An aspiring singer-songwriter falls for a local bookstore clerk while still being married to her husband in The Swearing Jar. Carey (Adelaide Clemens) isn’t just a newlywed and married to Simon (Patrick J. Adams), she also learns early on that she’s pregnant. Her mother-in-law, Bev (Kathleen Turner), is a real Debbie Downer and doesn’t take kindly to this news at first. A lot of this is because she’s afraid Simon will turn into his father…
"The Swearing Jar – Toronto 2022"Author: Danielle Solzman
Danielle Solzman
Stellar is not the typical film that one might find taking place at a bar as the world unravels right outside the windows. In many ways, Stellar is a contemplative film that leads audiences to think about what’s happening with nature. Unfortunately, this film will not be for everyone. Weirdly, all of the chaos happening outside the dive bar has no immediate impact on the building itself. I mean, the bartender (Rossif Sutherland) has a…
"Stellar – Toronto 2022"
In bringing The Fabelmans to Toronto, Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg unveiled yet another masterpiece in cinema. Steven Spielberg has always had a way with the camera but what this film does is show audiences just how this love of filmmaking came to be. If you’ve watched Spielberg on HBO or read Joseph McBride’s book, you’re already at an advantage. It’s why none of the film came to me as a surprise because I was already…
"The Fabelmans – Toronto 2022"
Muru is a very tense thriller as a community police officer must decide between doing his job and protecting his community. This film is inspired by true events but it’s not a recreation. Per the start of the film, it’s actually a response to the raid. And honestly, looking at the conversation about policing in the past few years, it makes one rethink their feelings. I mean, honestly, is a person a terrorist when they…
"Muru – Toronto 2022"
A couple reaches a rut in their marriage in The End of Sex and experiments with their relationship while their kids attend winter camp. It’s a safe assumption that Josh (Jonas Chernick) and Emma (Emily Hampshire) are not alone with their feelings. At the same time, many couples probably wouldn’t go to the lengths that they do. I mean, people might fantasize about a threesome but would they really go through with it, right? Anyway,…
"The End of Sex – Toronto 2022"
Writer-director Luis De Filippis marks her feature directorial debut with a different kind of trans-led film, Something You Said Last Night. The film marks the on-screen debut for Carmen Madonia. She worked with an acting coach for a year and a half heading into production. Her work paid off because you could never tell that this was her first feature role. The mid-twentysomething Ren (Carmen Madonia) joins her family on vacation to a beach resort…
"Something You Said Last Night – Toronto 2022"
Butcher’s Crossing is a low-key Western that follows a Harvard University dropout as he seeks a new adventure hunting buffalo. Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) is probably the last person you would expect to find hunting buffalo. But sure enough, he’s dropped out of college and looking for a new adventure to take on. A trip west to Kansas in 1874 sees him run into Miller (Nicolas Cage) and join his team of buffalo hunters, for…
"Butcher’s Crossing – Toronto 2022"
Chandler Levack’s feature directorial debut, I Like Movies, is a beautifully made coming-of-age video store dramedy set in 2002-03. Remember video stores? You know, the place where you went before the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, etc. I feel old by referring to this film as a period piece but it certainly is. I Like Movies is a film that is made by a cinephile for cinephiles. It isn’t just the care that writer/director…
"I Like Movies – Toronto 2022"
A reluctant aunt has no choice but to take in her orphaned Indigenous niece in ROSIE, a moving tale set during Montréal in the 1980s. Frédérique (Mélanie Bray), aka Fred, takes in Rosie (Keris Hope Hill) after the death of her adoptive sister. This film is set in 1984 but it also speaks to a broken system. Fred is in no position to take in a child. She has no job and is on the…
"ROSIE- Toronto 2022"
Filmmaker Sophie Kargman’s Susie Searches is an expansion of her 2020 short film and the comic thriller is a solid feature debut. I love a good thriller but there’s something about Susie Searches that makes it stand apart from other films. At first glance, this looks like a regular ol’ whodunit. But as we dive in and learn more, it becomes something completely different. You see, most films, let alone TV series, would not do…
"Susie Searches – Toronto 2022"