-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: Girl Group
You would be forgiven if you didn’t realize that Girl Group was Rebel Wilson’s second turn in the director’s chair. Back in 2024, Wilson came to the Toronto International Film Festival with her directorial debut called The Deb. It was an original musical and a fairly solid film, however, it ended up embroiled in several legal battles that ended up burying its release (you can find it now on digital...
-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: Idda – “Insolia and Vergano are very enigmatic and dynamic leads.”
Director Irene Dionisio dedicated her sophomore film Idda to her best friend, who suddenly passed away. Though she co-wrote the film with Marco Borromei, I hope that her friendship was less problematic than that of Adele (Tecla Insolia) and Sofia (Romana Maggiora Vergano). We meet the pair as Sofia returns to her hometown in Sicily. The two friends embrace, but it’s clear that the two haven’t seen each...
-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: Up Against It – “There was so much potential here.”
The title card of Up Against It may have been strangely indicative of what was to come in Trudie Styler’s complicated misfire. Garish pink early 90’s style font up against the British parliament buildings is such a strange decision, just like many choices in the rest of the film. Up Against it is just tonally uneven, never really knowing whether it should lean into comedy or drama and therefore...
-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: The Liberation – “The film finds the emotional weight necessary to balance its dark premise with a profound sense of grace.”
Clarity. Honesty. Forgiveness. It’s what is promised on the business card handed to Rita Cooper (Carrie Coon) by a new customer at her bank. All she needs to do is head down to the beach after work to watch the sunset and have an open mind. Rita is a woman plagued by her present and her past. A child during the Holocaust, she watched her mother and sisters get ripped away. She survived, as did her...
-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: Smudge the Blades
A rag-tag Indigenous hockey team is helped by a reluctant and unlikely coach. Kicked out of a top league, the Treaty 6 Blades need a new coach, who happens to be the local Zamboni driver, more motivated to bed a particular hockey mom than to put together a winning strategy on the ice. Each of the players comes with their own emotional baggage, along with being victims of rampant racism directed towards...
-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: The Diary of a Chambermaid
A Romanian migrant is a live-in housekeeper at the behest of her employers she prepares for an amateur production of The Diary of a Chambermaid. While working for an upper-class couple in France as a live-in housekeeper, Gianina has constant FaceTime chats with her daughter who longs for them to be reunited in Romania; her offspring is jealous that the boy of her employers gets more personal attention...
-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: La Gradiva – “A bittersweet examination of a formative period.”
A group of French teenagers are embarking on a class trip to Pompeii. They’re in their last year of high school and awaiting acceptance letters for the next step in their education. These are kids from different backgrounds and social statuses that may never hang out when they’re at school, so dynamics feel a little different, yet the cliques are still the same. They’re on the precipice of great change,...
-
Read MoreTIFF 2026 Review: Josephine – “compelling, uncomfortable and something I will not soon forget.”
Trigger warning: This film, and therefore this review will discuss sexual assault. Please take care while reading (and watching). There’s a movie that I’ve referenced a few times during this festival. Perhaps it’s just because I’ve watched a couple Scandinavian films, but it’s seemingly more for their subject matter, which often involves children and some version of trauma....
Recent News
Recent Trailers
Recent Reviews
Most Recent Articles
Pedro Almodóvar in Conversation at the BFI, Part Two
In part one of Pedro Almodóvar in conversation at the BFI, London, the Spanish...
Read More
Cool Mashup: It’s Always Sunny In Hawkins, Indiana
Stranger Things meets It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Read More
Watch the first 12 minutes of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
KINGSGLAIVE: FINAL FANTASY XV debuts on digital on August 30 and on Steelbook,...
Read More
Galas, Masters, Wavelengths, Contemporary Cinema, Lagos & TIFF 2016
Additional galas and special presentations will be taking place as part of the...
Read More
Video Essay: David Lean’s Scene Transitions
Scene transitions are not limited to wipes, fades, or dissolves. The Royal...
Read More
Cool Short: Akira 28
Akira 28 is a very cool updated for the classic anime. It has been put...
Read More
Blu-ray Review: Jane Got A Gun
Jane Got A Gun is a relatively simple western, but its title requires...
Read More
Pedro Almodóvar in conversation at the BFI, Part One
For the better part of a decade, I have been a huge admirer of the work of...
Read More
Watch The Animated Adventures of Firefly Teaser
I have featured some of the lovely art work of Stephen Byrne on Live for Films...
Read More
Kenny Baker has passed away
Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2 in the Star Wars films has died at the age of 83...
Read More
Review: Ingrid Bergman In Her Own Words
Ingrid Bergman in her Own Words does what any classic documentary should; it...
Read More
Watch a Visual Effects Breakdowns for Godzilla: Resurgence
Toho have made their first Godzilla movie in 12 years. It is called Godzilla:...
Read More
TIFF 2016 selects new Platform
Competition for the Toronto Platform Prize ($25,000 CAD) takes place for a...
Read More
Review: Supergirl Season 1
Supergirl series one has flown into our DVD and Blu-ray players, and that is...
Read More
Classics, Documentaries, Short Films, Madness & TIFF 2016
Longevity is a crowning achievement for a movie, and the 41st Toronto...
Read More
Surviving The Wes Anderson Marathon at The Prince Charles Cinema
The aisles were littered with the remains of those who had survived and those...
Read More
In Conversation with Sing Street’s stars Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Mark McKenna
Back in May, upon its theatrical release I was rather vocal about my...
Read More
Review: Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is another attempt at a raunchy, immature,...
Read MoreLive for Films is one of the Top 10 UK Film Blogs
Follow Us
Support Live For Films
Film Festivals and Conventions
Recent Reviews
Recent Comments
Check out these other sites
Recent Short Films
Recent Posters
