What to Watch at TIFF 2024
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
The full lineup for the Toronto International Film Festival is now here! After a strong-yet-subdued 2023 festival in the shadow of two massive industry strikes, the beloved, autumnal event is looking to be back in full force with tons of star power, and a batch of must-see works (a handful, of which, were only just announced this morning in the final hour, perhaps to make a big splash right before September creeps up on us). With what looked like a bit of a slow start of a roll out of titles has now come full circle with some 2024 juggernaut releases that you won’t want to miss. What are those films (and, maybe, a television show tossed in for good measure), you may ask? You needn’t look further than the slate down below. As usual, we here at Films Fatale have got you covered on what to watch at TIFF 2024! Let’s not waste any more time.
Anora
We have to start off with the Palme d’Or winning project from Sean Baker, Anora. Of course, we cover every winner of the coveted Cannes Film Festival prize, which is extra incentive for us to want to watch this satire as quickly as possible. Even without this in mind, the reviews for Anora have mainly been through the roof, which is saying a lot when you’re acknowledging a fairly challenging director like Baker, who typically has his devoted fans (like me) and those who cannot get on board with his abrasive, confrontational filmmaking. Anora feels like a must, and perhaps the film you must try the hardest to see here at TIFF 2024 because of its already established acclaim and the splash it is due to cause during the awards season this year.
Conclave
Director Edward Berger returns after his rendition of All Quiet on the Western Front took over the film world and almost usurped Everything Everywhere All at Once at the 95th Academy Awards (there was a brief window of opportunity for the German anti-war film to have claimed Best Picture, perhaps if the awards season was a bit longer and the film garnered more steam). His followup film is Conclave: a religious thriller featuring Ralph Fiennes as a Cardinal tasked with finding a successor for the pope, only to be entangled in a web of conspiracy and revelation. This claustrophobic, psychological mystery sounds like it will be a riveting ride, and possibly one of the more discussed films at TIFF this season.
Disclaimer
It may seem silly to have a television series on this list, but if TIFF is spotlighting upcoming miniseries or long form content, then why should it be strange to include here? Besides, Disclaimer is the latest project from Alfonso Cuarón: one of the finest filmmakers of our time (Roma remains my favourite film of the 2010s), This seven-part series — a meta, self aware look at paranoia in the day and age of the invasion of privacy — has a stacked cast (Cate Blanchett, Sasha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kevin Kline, Hoyeon, et cetera), a massively promising premise, and the dedication of a contemporary, filmmaking giant who put his all in the past six years into this project. Sign us up!
Emilia Pérez
The latest film from Jacques Audiard (the genre-bending mind behind A Prophet, Dheepan, Rust and Bone, and The Sisters Brothers), Emilia Pérez is a black comedy musical (think Chicago, but potentially with even more bite). With the great premise of a criminal lawyer helping a cartel leader undergo gender reassignment surgery (as to stay on the run and also finally become the person she has always wanted to be), there is reason enough to want to see this vibrant, electrifying picture. Then there’s the extra cherry on top: the triple Best Actress win this film had at Cannes, with stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofia Gascón, and Selena Gomez (which, on paper, feels like three people who would never appear in a film together, never mind take Cannes by storm with their chemistry and calibre). Aren’t you curious as to why this film got a three-way-tie trophy, especially with these names and in this film and with both music and dark comedy and crime thriller elements? I don’t need to know anything else, myself. I’m in.
The End
If you thought I was done recommending musicals, you’re out of your mind. The End is the much-anticipated film by one time documentary mastermind Joshua Oppenheimer (behind films like The Look of Silence, and, one of my personal favourite films ever made despite how tightly it ties my stomach in knots, The Act of Killing). Oppenheimer has come out to say that making documentaries isn’t feasible in this industry climate, so the next best thing is this satirical, dismal, apocalyptic musical about a wealthy family being stuck in a bunker after an event they caused to happen killed everyone else (keep in mind that he’s dabbled with the concept of the unorthodox pairing of genres and themes, including the literal use of musical tropes to depict mass slaughter in The Act of Killing). If your curiosity isn’t at least piqued after this news, then I don’t know what to tell you. The End promises to be one of the more inventive films of the year, and potentially a 2024 highlight.
Megalopolis
Despite the starkly polarizing reviews that Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project, Megalopolis, has garnered after its Cannes Film Festival premiere, aren’t you even a little bit enthralled to see how this film transpires? It’s taken years, all of Coppola’s money (down to the selling of his properties), many years of industry hindrances to try and stop this project (lest they see a film most studios didn’t help succeed), and so many other tribulations, only for this anticipated project to churn out some of the most contrasting reviews of Coppola’s career (from hypnotized viewers, to those who think the film could flat out be the worst of the year). I at least need to see where I stand on the matter. At least you know Megalopolis has everything put into it, even if it is too much at the end of the day; it could become your next favourite film, or a splendid disaster, and both sound like ideal scenarios to me.
NightBitch
It’s about time the TIFF mainstay Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) returned to the festival, and with such a peculiar film to boot. Nightbitch stars Amy Adams (who is beyond due a proper film that can showcase her brilliant acting once again) as a wife and mom who is left to take care of her toddler alone while juggling her job, chores, and parenting… as well as the fact that she may be slowly turning into a dog (so that’s where the title comes into play!). This is unlike anything Heller has made before, but not unlike the kinds of films TIFF has championed before and will continue to do so, and it’s as refreshing yet socially conscious as film gets in 2024 (or so Nightbitch seems).
The Piano Lesson
This is the safest pick of this list, but I am aware that many of the readers who stumble upon these selections are looking for that next Academy Awards nominated juggernaut, and perhaps the next film that will win the Peoples’ Choice Award at TIFF (which almost always goes on to be nominated — or even win — Best Picture at the Oscars). My prophecy for such a film this year is the seemingly people pleasing drama The Piano Lesson by Malcolm Washington. With a loaded cast of potential awards season favourites this year, like Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Daniel Deadwyler (plus a surprising, intriguing appearance from one Erykah Badu, the Queen of Neo Soul), The Piano Lesson is an adaptation of August Wilson’s play about a Black family during the Great Depression and the choice they have to make surrounding their piano, one which is greatly attached to history in major ways. This may be the world premiere of the film, so should The Piano Lesson be a good film, expect the film industry to be put on notice with this one during TIFF.
Queer
So it appears as though Luca Guadagnino is double dipping this year, firstly with the fantastic sports themed love triangle, Challengers, and now with Queer (which, on paper, has the potential to somehow be even better, believe it or not). As we follow an expat — based on beatnik author William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch) — who is trying to figure out his life (Daniel Craig in what is promising to be a career defining turn, should the preliminary rumours be accurate), Queer dives into the LGBT culture of 1940s Mexico City. This feels like a vulnerable, personal project for Guadagnino, and one that may wind up becoming his crowning achievement should all of the stars align as they may appear to on paper.
The Room Next Door
Since he began making short films with Hollywood stars as experiments, Pedro Almodóvar’s English language debut feature film has been on the radar of many (especially me). That day is almost here, with the announcement of The Room Next Door’s appearance at numerous film festivals (including, now, TIFF). Starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore (would the film even need anyone else after these two get added?), The Room Next Door will likely bring the Spanish titan’s melodramatic, genre breaking, idiosyncratic style to the North American audiences who refuse to read subtitles; should The Room Next Door wind up being your portal, believe me when I say you have many Almodóvar masterworks waiting to be watched. I’m hoping the translation from his typical works to this English language feature goes smoothly, because it doesn’t for many international visionaries (but Almodóvar is the kind of artist who can make this work).
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
We conclude on this Iranian epic, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which had a massive presence at Cannes earlier this year (to the point that there was a strong possibility that it could have won the Palme d’Or instead of Anora; it wound up winning a Prix Spécial instead). Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest film is a domestic drama that incorporates the political struggles of Tehran, Iran, into an allegorical tale of a missing gun — one issued by the government to protect a family after the father of the household is appointed the role of investigating judge in the Islamic Revolutionary Court. What is likely a heavy, gripping, spellbinding feat, this three hour feature may be the sleeper hit of TIFF, if its major success at Cannes hasn’t already placed the film on the radars of most cinephiles already.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.