TIFF 2025: Hamnet, Ed Driver’s Ed, Epic: Elvis Presley in concert | Festivals and awards

There were a lot of teenagers on some of the biggest favorites in the festival and first to come at the 50th International Film Festival in Toronto, and no shortage of what to look at between the different categories. Among one of the favorites of the festival announced to make its first Canadian was the breathtaking adaptation of Chloé Zhao of “Hamnet” of Maggie O’Farrell. Rich in beauty and amazing performance, “Hamnet” is a superb domestic drama in William Shakespeare’s house, but with a touch: in this story of the life of the bard, it is his wife who is the real subject of the film.

“Hamnet” follows the story of Agnes (Jessie Buckley), an independent spirit whose mother was closely linked to the earth and before her premature death, transmitted many of her remedies and practices to her daughter. She meets an unhappy tutor named William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and the pair begins a passionate affair that leads them to marriage. Their happiness is short -lived because the agitated creative spirit of William cannot find peace in the countryside where Agnes finds the house and the comfort. She encourages him to go to London while she takes care of children, but over the years, the pair must endure the assignments of long distance love and the challenges of raising a family at the time.

Zhao, who adapted the screen version of “Hamnet” with the O’Farrell author, gives the story an enchanting visual style by the camera of the director of photography Lukasz Zal. A large part of the film is meticulously composed, colorful and detailed, which it almost resembles a romantic fairy tale. When the harsh reality of the historical period arrives, it darkens the fantasy, but does not destroy it, because Zhao and Buckley carry the public so wonderfully through the sorrow of his character.

This is Buckley’s window, a chance to play many games throughout the life of her character, the young love woman to a frustrated woman and a broken heart. The object of his affection, Shakespeare de Mescal, falls in love in his wild manners and the them is a tender affair. Zhao captures their romantic intensity in the close -up close -ups framed by the bucolic framework of the English countryside. Now winner of the prize for the choice of the festival, “Hamnet” will probably find themselves on many short-off of awards and end-of-year favorites. The only harmful note was the choice of the highly used partition of the composer Max Richter “on the nature of daylight” of “Arrival” and “Shutter Island”. He leaves this movie differently magnificent on a false note.

I had lower expectations for the new film by director Bobby Farrelly, “Driver’s Ed”, “ But ended up being pleasantly surprised by his story of good humor on First Love and a first road trip with friends. The writer Thomas Moffett and Farrelly use a certain use of his hot comedy hijinks, but the overall history of the center ends with a comforting note and a message of well-being on the painful changes that come with growth.

Jeremy (Sam Nivola), is a newly struck senior and a budding filmmaker entirely dedicated to Samantha (Lilah Pate), his girlfriend who left for university in front of him. After having stopped talking to him too long and breaking drunk with him one night, Jeremy decides to visit him on the campus to clarify things. Jeremy steals a driver’s emergency car full of his friends, notably the romantic skeptic Evie (Sophia Telegadis), the Aparna Majoble de Major (Mohana Krishnan) and a dealership that has become spent, Yoshi (Aidan Laprete), in an effort to save his relationship, if only he can slip his past from Bumble Nanjiani) Poodle (Molly Shannon), and a security guard (Tim Baltz) responsible for bringing the children back to their mishaps.

Bobby Farrelly and his brother Peter granted the 90 -one brute comedy market with films like “There is something in Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber”, and there are a few jokes with a low slope sprinkled in the scenes of the college. But “Driver’s Ed” is more in accordance with the other recent films in Farrelly, such as the comforting history of the sports oppressed “Champions” and the “Dear Santa” led by Jack Black. “Driver’s Ed” beats may be a little familiar and predictable, but they are always effective thanks to the distribution of the film.

As Baz Luhrmann revealed it with his film in 2022, “Elvis”, the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll is always a source of inspiration for him. Thanks to his research on this film, Luhrmann came across rare images and never seen, and now, “Epic: Elvis Presley in concert” brings back the king’s own words and performance to the spotlight.

Using interviews and images recorded on archives, both familiar and never seen before, Luhrmann creates an assembly of different parts of Elvis’s life, including his relationship with his mother, his stay in the army and how it affected his career, his doubts about his stay in Hollywood, his tireless performance in Vegas. Luhrmann throws the soundtracks from Elivs’s life and with the editor Jonathan Redmond, creates a visual story to encompass each song or interview, including tributes to the Elvis with Priscilla and Lisa Marie.

The quality of the images restored in “Epic: Elvis Presley in concert” is really dazzling (I had a question to know if what looked like an animation photo in the film used or not, but I really hope that this is not the case). It is even better when Luhrmann ceases to add too much additional cases in addition to an already occupied screen, like texts in red rhinestones to make the headlines explaining what is happening in the life of Elvis at that time. They finally fall on the edge of the road as he lets Elvis’ interviews tell the story in his own words. This may also be why some of the most difficult parts in Elvis’ history are missing from the film, like some of the problems that Priscilla has shared from their relationship. As a musical documentary, “Epic: Elvis Presley in concert” lands somewhere between “Moonage Daydream” and the “It’s Never Over, recently released, Jeff Buckley”, and it is nevertheless a treat for almost all fans of Elvis.