TIFF Day Four: Shanghai Spies & Larrain Lets His Bunuel Flag Fly

A day that begins with Bunuel lite and ends with Bunuel flamethrower.

The Barefoot Emperor [Belgium, Jessica Woodworth & Peter Brosens, 3.5] After a regrettable incident at a recreation of the Franz Ferdinand assassination, the Belgian king is confined to a sanatorium, formerly Tito’s island retreat whose head (Udo Kier) exudes a sinister solicitude. Absurdist fable of the slow-motion elite bafflement.

Sequel to 2016’s King of the Belgians, which it recaps at the top (not that it really has to.)

Saturday Fiction [China, Lou Ye, 4] Famed actress (Gong Li) returns to occupied Shanghai to run one last op for her French spymaster (Pascal Greggory) aimed at a Japanese cipher officer (Odagiri Jo.) Hazy, shifting identities in deglamorized B&W, culminating in gripping ballistics.

Coming Home Again [US, Wayne Wang, 4] Tightly wound writer (Justin Chen) returns to San Francisco to care for his cancer stricken mom (Jackie Chung), despite her and his dad’s worries over the effect this will have on his career. Contemplative drama of love, resentment, and the emotional weight of getting the food right.

The Good Intentions [Argentina, Ana García Blaya, 3.5] When her mom and stepdad decide to move to Paraguay, her precociously together young daughter lobbies to stay with her raffish, irresponsible slacker dad. Autobiographical slice-of-life, punctuated by real life home videos, illuminated by the performance of child actor Amanda Minujin.

Ema [Chile, Pablo Larrain, 4] Seductive dancer (Mariana di Girolamo) married to insecure choreographer (Gael Garcia Bernal) tries to regain custody of the boy they returned to the adoption agency after he burned her sister’s face. Unnerving, visually arresting, sex-drenched Bunuelian provocation.

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Capsule review boilerplate: Ratings are out of 5. I’ll be collecting these reviews in order of preference in a master post the Monday after the fest. Films shown on the festival circuit will appear in theaters, streaming platforms and perhaps even good old physical media over the next year plus. If you’ve heard of a film showing at TIFF, I’m probably waiting to see it during its upcoming conventional release.Unless you mean The Color Out of Space, which I’m seeing on the 14th.

TIFF Day Three: A Ruthless South Korean Thriller and a Forbiddingly Beautiful Cult Drama

The Other Lamb [Belgium/Poland/US, Malgorzata Szumowska, 4] The onset of puberty changes everything for a young member of an isolated cult (Raffey Cassidy) consisting of the many wives and daughters of a charismatic leader (Michiel Huisman.) Set in a landscape of stark and forbidding beauty, this hits the baked-in beats of a cult liberation drama with an emphasis on the role of womens’ devotion in sustaining patriarchy.

Three Summers [Brazil, Sandra Kogut, 3.5] When her employers are busted in the Operation Car Wash bribery scandal, their resourceful chief maid steps in to protect the staff and a disregarded pater familias. Naturalistic drama with satirical undertones follows the effects of elite dereliction on the working class.

The Giant [US, David Raboy, 2] In what might be a dream, a distorted memory or a trip into the Bardo Thodol, a southern teen processes nameless trauma involving her dead mom and troubled ex. Bearing the stylistic influences of Aronofsky and Malick, this falls prey to the standard failing of head trip films—no payoff.

Bring Me Home [South Korea, Kim Seung-woo,4] Nurse’s search for her missing young son takes her to a rural village where fishing tour operators protected by a corrupt cop exploit the labor of a couple of kids. Bars no holds in pursuit of physically and emotionally brutal thrills.

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Capsule review boilerplate: Ratings are out of 5. I’ll be collecting these reviews in order of preference in a master post the Monday after the fest. Films shown on the festival circuit will appear in theaters, streaming platforms and perhaps even good old physical media over the next year plus. If you’ve heard of a film showing at TIFF, I’m probably waiting to see it during its upcoming conventional release.Unless you mean The Color Out of Space, which I’m seeing on the 14th.