Reel Encounters

A Mixtec Amerindian woman and an older White Mexican woman stand in a crowded hospital room in Mexico City.

Tyler Perry has released 19 films in the last 12 years.

There is one thing that the new iteration of “Robin Hood” does better than anything I’ve seen this year.

When director David Mackenzie’s kinetic, bloody war epic “Outlaw King” landed the prime opening night spot at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September, it seemed to signal great things for Netflix and for Mackenzie, whose previous work, “Hell or High Water,” was a critical hit a couple years ago.

Steve McQueen’s “Widows” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September as the much-hyped and much-anticipated follow-up to his Oscar winning “12 Years A Slave”, from 2013.

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” more than most 2018 films, has had to justify its existence.

“First Man,” the new film by Damien Chazelle, begins in space.

Amandla Stenberg was one of a handful of actors who attended the Toronto International Film Festival this year as the star of two films.

“I have a poem.” It’s such an innocuous line but one that hides a wealth of profundity.

Is the new film “A Star is Born” a musical? This seems a bizarre question to ask.

This year, the Toronto International Film Festival made a concerted effort to shine a spotlight on women both in front of, and especially behind, the camera.

I walked out of “Venom” with the dopiest smile on my face.

“The House with a Clock in Its Walls” feels almost anomalous in 2018.

Two films at TIFF this year – both inspired by true events – seemed preternaturally linked in their representations of race and racism in Europe.

“Secrets are like margarine,” quips Stephanie, the protagonist of “A Simple Favor,” Paul Feig’s new mystery/comedy/thriller.

  From pseudo biopics like “Colette” and imagined biopics like “Roma” to inspired-by-true-events films like “Viper Club” and “Cold War,” the dichotomy between the real and the imagined seemed of recurring value throughout TIFF 18.

At the world premiere of “Ben is Back” at the Toronto International Film Festival last week, writer and director Peter Hedges discussed the reason he built his film about addiction around a single day.

A sense of impending danger pervades “The Dive.” The film never approaches the frontline of war but the presence of war permeates the surface throughout.

The time is 1183. The place is Chinon. We are in the Angevin Empire.

While waiting in line for “A Star is Born” to begin, I engaged in my favourite hobby: recounting random movie trivia to strangers.