The Best of TIFF 2025
BLUE MOON
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Before Rodgers and Hammerstein created seminal musical hits like “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific,” there was the different and less successful collaboration of Rodgers and Hart. It’s at this transition point where “Blue Moon” takes place, the opening night of “Oklahoma!” in 1943 where jealousy-filled Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) is forced to reckon with his former partner’s success. Director Richard Linklater has gotten great performances from Hawke over the years in “Boyhood” and the “Before” trilogy, just to name a few, and their latest collaboration is another winner. It puts the multi-faceted performer front-and-center to juggle various stages of emotional rage and sadness with deceptive ease, sustained by a dynamite supporting cast that includes Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott. “Blue Moon” may seem light at first glance but it’s quick pace and witty dialogue help it stand out amongst the year’s best films.
NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE
Courtesy of Neon
Blending time travel, improv comedy and crazy stunts, “Nirvanna” has taken its sweet time making it to the big screen. Canadian duo Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol first created a fictionalized version of themselves for the cult “Nirvanna” web and TV series back in the 2000’s, playing bumbling musicians looking to land a gig at Toronto’s famed Rivoli club. Several decades later, the guys are no closer to achieving that goal and only rely on naïve desperation to push them through. But after a time travel mishap actually puts them back at square one in 2008, the chase to get “back to the future” and keep their musical dreams alive results in some insane gags. From “The Dirties,” to “Operation Avalanche” and “Blackberry,” Johnson has been crafting an impressive resume behind the camera and that hot streak continues here. “Nirvanna” is a huge crowd pleaser that deserves to be seen with the biggest audience possible.
THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
Courtesy of TIFF
Mona Fastvold was one of the central pieces of last year’s “The Brutalist.” This year, along with that film’s director and real-life partner Brady Corbet who both co-wrote the screenplay, she has returned to the director’s chair with “The Testament of Ann Lee.” It’s a strong depiction of the founding of the Shaker movement and all of the religious complexities behind the scenes. Anchoring the film is Amanda Seyfried, who is more than up to the challenge of portraying the many shades of Ann Lee, someone who starts small and naïve and by the film’s end finds tremendous power through her unwavering faith. Fastvold and Corbet’s screenplay find lots to tackle in this dense and adult film that marries drama and religion with shades of a musical quite effortlessly. It’s a testament to their filmmaking and Seyfried’s towering performance that it all comes together in one of the most ambitious and powerful films of the year.
WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
Courtesy of Netflix
The third and darkest entry in the “Knives Out” franchise, “Wake Up Dead Man” continues writer-director Rian Johnson’s hot streak of crafting unique cinematic puzzles. This time around, master detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is urged to solve another unsolvable mystery but the film almost threatens to sideline him altogether for the first third. Instead, the narrative boldly takes its time introducing us to supporting players and eventual murder suspects against its vast and sinister religious backdrop. They include Josh O’Connor, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott and Cailee Spaeny, all crafting a solid ensemble to back up Craig’s befuddled detective. “Wake Up Dead Man” is definitely the heaviest of the three “Knives Out” films in length and subject matter but also the one that truly requires your full attention. The twists and fun are still there, it just takes some extra worthwhile effort to get to the film’s pleasurable center.
