It’s that time of the year again as the Toronto International Film Festival is primed to kick off this Thursday, September 5th, and as usual, it is brimming with some of the most significant achievements that cinema has to offer in 2024. So much so, though, that it can be difficult settling on what to see.
Fret not! I have narrowed down a list of my four most anticipated features – in no particular order – being shown at TIFF in 2024.
The Last Showgirl
If there’s one thing panel judges, and indeed the Academy itself love, it’s a great comeback story. Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, Bredan Fraser in The Whale, and Ke Huy Quan in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once earned each of these actors Oscar nominations after years out of the industry’s brightest lights, with the latter two winning their awards (in the same year, no less). Well, the next big Hollywood comeback could be Canada’s own Pamela Anderson, who is making waves playing the lead role in the upcoming The Last Showgirl, directed by Gia Coppola (yes, of those Coppolas) in what is her third feature film.
Anderson plays Shelley, a veteran Vegas showgirl whose whole world is turned upside-down when the show she has been a part of for thirty years ends abruptly, leaving Shelley scrambling to figure out her life after losing such a significant part of it.
It’s easy to see here how The Last Showgirl vaguely mirrors Anderson’s own career in film and television, as she was once at the peak of popular culture as a cast member on Baywatch, arguably solidifying her as the sex symbol of the ‘90s. The actress’ career waned in the years following the show’s conclusion, though she has returned to the public psyche recently following the release of the Emmy-nominated Pam & Tommy, which covers the actress’ infamous sex tape scandal with then-husband, Tommy Lee.
Anderson reportedly impresses in the role, though only time will tell if it can ultimately land her that career-changing nomination at the Academy Awards.
Anora
While Pamela Anderson hopes to revitalize her career, Mikey Madison dares to redefine hers in Sean Baker’s already acclaimed comedy-drama Anora, which recently became the first American movie since Terrence Mallick’s The Tree of Life (2011) to win the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Anora is being tipped for multiple Oscar nominations, but as the awards season kicks into gear, Madison’s performance in particular has made her one of the early favourites for a Best Actress nomination. She plays the titular of Anora, a stripper who meets Vanya (Mark Eidelstein), the son of a Russian oligarch she meets through her work, and soon after they marry out of love, lust, and Vanya’s desire to avoid deportation from America. However, after Vanya’s family learn of his marriage, they travel to New York to force an annulment on the newlyweds.
Mikey Madison has hardly come out of nowhere. She has already had significant roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 2022’s Scream, and the widely lauded TV show Better Things by Pamela Adlon, while she is now very much taking the next step in her young career with Anora. Meanwhile, Baker has been making venerated features, which often focuses on sex workers, for quite some time now, so it says a lot that some critics consider Anora the crowning achievement of his career.
Nightbitch
If Madison does secure that coveted Best Actress nod, she will certainly face stiff competition, as Oscar darling Amy Adams (who has six nominations so far, but no wins) is also drawing a great deal of attention for her performance in the eye-catchingly titled comedy-horror Nightbitch, with the actress being named as one of the early favourites for the award already.
For those of you who don’t know, Nightbitch is an adaptation of the 2021 novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder, and it centres on a woman known only as “Mother”, played by Adams, who puts her ambitions as a writer on hold to become a stay-at-home mom. Frustrated by her domestic role, she finds solace only in her late-night runs around the neighbourhood. However, things soon take a surreal turn as she soon finds herself transforming into a dog during her runs.
Yes, the title is pretty on-the-nose, and the story is quite unusual, but there is profound commentary to be unearthed beneath its absurdity. Such material could easily be mishandled, but it is in the very capable hands of writer-director Marielle Heller, who has established herself as a premiere filmmaker with Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), and most recently the Mr. Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), all of which have drawn significant praise.
Expect Nightbitch to be on the radars of most judges at TIFF this year.
Bring Them Down
Okay, so I admit that the of selection of this upcoming Irish movie is made with slight bias, as I am Irish myself, but that doesn’t make it any less deserving of my list.
The first feature film for writer and director Christopher Andrews, Bring Them Down features an impressive cast that includes Barry Keoghan, Christopher Abbott, Colm Meaney, and Nora-Jane Noone. The story centres on two neighbours based in rural Ireland whose families already have a history of bad blood, but when Jack (Keoghan) steals some rams from Michael (Abbott) and refuses to return them, what started out as a petty squabble turns into a major conflict between the two families.
The story is clearly rooted in and influenced by Irish playwriting, coming off as a cross between John B. Keane’s play The Field and Martin McDonough’s recent Oscar-nominated masterpiece The Banshees of Inisherrin, the latter of which might not be a stage production but certainly plays out like one, which is hardly surprising given McDonough’s own background as a playwright. Should this movie strike a creative success similar to that of McDonough’s pictures, Christopher Andrews could soon prove to be a talent to watch.
Honourable Mentions
The Brutalist – Directed by Brady Corbet. Starring Adrian Brody, Felicity Jones, and Guy Pearce.
Eden – Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Ana de Armas, Vaness Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, and Daniel Brühl.
The End – Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer. Starring Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, Moses Ingram, Michael Shannon, and Bronagh Gallagher.
The Life of Chuck – Directed by Mike Flanagan. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamil, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Mia Sara.
The Order – Directed by Justin Kurzel. Starring Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, and Alison Oliver.
Queer – Directed by Luca Guadagnino. Starring Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, and Lesley Manville.
Relay – Directed by David Mackenzie. Starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington, and Willa Fitzgerald.
The Shrouds – Directed by David Cronenberg. Starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, and Sandrine Holt.