TIFF 2017 Scorecard
Martin McDonagh, the writer/director behind In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, tickled TIFF audiences blood red with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, taking home the festival’s People’s Choice Award. Read on to see every movie from Toronto this year that got a Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
#194
Adjusted Score: 94715%
Critics Consensus: Brawl in Cell Block 99 rides a committed Vince Vaughn performance into the brutally violent -- and undeniably entertaining -- depths of prison-set grindhouse genre fare.
Synopsis: A former boxer loses his job as an auto mechanic, and his troubled marriage is about to expire. At this... [More]
Directed By: S. Craig Zahler
#193
Adjusted Score: 111509%
Critics Consensus: Led by strong work from Margot Robbie and Alison Janney, I, Tonya finds the humor in its real-life story without losing sight of its more tragic -- and emotionally resonant -- elements.
Synopsis: In 1991, talented figure skater Tonya Harding becomes the first American woman to complete a triple axel during a competition.... [More]
Directed By: Craig Gillespie
#192
Adjusted Score: 121327%
Critics Consensus: Lady Bird delivers fresh insights about the turmoil of adolescence -- and reveals writer-director Greta Gerwig as a fully formed filmmaking talent.
Synopsis: A teenager (Saoirse Ronan) navigates a loving but turbulent relationship with her strong-willed mother (Laurie Metcalf) over the course of... [More]
Directed By: Greta Gerwig
#191
Adjusted Score: 106237%
Critics Consensus: Subtle and tender, A Fantastic Woman handles its timely, sensitive subject matter with care.
Synopsis: A transgender singer faces scorn and discrimination after the sudden death of her older boyfriend.... [More]
Directed By: Sebastián Lelio
#190
Adjusted Score: 95422%
Critics Consensus: Disobedience explores a variety of thought-provoking themes, bolstered by gripping work from leads Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, and Alessandro Nivola.
Synopsis: New York photographer Ronit Krushka flies to London after learning about the death of her estranged father. Ronit is returning... [More]
Directed By: Sebastián Lelio
#189
Adjusted Score: 101340%
Critics Consensus: Foxtrot uses topical themes to deliver a bruising sociopolitical statement that's equally effective taken simply as an absorbing, well-acted drama.
Synopsis: A knock on the door leads to unfathomable grief as a man and his wife learn that their son died... [More]
Directed By: Samuel Maoz
#188
Adjusted Score: 100365%
Critics Consensus: Sweet Country makes brilliant use of the Australian outback as the setting for a hard-hitting story that satisfies as a character study as well as a sociopolitical statement.
Synopsis: An Aboriginal man goes on the run after he kills a white man in self-defense.... [More]
Directed By: Warwick Thornton
#187
Adjusted Score: 101015%
Critics Consensus: I Am Not a Witch approaches real-life injustices with a beguiling blend of sorrow, anger, and humor, marking debuting writer-director Rungano Nyoni as an exciting new talent.
Synopsis: Shula is the first child taken to a traveling witch camp, where she is told that should she cut the... [More]
Directed By: Rungano Nyoni
#186
Adjusted Score: 80990%
Critics Consensus: Mom and Dad's gonzo premise serves as an effective springboard for a wickedly dark, bloody comedy - and an appropriately over-the-top performance from Nicolas Cage.
Synopsis: A teenage girl and her little brother try to survive a wild 24 hours during which a mass hysteria of... [More]
Directed By: Brian Taylor
#185
Adjusted Score: 91850%
Critics Consensus: The Insult uses its familiar courtroom drama framework to deliver a hard-hitting statement on modern Middle Eastern politics that's as gripping as it is thought-provoking.
Synopsis: A minor incident between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee turns into an explosive trial that ends up dividing... [More]
Directed By: Ziad Doueiri
#184
Adjusted Score: 99682%
Critics Consensus: Félicité depicts a culture and a setting unfamiliar to many viewers, but its themes - and Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu's performance - transcend borders.
Synopsis: Félicité is a Congolese singer who desperately needs money after her 14-year-old son Samo suffers a serious accident. She soon... [More]
Directed By: Alain Gomis
#183
Adjusted Score: 64150%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Taxi drivers share stories from their night shift.... [More]
Directed By: Stephan Komandarev
#182
Adjusted Score: 106515%
Critics Consensus: Equal parts breezily charming and poignantly powerful, Faces Places is a unique cross-generational portrait of life in rural France from the great Agnès Varda.
Synopsis: Director Agnès Varda and photographer and muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.... [More]
#181
Adjusted Score: 41056%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A chronicle of The Tragically Hip's 2016 tour.... [More]
#180
Adjusted Score: 100082%
Critics Consensus: Ex Libris: The New York Public Library adds another remarkable chapter to documentarian Frederick Wiseman's career-long quest for observational excellence.
Synopsis: Filmmakers delve into the New York Public Library, discovering a world of devoted bibliophiles and beneficiaries across 92 branches.... [More]
Directed By: Frederick Wiseman
#179
Adjusted Score: 90898%
Critics Consensus: Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami takes an unconventional approach to the rock biopic, resulting in a compelling experience for fans and an intriguing, albeit confusing, primer for novices.
Synopsis: Electrifying concert performances and intimate, personal footage showcase the life and talent of singer and actress Grace Jones.... [More]
Starring: Grace Jones
Directed By: Sophie Fiennes
#176
Adjusted Score: 118116%
Critics Consensus: The Shape of Water finds Guillermo del Toro at his visually distinctive best -- and matched by an emotionally absorbing story brought to life by a stellar Sally Hawkins performance.
Synopsis: Elisa is a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962... [More]
Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
#175
Adjusted Score: 114459%
Critics Consensus: Call Me by Your Name offers a melancholy, powerfully affecting portrait of first love, empathetically acted by Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer.
Synopsis: It's the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century... [More]
Directed By: Luca Guadagnino
#174
Adjusted Score: 113200%
Critics Consensus: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri deftly balances black comedy against searing drama -- and draws unforgettable performances from its veteran cast along the way.
Synopsis: After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three... [More]
Directed By: Martin McDonagh
#173
Adjusted Score: 107896%
Critics Consensus: Mudbound offers a well-acted, finely detailed snapshot of American history whose scenes of rural class struggle resonate far beyond their period setting.
Synopsis: Set in the rural American South during World War II, Dee Rees' Mudbound is an epic story of two families... [More]
Directed By: Dee Rees
#172
Adjusted Score: 113485%
Critics Consensus: The Florida Project offers a colorfully empathetic look at an underrepresented part of the population that proves absorbing even as it raises sobering questions about modern America.
Synopsis: Set in the shadow of the most magical place on Earth, 6-year-old Moonee and her two best friends forge their... [More]
Directed By: Sean Baker
#171
Adjusted Score: 106106%
Critics Consensus: Moving without resorting to melodrama, BPM offers an engrossing look at a pivotal period in history that lingers long after the closing credits roll.
Synopsis: Nathan is a young man who joins an AIDS activist group in 1990s Paris. As he attends the weekly meetings,... [More]
Directed By: Robin Campillo
#170
Adjusted Score: 101429%
Critics Consensus: Stronger rises on the power of its well-chosen ensemble to offer an emotionally resonant fact-based story that transcends inspirational drama clichés.
Synopsis: Jeff Bauman loses both of his legs when two bombs explode during the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. After... [More]
Directed By: David Gordon Green
#169
Adjusted Score: 109037%
Critics Consensus: The Death of Stalin finds director/co-writer Arnando Iannucci in riotous form, bringing his scabrous political humor to bear on a chapter in history with painfully timely parallels.
Synopsis: When tyrannical dictator Joseph Stalin dies in 1953, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become... [More]
Directed By: Armando Iannucci
#168
Adjusted Score: 107138%
Critics Consensus: The Rider's hard-hitting drama is only made more effective through writer-director Chloé Zhao's use of untrained actors to tell the movie's fact-based tale.
Synopsis: After a riding accident leaves him unable to compete on the rodeo circuit, a young cowboy searches for a new... [More]
Directed By: Chloé Zhao
#167
Adjusted Score: 110470%
Critics Consensus: Oh, hai Mark. The Disaster Artist is a surprisingly poignant and charming movie-about-a-movie that explores the creative process with unexpected delicacy.
Synopsis: The incredible true story of aspiring filmmaker and Hollywood outsider Tommy Wiseau as he and his best friend defiantly pursue... [More]
Directed By: James Franco
#166
Adjusted Score: 107812%
Critics Consensus: Brought to life by delicate work from writer-director Paul Schrader and elevated by a standout performance by Ethan Hawke, First Reformed takes a sensitive and suspenseful look at weighty themes.
Synopsis: The pastor of a small church in upstate New York spirals out of control after a soul-shaking encounter with an... [More]
Directed By: Paul Schrader
#165
Adjusted Score: 98079%
Critics Consensus: Powered by an intriguing story and a pair of outstanding performances from Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, Molly's Game marks a solid debut for writer-director Aaron Sorkin.
Synopsis: The true story of Molly Bloom, a beautiful, young, Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game... [More]
Directed By: Aaron Sorkin
