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Explore Lauren Bradshaw’s in-depth reviews of top movies at the Toronto International Film Festival. From “A Star is Born” to “The Joker”, read festival reviews here first!
I have tried to focus my TIFF coverage on female-led stories and a perfect example of a film told from the female perspective is writer/director Niki Byrne's THE JULIA SET. This film is Byrne's first feature, but you wouldn't know it from her assured direction and script. Featuring a phenomenal cast, led by Chase Infiniti,… Continue reading TIFF Movie Review: The Julia Set
Rachel Morrison is a masterful cinematographer, and it has been a delight to see how great she is as a director. Her latest film, LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, is a genre-bending exploration of guilt and grief with Margaret Qualley's best performance to date. Although there is nothing especially novel about the script, the beauty lies… Continue reading TIFF Review: Love of Your Life
Rebel Wilson returns to her musical roots to write, direct, and star in GIRL GROUP. The film is an entertaining love letter to the history of girl groups (my favorite being the outsized love for the Spice Girls) with phenomenal musical numbers set to such artists as BlackPink and Billie Eilish. Admittedly, the film does,… Continue reading TIFF Review: Girl Group
THE DEBUT was my most anticipated film at TIFF this year. Anything with Julianne Moore is going to rise to the top of my list, but hearing the Telluride Film Festival buzz that this is one of her best performances yet made me extra excited. Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, this film is a… Continue reading TIFF Movie Review: The Debut
I’m just as surprised as you that I loved I PLAY ROCKY. To be completely honest, this was one of the movies I was least excited about seeing at TIFF and almost went to see something else instead. I wasn't particularly captivated by the trailer, and the big looming questions in my mind were, "Why… Continue reading TIFF Movie Review: I Play Rocky
EVERYBODY WANTS TO F*CK ME wins the award for best title at TIFF this year. A dark comedy-thriller, with bits of horror sprinkled throughout, I can already tell this one is going to be compared to OBSESSION based on a similar theme. However, writer-director Jonathan Schey's intelligent and imaginative script brings the task of spotlighting… Continue reading TIFF Movie Review: Everybody Wants to F*ck Me
STUFFED is the definition of gloriously unhinged. You have never seen a movie like it and I doubt you ever will again. Part SWEENEY TODD with a dose of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and DEATH BECOMES HER mixed in, this genre-bending dark comedy/horror/romance/musical is full of humor, wears its heart on its sleeve, and has an incredible… Continue reading TIFF Movie Review: Stuffed
Below are my streaming recommendations for September across all of the major streaming platforms. This month, I paid tribute to Dolly Parton and made sure you were tracking where to stream a film whose sequel comes out this month. As always, I have tried to include multiple genres so I can hit all different tastes… Continue reading Streaming Recommendations for September
CHRISTY is one of my favorite underrated movies of the year, featuring a fantastic lead performance from Sydney Sweeney in the titular role. If you go into the film not knowing much about Christy Martin's story (like I did), you are going to be shocked by this emotional true story and the obstacles she had… Continue reading Interview: Christy Martin, David Michôd, and Mirrah Foulkes for CHRISTY
ROOFMAN, written and directed by Derek Cianfrance, is one of my favorite movies so far this year and one of the best films I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival. Based on a stranger-than-fiction true story, the film follows Jeff (Channing Tatum), a down on his luck military veteran who turns to a life… Continue reading Interview: Roofman Director, Derek Cianfrance