
[More]
#6
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
[More]
#4
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
[More]
#2
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
[More]
Thumbnail image: Netflix.
98%
93%
47%
