
REVIEWS
September 4 - 14, 2025

Ballad of a Small Player
United Kingdom | 2025 | 101m | English
This seductive character study from Oscar-winning director Edward Berger (TIFF ’24’s Conclave), stars Oscar nominee Colin Farrell as an obsessive travelling gambler and Oscar winner Tilda Swinton as the dogged detective determined to track him down.
Review By Kurt Morrison

Christy
United States of America | 2025 | 135m | English
Featuring a career-best performance from Sydney Sweeney (TIFF ’24’s Eden), the latest from David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) chronicles groundbreaking boxer Christy Martin's fierce story of self-actualization in the face of terrifying adversity.
Review By Darren Zakus

Eleanor The Great
United States of America | 2025 | 98m | English
Oscar nominee June Squibb (The Humans, TIFF ’21; Nebraska) stars in Scarlett Johansson’s thoughtful, provocative, and very funny feature directorial debut, about a nonagenarian who passes herself off as a Holocaust survivor.
Review By Darren Zakus

Frankenstein
United States of America | 2025 | 149m | English
Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro’s visually sumptuous adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece finds Oscar Isaac as the brilliant scientist whose unearthly creation, eerily and ingeniously conjured by Jacob Elordi, blurs the boundaries between life, death, and madness.
Review By Darren Zakus

Hamnet
United Kingdom | 2025 | 125m | English
Academy Award–winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, TIFF ’20 People’s Choice Award) helms this lush and tender drama about William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his family, as seen through the eyes of his thoughtful wife Agnes (a luminous Jessie Buckley).
Review By Darren Zakus

John Candy: I Like Me
United States of America | 2025 | 113m | English
Featuring candid testimonies from John Candy’s friends and family — including Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Catherine O’Hara, and more — Colin Hanks’ wildly entertaining documentary celebrates one of the most beloved comedic actors of our time.
Review By Darren Zakus

Sentimental Value
Norway, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom | 2025 | 135m | English, Norwegian
Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve lead an incomparable cast in Joachim Trier’s moving drama about a director’s bid to revive his career and repair his family’s broken bonds.
Review By Kurt Morrison

Ballad of a Small Player
United Kingdom | 2025 | 101m | English
This seductive character study from Oscar-winning director Edward Berger (TIFF ’24’s Conclave), stars Oscar nominee Colin Farrell as an obsessive travelling gambler and Oscar winner Tilda Swinton as the dogged detective determined to track him down.
Review By Eden Prosser

DISC
United States of America | 2025 | 14m | English
Jim Cummings and Victoria Ratermanis hit it out of the park in Blake Rice’s singular spin on the hookup trope, in which an intimate crisis involving a feminine hygiene product brings two strangers closer than they ever imagined.
Review By Darren Zakus

Eleanor The Great
United States of America | 2025 | 98m | English
Oscar nominee June Squibb (The Humans, TIFF ’21; Nebraska) stars in Scarlett Johansson’s thoughtful, provocative, and very funny feature directorial debut, about a nonagenarian who passes herself off as a Holocaust survivor.
Review By Eden Prosser

Frankenstein
United States of America | 2025 | 149m | English
Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro’s visually sumptuous adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece finds Oscar Isaac as the brilliant scientist whose unearthly creation, eerily and ingeniously conjured by Jacob Elordi, blurs the boundaries between life, death, and madness.
Review By Eden Prosser

Motor City
United States of America | 2025 | 103m | English
Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, and Shailene Woodley propel this violent revenge tale. When a ’70s-era everyman is framed by a ruthless local gangster, he emerges from prison determined to reclaim his life by any means necessary. Detroit native Jack White curates the propulsive score.
Review By Darren Zakus

Nuremberg
United States of America | 2025 | 148m | English, German
Featuring powerhouse performances from Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Rami Malek, this gripping historical drama from writer-director James Vanderbilt (TIFF ’15’s Truth) chronicles the events that brought the Nazi high command to justice in the wake of World War II.
Review By Darren Zakus

Rental Family
United States of America, Japan | 2025 | 110m | English, Japanese
Oscar winner Brendan Fraser stars as an American actor in Tokyo who suffers a colossal case of impostor syndrome when he becomes a professional surrogate in this wise and whimsical dramedy from director HIKARI (TIFF ’19’s 37 Seconds).
Review By Kurt Morrison

Sentimental Value
Norway, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom | 2025 | 135m | English, Norwegian
Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve lead an incomparable cast in Joachim Trier’s moving drama about a director’s bid to revive his career and repair his family’s broken bonds.
Review By Eden Prosser

The Captive
Spain, Italy | 2025 | 134m | Spanish, Arabic, Italian
In 1575 Algiers, a young soldier named Miguel de Cervantes is held for ransom — unaware he’s on the path to becoming one of history’s greatest storytellers. This bold, visually stunning film is a reimagining of the true story behind Cervantes’ transformation.
Review Coming Soon

The Lost Bus
United States of America | 2025 | 129m | English
Based on events that transpired during the California Camp Fire, this tale of heroism from Oscar-nominated director Paul Greengrass (United 93) stars Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera in a desperate struggle to bring a busload of children to safety.
Review By Darren Zakus

Blue Moon
United States of America, Ireland | 2025 | 100m | English
Ethan Hawke delivers a charming, lived-in performance as lyricist Lorenz Hart, holding court at Sardi’s on the historic night of his former collaborator Richard Rodgers’ (Andrew Scott) greatest triumph: the premiere of Oklahoma!
Review By Eden Prosser

Dandelion's Odyssey
France, Belgium | 2025 | 77m | No Dialogue
Four dandelion achenes escape the nuclear destruction of Earth, launching themselves into the corners of space and working together to survive on a strange new world in this landmark hybrid of live-action and animated storytelling.
Review By Eden Prosser

Eternity
United States of America | 2025 | 112m | English
Set in the afterlife, this stirring drama from director David Freyne (TIFF ’17’s The Cured) features Elizabeth Olsen (TIFF ’24’s The Assessment) and Miles Teller (Whiplash) as souls in transit — and a troubled love triangle.
Review By Kurt Morrison

Good Fortune
United States of America | 2025 | 98m | English
Actor-writer-director Aziz Ansari co-stars with Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh, and Keke Palmer in this hilarious modern fantasy in which the angel Gabriel, dissatisfied with performing minor acts of divine intervention, attempts to improve the lives of several struggling mortals.
Review Coming Soon

No Other Choice
South Korea | 2025 | 139m | Korean
Adapted from a novel by Donald E. Westlake (Payback), this incisive, darkly comic satire from Park Chan-wook (TIFF ’22’s Decision to Leave) follows a newly unemployed man who, desperate to land a coveted position, hatches a ruthless plan to dispatch his competition.
Review Coming Soon

Roofman
United States of America | 2025 | 126m | English
Starring Channing Tatum and Oscar nominee Kirsten Dunst, this wildly entertaining drama from Oscar-nominated director Derek Cianfrance (TIFF ’10’s Blue Valentine) tells the real-life story of Jeffrey Manchester, the “Rooftop Robber,” and his efforts to evade capture.
Review By Darren Zakus

Steve
Ireland, United Kingdom | 2025 | 92m | English
Oscar winner Cillian Murphy anchors this gripping adaptation of a bestselling novella from 2023. Faced with ever-increasing pressures, the head of a crumbling reform school for boys navigates a pivotal, fraught day while clinging to a fading sense of hope.
Review By Darren Zakus

The Smashing Machine
United States of America | 2025 | 123m | English
In one of the year’s most unexpected team-ups, indie icon Benny Safdie and star Dwayne Johnson unite for The Smashing Machine, the powerful and gritty account of the career of MMA and UFC pioneer Mark Kerr, co-starring Emily Blunt and a variety of UFC legends.
Review By Kurt Morrison
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