The Toronto International Film Festival was back in-person this year after the pandemic turned the major event digital, bringing some of the best of TIFF back to live audiences. Seeing King Street filled with people and almost every theatre packed to full capacity made the big screen feel alive again. With a slew of films in the drama, horror and comedy genres, TIFF 2022 had some amazing titles on offer this year.
The festival brought back red carpets, press conferences, mentoring and “In Conversation With” events this year, which had the streets packed with critics, press and definitely some Taylor Swift and Harry Styles fans. CGMagazine got the chance to send Brendan, Dayna and Shak to Toronto to check out what TIFF had to offer.
After a little over a week, TIFF 2022 came to a close today with their annual breakfast and award ceremony. The Toronto International Film Festival announced the 2022 People’s Choice Awards, Platform Prize, NETPAC, and FIPRESCI, IMDbPro Short Cuts, Canada Goose Amplify Voices Awards, and Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Awards to close out this year’s event.
Here are the TIFF 2022 award winners:
IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Film:
- Snow in September, dir. Lkhagvadulam (Dulmaa) Purev-Ochir.
IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film:
- Simo, dir. Aziz Zoromba
IMDbPro Short Cuts Share Her Journey Award:
- Nanitic, dir. Carol Nguyen
NETPAC Award:
- Sweet As, dir. Jub Clerc
FIPRESCI PRIZE:
- A Gaza Weekend, dir. Basil Khalil
Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film:
- Winner: To Kill a Tiger, dir. Nisha Pahuja,
- Special mention: Viking, dir. Stéphane Lafleur
Amplify Voices Award:
- Leonor Will Never Die, dir. Martika Ramirez Escobar
- While We Watched, dir. Vinay Shukla
Special Mention for Best Feature from an Emerging BIPOC Filmmaker:
- Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, dir. Madison Thomas.
Shawn Mendes Foundation 2022 Changemaker Award:
- Something You Said Last Night, dir. Luis De Filippis
PLATFORM PRIZE:
- Riceboy Sleeps, dir. Anthony Shim
TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award:
- Winner: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, dir. Eric Appel
- First runner-up: Pearl, dir. Ti West.
- Second runner-up: The Blackening, dir. Tim Story
TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Documentary Award:
- Winner: Black Ice ,dir. Hubert Davis
- First runner-up: Maya and the Wave, dir. Stephanie Johnes
- Second runner-up: 752 is not a Number, dir. Babak Payami.
TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Award:
- Winner: The Fabelmans, dir. Steven Spielberg
- First runner-up: Women Talking, dir. Sarah Polley
- Second runner-up: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, dir. Rian Johnson
While we were in the award mood, Brendan, Shak and Dayna decided to compile CGM’s choices for the best of TIFF 2022.
Here are CGMagazine’s best of TIFF 2022:
Triangle of Sadness
Reviewer’s Choice: Dayna Eileen
Even if Triangle of Sadness didn’t tackle real-life social issues in both serious and hilarious ways, it would still make the best of TIFF 2022 list. From the get go, this movie had me asking “What the HELL is going on?” and “Where could this possibly be going?”. Viewers were constantly on their toes, laughing, cringing and genuinely engaged. Triangle of Sadness was definitely one of the stranger films this year, but it was definitely on my best of TIFF 2022 list.
Catherine Called Birdy
Reviewer’s Choice: Dayna Eileen
Lena Dunham’s coming-of-age film Catherine Called Birdy was far more fun than I could have hoped! Bella Ramsey slayed as the quirky Birdy, the young teenage daughter of Lord Rollo and Lady Aislynn. Coming off her badass Game of Thrones role, seeing Ramsey master comedy and timing was truly impressive. Lena Dunham succeeded with writing and direction here as Catherine Called Birdy was full of constant laughter, and even a few tears. Though not incredibly dramatic, this should be on the best of TIFF 2022 list for sure!
Alice, Darling
Reviewer’s Choice: Dayna Eileen
Alice, Darling wasn’t my highest scoring film of TIFF, but it is definitely the one that stayed with me the most. Focusing in on a sort of invisible abuse that isn’t normally shown on screen was incredibly powerful. Anna Kendrick breaking down scene by scene only to eventually build herself back up felt effortless. Alice, Darling made me take a good long look at the relationships and people in my life, and I think it will for most people beyond just TIFF, making it one of the best of TIFF 2022.
The Whale
Reviewer’s Choice: Brendan Frye
I walked into The Whale unsure of what to expect. It has garnered a lot of buzz out of Venice, and I hoped it was substance rather than hype, especially with the talents of Darren Aronofsky and Brendan Fraser involved. Now that I have seen the movie, I can safely say it was not just hype, and it is one of the most devastating films I saw during TIFF 2022, landing it on the best of TIFF 2022 list.
There are fantastic performances across the board, with Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, and Sadie Sink leading the charge. The story is heartbreaking, but it is the way the actors and director bring the story to life that makes it so memorable. There is tact and care to all aspects of the film, bringing the story of an English teacher that has lost all will to live to full effect. While not an easy film, if you are a lover of character, and story The Whale is one you can’t miss, just be prepared for the emotional hit you may suffer.
Butcher’s Crossing
Reviewer’s Choice: Brendan Frye
I did not know what to expect when I signed up to watch the Nicolas Cage-led Butcher’s Crossing, but it was not the emotional, heart of darkness style story of madness and greed while buffalo hunting—never mind guessing it would be one of my best of TIFF 2022 picks. The movie goes places that I would never have expected, with the suffering of the animals on full display, showing the greed of mankind, it was hard to watch, and moving.
Nicolas Cage pulls off the subtle yet deranged Miller as he tears down everyone around him in his obsession, with the inevitable outcome a bookmark to a doomed journey. Touching on faith, the loss of innocence and the myth of the old west, Butcher’s Crossing is a complex deconstruction of the cowboy, along with a look at a dark chapter in North American history.
The Menu
Reviewer’s Choice: Brendan Frye
To put it simply, The Menu blew me away on all fronts. Like most of what I saw at TIFF 2022, I went in knowing as little as possible about the story or how it would unfold, and the film just worked. Telling the tale of doomed fancy dinner, The Menu brings the talents of Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, and so many others in a way that is as dark as it is funny.
Even with the horror and thriller elements, the writing team of Seth Reiss and Will Tracy craft a story that has expert comedic timing, and some of the best lines I have seen in film this year. It uses its pacing and structure to perfect effect, and the ending is something that needs to be experienced. Without a doubt, The Menu is my top film out of this year’s TIFF, making the best of TIFF 2022 list, and is something that should be seen as soon as you have the chance.
The Fabelmans
Reviewer’s Choice: Shak Lambert
Spielberg is at his best when he humbly reminds everyone why he’s still one of the best to ever do it. The Fabelmans is both an infectious ode to the power of movies and a deeply personal story about a family falling apart. With fantastic performances across the entire cast and some impressively creative direction, his semi-autobiographical coming of age flick is almost guaranteed Oscar nominations—and one of our best of TIFF 2022 picks. They will be well-deserved.
Sick
Reviewer’s Choice: Shak Lambert
In just a few short years, we’ve gotten more than enough bad movies centred on or about the COVID pandemic. Sick might be the first exception to the rule. My favourite Midnight Madness selection of the year, this lean home invasion slasher flick blends Scream writer Kevin Williamson’s knack for sharp dialogue and interesting teen characters with direct-to-video action maestro John Hyams’ talent for close-quarters camerawork and choreography to incredibly visceral effect. Even if the plot itself veers towards the ridiculous, I was too busy holding my breath during the intense chase sequences and brutal kills to care.
Brother
Reviewer’s Choice: Shak Lambert
One of the most emotionally devastating flicks of the fest, Brother’s tale of two brothers growing up in early 90s Scarborough felt so lived-in, it was like these characters could have been my cousins. Tremendous performances from both Aaron Pierre and Lamar Johnson, as well as fantastic direction from Clement Virgo help paint a picture that I couldn’t help but cry at by the time the credits rolled. If anything, it made me want to hug my brother just a bit tighter next time I see him, making it one of my best of TIFF 2022 choices.
I Like Movies
Reviewer’s Choice: Shak Lambert
I always wanted to work in a video store when I was a teenager. Unfortunately, the demise of those stores happened right when I was old enough to do so. One of my best of TIFF 2022 picks is Chandler Levack’s impressive debut feature about a teenage cinephile working his first job at a Burlington video store in 2003 shows me why that would’ve been the best and worst idea. A very funny and charming coming-of-age flick that thankfully knows when to chastise its protagonist’s toxic behaviour whenever he becomes insufferable, which happens oh so many times.
