Specialty Releases | Film Festival Today

Strong Performances Can’t Save “All the Devils Are Here”

September 24, 2025

“Doin’ It” Doesn’t Do It

September 18, 2025

Dull Atmosphere Clouds “Rabbit Trap”

September 12, 2025

“To Kill a Wolf” Kills the Mood

July 31, 2025

“House on Eden” Is Passably Spooky

July 24, 2025

“AJ Goes to the Dog Park” Is Fun but Nonsensical

July 23, 2025

Oak Cliff Review: “Videoheaven”

July 2, 2025

“The Ritual” Is Repetitive and Routine

June 4, 2025

Gorgeous Visuals Can’t Save “The New Boy”

May 23, 2025

“The Ruse” Lives Up to Its Title

May 15, 2025

Spruced-Up Shakespeare Can’t Save “Juliet & Romeo”

May 8, 2025

TIFF Review: “A Private Life”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 15, 2025
A Private Life (Rebecca Zlotowski, 2025) 3 out of 5 stars There is one primary reason to see A Private Life, from director Rebecca Zlotowski (Just the Two of Us), and that is Jodie Foster (Nyad), whose riveting performance is further enhanced by the fact that she speaks French throughout. Well, make that two reasons, as Daniel Auteuil (An Ordinary Case), in the role of her ex-husband, is equally compelling. Together, they provide the highlights ... >>
TIFF Review: “A Pale View of Hills”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 15, 2025
A Pale View of Hills (Kei Ishikawa, 2025) 3 out of 5 stars Born in 1954 in Nagasaki, Japan, Nobel-prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro emigrated to England in 1960. His subsequent bicultural upbringing has given him a unique perspective on the world that has informed much of his writing, specializing in the emotional reserve that humans layer on top of experience to avoid looking closely at hard truths. His novels The Remains of the Day (1989) ... >>
TIFF Interview: “Steal Away” Co-Writer Tamara Berger and Director Clement Virgo
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 14, 2025
Toronto-based director Clement Virgo just premiered his latest feature, Steal Away, which he co-wrote with wife Tamara Berger, at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (where I reviewed it). They previously collaborated on the 2005 Lie with Me. This new project is an adaptation of Karolyn Smardz Frost’s 2017 nonfiction book Steal Away Home and is set in a world that is neither the here nor the now, but possibly both, an amalgam of times ... >>
TIFF Review: “Franz”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 10, 2025
Franz (Agnieszka Holland, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars The writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924), though he died far too young (of tuberculosis), left behind a literary legacy that has lasted into our present. Works such as his story “In the Penal Colony,” his novella The Metamorphosis, and his novel The Trial have proved enormously influential, even though most of his works were only published after his death. We have his friend Max Brod to thank for us ... >>
TIFF Review: “Steal Away”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 9, 2025
Steal Away (Clement Virgo, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars Set in a land that exists outside of a specific era and place, yet suggestive of many different locations and moments (including the here and now), director Clement Virgo’s Steal Away plunges the viewer into a simultaneous idyll and nightmare. The freshness of youth—and youthful desire—runs directly into the brutality of human greed, destroying the innocent dreams of our teenage protagonists. ... >>

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