TIFF 2026 Review: Tangles – “may just be the most touching movie of the festival.”

courtesy of TIFF

Every once in a while a film comes along that moves you so incredibly deeply that you’re left in shambles by its end.  While I write this TIFF is only in its third day, but Tangles may just be the most touching movie of the festival.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it rides that wave of emotion right to awards season.

Based on the graphic memoir of the same name from writer Sarah Leavitt, Tangles recounts her family’s journey as her mother, Midge, is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and moves through the various stages of the horrible disease.  It’s her recollection anyway.  As the film opens, she’s quick to say, others may remember it differently. Set in 1999 San Francisco,  Sarah (voiced by Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson) is an up and coming illustrator for Outspoken magazine.  She’s just met her amazing girlfriend Donimo (Samira Wiley) when she has to leave for a planned trip home to Maine to visit her family.

Her father, Rob (Bryan Cranston) picks her up at the airport and everything seems pretty normal until she gets home.  Then she realizes her mother Midge (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) isn’t quite herself.  She’s left the iron on upstairs, burning a shirt, and she can’t quite figure out the door from outside in the garden. Rob is really in denial that anything is happening, and Midge’s sisters convince her that her ‘scatterbrain’ is likely related to menopause.  But, things start to get worse, and eventually there is no denying that something is terribly wrong.

Once the diagnosis happens, the film is careful not only to show changes in Midge’s health, but also how it relates to her family around her.  And it’s here where Tangles really shines, because so many films about chronic illness concentrate on the person with the disease, yet it truly affects everyone around them.  So many of us have been touched by dementia or Alzheimer’s in our families, but if you have experienced caring for someone with any debilitating chronic disease, you’re likely going to be able to relate to how frustrated, angry, exhausted and sad the Leavitt family becomes.  The feelings cycle, and the sense of responsibility is daunting while guilt for living your own life can take hold.

This is where the choice to animate this story works so incredibly well.  Mostly in greyscale, not only does the film feel like the graphic memoir is just coming off the pages, but it also allows for artistic interpretation of the character’s innermost feelings.  Sometimes these sections are a bit jarring and uncomfortable, but so too is what Sarah and those around her are experiencing.

However, just because this is a film with a difficult subject matter doesn’t mean it’s all sad.  In fact, another of the impressive things Tangles accomplishes is to balance the film with some moments of levity.  First time feature director Leah Nelson stacks her film with comedic talent.  Add to the aforementioned cast members Bowen Yang, Sara Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Seth Rogen as recognizable voices.  And laughs.  I mean who hasn’t at one point giggled along with a Rogen laugh? The screenplay by Nelson, Leavitt and Trev Renney is well crafted, including some really clever, humorous dialogue during airline announcements on Sarah’s numerous trips.

Tangles is one of those movies that sticks with you long after the credits finish.  It makes you want to hold dear those in your life that are still with you, and to remember those that aren’t.  This film earns every one of your inevitable tears, because it’s real and vulnerable, sensitive and respectful.  There’s a wonderful line at the beginning of the film where Midge tells a young Sarah, “Sometimes you have to be brave for other people.” and that’s what Tangles is really about.  Being there for family or friends who may be ill, but also for those caring for them.  Having compassion for and recognizing their complex thoughts and feelings is key.  Moreover, that bravery, that’s love.

Tangles has its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival Sunday, September 13, 2026.  For more information head to tiff.net