TIFF 2026 Review: The Violinist – “the entire experience was emotionally moving.”

A daughter from an affluent family and the adopted son of a family servant bond over their love of music and playing the violin together; however, the global stage that they seek to perform upon gets upended when international conflicts turn into warfare.

A concert by a renowned violinist is followed by a journalist’s pursuit to uncover the story behind a particular instrument she has favoured throughout her career.  The story becomes a flashback retelling of how two children, one from wealth and the other from the servant class inspire each other as musicians.  However, the peaceful environment shatters when war breaches Singapore’s borders.  The resulting tyranny separates the childhood friends as each seek their own way to deal with the domestic unrest caused by global turmoil.

The two opening scenes establish the tone for what is going to happen, which is that what at first seems to be a celebration of music turns into a spy thriller into a personal journey of self-discovery.   This might sound rather disjointed, but the narration serves as the narrative spin that gives everything the proper context, such as “We were partners in music painting the air with melodies bound by friendship and our violins.”  The colour palette reflects the change in tone, going from saturated to desaturated to saturated. The animation style includes illustrations that serve as historical event title cards, which are out of place at times. The most effective visual transition is having the colour of a temple in Hiroshima go from colour to a black-and-white silhouette blown apart by a nuclear bomb.

If there is a spiritual soulmate to The Violinist, it would be The Breadwinner as despite being meant for family viewing, neither sanitize their subject matter.  People get killed, and dreams get trampled upon but yet the human spirit endures to live another day.   There are major moments such as the massive bombing sequences but the ones that truly standout is Kai pretending to play the violin with various household items or Fei tapping Kai on the back with her violin bow to remind him to bow.  It is nice to see that the two main characters are supportive of each other rather than torn apart by jealousy.  The ending might be heavy-handed, but the entire experience was emotionally moving.

The 51st Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10-20, 2026, and for more information visit tiff.net.   

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.