RAPINOE (Rebeca Huntt)
World Premiere

Although it hits many of the inevitable sports documentary beats, the known facts of her title subject’s final match in the spotlight of extra time of round of sixteen in the New Zealand Women’s World Cup (which bookends the doc) grant Rebeca Huntt’s documentary a shape ever so slightly more reflective than triumphal. Gifted with ample home videos from the era of grainy youth soccer and with the participation of Megan Rapinoe’s family (including a twin sister) sitting down for their 16mm film close-ups, the film equally celebrates her many victories victories in soccer alongside major strides for representation, a commitment to social justice, and unprecedented advances in economic equality. Delving into the psychology behind an unconventional career, Huntt captures an inspirational woman just as she’s out of one phase in the spotlight and entering a new chapter of self-discovery.

GIRL GROUP (Rebel Wilson)
World Premiere

Rebel Wilson’s approach is enthusiastic about overstuffing the screen with song and dance covers of pop icons from the last three decades that she kinda forgot about the need for a compelling plot, developed characters, credibility of continuity, or even successfully landing more than a few jokes. The story envisions Wilson as loosely disguised Spice Girls adjacent diva who quit the band for a solo career that crashed and burned into a haze of drugs and alcohol. Exiled from her own band’s nostalgia tour, she finds herself stuck repairing her reputation through the community service of supervising a group of would-be teen stars through a star making talent competition. The septet of newcomers also happen to be a girl group that are signed to Wilson’s new record label in the real world, which at least explains the existence of this film (if not its flashy premiere slot here at Toronto). To call this feel good fiasco one-note feels both generous and an insult to the power of sustained tones.

Definitely a movie that played TIFF! Everyone in it at least seemed to have had a good time rocking out to the hits of yesteryear and today. Good for them, I guess!

BEING HEUMANN (Siân Héder)
World Premiere

With admirably diverse casting and continual recognition of the possibilities of joy amid the grueling struggles of civil resistance, Siân Héder spotlights an under-recognized yet foundational victory of the disability rights movement. Through the lens of Judith Heumann — who relied on a wheelchair and assistants for mobility for most of her life due to a Polio infection in infancy — the film brings us inside one of the longest sit-ins in history. Set in 1977, we meet a broad coalition of burgeoning activists and their allies occupied a San Francisco outpost of the U.S. Health, Education, and Welfare offices to force the Carter administration to finally sign a new set of accessibility and anti-discrimination measures into effect. A story that should inspire action from the next generation, Heder’s adaptation brings a wealth of earnest dedication to the self-evident cause, though, in attempting to capture the breadth of the people involved often sacrifices a deeper dive into the depths of their personalies, tactics, and motivation.

Do you even need to ask whether this Apple Studios production deploys a certain Ramones needle drop at a key moment? No, you do not.

CLOSING NIGHT (Cody Fern)
World Premiere

Old patterns and toxic sibling rivalries re-ignite when long-estranged sisters — one a brittle narcissistic hairdresser, the other a successful Holywood actress — reunite in the wake of a Broadway premiere and shocking medical diagnosis. After decades of separation, long-simmering secrets boil over onto the next generation while the perpetually pickled matriarch grumbles about the foibles of her “fucking kids”. Deeply melodramatic, it does have it occasionally effective moments in large part due to the core trio of actresses and their inability not to turn in memorable performances. To call Cody Fern’s material overwrought would be an understatement, but Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson, and Dianne Wiest are more than capable of making a feast of it.