Saoirse Ronan

TIFF Day #3 – 2025

September 7, 2025 By Jonathan McNeal

Hello Dayton937 & NEON Fans,

Day #3 didn’t start off the way I had hoped. At 8:00 every morning, there’s a chance to get last-minute, public tickets for the day…and I sadly didn’t get anything for the mid-afternoon slots that I wanted. This isn’t a huge surprise since it’s the first Saturday of the festival. Tickets are at a premium. I did get in line for a movie I wanted to see this morning, and arriving an hour early seemed like a good idea. It was…but it wasn’t. When I got to the TIFF Lightbox (the venue for the screening), there were already a hundred people in line. I was glad I got there early – until I realized they were mostly there for a different film. I was there for STEVE, and they were mostly there for an even later film called THE TESTAMENT OF ANNA LEE (which I had on my list…but didn’t fit with the rest of my day). I’m hoping a screening of ANNA LEE get added – as I would like to see it.

My first film of the day was a powerful one. STEVE (dir: Tim Mielants – Ireland, United Kingdom) “Oscar winner Cillian Murphy anchors this gripping adaptation of a bestselling novella from 2023. Faced with ever-increasing pressures, the head of a crumbling reform school for boys navigates a pivotal, fraught day while clinging to a fading sense of hope.” (TIFF catalog) This story is set on the day when a camera crew has descended on this school to do a interest piece. The pairing of lead actor & director (who both worked together on SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE) is a strong partnership…but everyone in this ensemble is terrific – the teachers, the staff, the cameracrew, the boys (it was nice to see Tracey Ullman in a dramatic (but sometimes still funny) role). It’s a film that’s scary, touching and emotionally taxing, and I wish all people who deal with at-risk youth would see it…as well as people who deal with funding issues. This statement from the TIFF catalog sums it up beautifully. “STEVE is a bruised elegy for institutions under siege and a character study shaped by the courage of those who persist within them; a chamber piece of forceful commitment, lost boys, and stubborn acts of hope.” Sadly, I think this film will get lost in the heap of Netflix and not get a proper theatrical release.

Next up was highly anticipated…as I’m a big Saoirse Ronan fan. It’s been fun watching Ronan grow up on screen at TIFF – from ATONEMENT to BROOKYN to LADY BIRD to ON CHESIL BEACH to this new film – BAD APPLES (dir: Jonatan Etzler – United Kingdom) ” The satirical thriller Bad Apples stars Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) as a primary school teacher forced to take drastic action because of a foul-mouthed, violent student, and uncovers how her community will turn a blind eye to the most outrageous events to preserve harmony and their sense of safety.” (TIFF catalog) I had no idea that this film would be so thematically similar to my first of the day…but tonally, theses films are from completely different planets. This dark, satirical comedy starts off with notes of honesty and then goes bonkers. That said, you can’t wait to see what happens next. At its core, it’s a film about teachers being under-resourced for at-risk kids…but it also has a lot to do with how the public will turned blind eyes to issues if their lives are better due to someone else’s pain and suffering. There’s a lot to un-package about what could easily be tossed aside as just a dark comedy.
There is no trailer yet for BAD APPLES, just a still photo.

An friend from Searchlight got me a prime-seat ticket to the world premiere of my last film for today – RENTAL FAMILY (dir: HIKARI – United States of America, Japan) “Oscar winner Brendan Fraser stars as an American actor in Tokyo who suffers a colossal case of impostor syndrome when he becomes a professional surrogate in this wise and whimsical dramedy from director HIKARI (TIFF ’19’s 37 Seconds).” (TIFF catalog) This crowd-pleaser of a film is full of laughs…but with an undercurrent of sadness. Brendan Fraser plays Phillip, a man who lives alone in Japan (with a REAR WINDOW-like vantage point from his apartment) – feeling quite lonely and trying to find acting roles. He stumbles upon a company that wants him to be substitute character in people’s lives – a man to introduce to your parents, an author to interview your father so he can feel special in his old age, a dad so your daughter can have two parents when interviewing for a prestigious school. It’s a fascinating concept (I have seen this concept before in a Yorgos Lanthimos film called THE ALPS…though not at all a crowd-pleaser), and the director confirmed that it’s an actual business in Japan. Though the service fills some familial gaps, it can also be dangerous work – physically and emotionally – for both client and actor. The film got a nice standing ovation, and HIKARI and Fraser did a nice Q&A. I think this film will be well received by audiences later this season.

I should be back to 4 films tomorrow. We’ll see.

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan

Catch Jonathan’s previous tiff posts:
Day 1 post

Day2 post

TIFF 2017 – Day #2

September 9, 2017 By Jonathan McNeal

Hello Everyone.

Today was my 2nd day of screenings for the festival, and the first film I saw was ON CHESIL BEACH, directed by Dominic Cooke – based on the novel by Ian McEwan (McEwan wrote the screenplay too and was part of the Q&A). This very British film has an incredible central performance by Saoirse Ronan. Set mostly in the 1960s, the film is about two newlyweds who are having trouble consummating their relationship while on their beachside honeymoon. A series of flashbacks help us understand their backstories and courtship, and the story is beautifully told. The film might be described as a bit staid by some, but I think it’s quite eloquent…though it could use one more cut. There are a couple scenes that are absolutely brilliant, and I think this film will eventually find distribution.

GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI was the second film I saw today. Directed by Sophie Fiennes, this documentary was funded by folks in Ireland and the UK. Though Ms. Jones is an exceptional and striking performance artist, this film is entirely too long given the footage on display. It makes sense that the director attempted to make an unconventional doc given her subject, but the grainy (VHS-looking) quality of the footage does a disservice to the material – especially the concert footage. There are a lot of gems in this film, but an hour-long version would be much stronger. (And I’d still love to see a documentary that contextualizes Ms. Jones and her artistic process in the fabric of the music scene.)

LADY BIRD, Greta Gerwig’s feature-length directorial debut, was the winner for today. Saoirse Ronan stars as a high school senior living in Sacramento, California who really wants to get out of town, and her parents are expertly played by Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts. This quirky comedy seems to have flavors of so many people with whom Gerwig has worked. It’s a little bit Baumbach, a little bit Stillman…but still a whole lot of Gerwig. This film is a treat. (Timothee Chalamet also has a small part in this film. This officially makes Saoirse and Timothee two of the “It” gang for the season. Both have incredible ranges and are a joy to watch on screen.) During the Q&A (check out the photo I took below), Gerwig said that the film is about realizing how much you love something as you’re preparing to leave. When she came to the stage to a standing ovation, she was in tears. This personal film is certainly worth celebrating, and it’s clear that the film is coming from someone with a sincere, lovely attachment to the material.

During the Q&A, Gerwig also noted that the casting of Saoirse Ronan was born at TIFF in 2015. The two both had films at the festival that year (BROOKLYN and MAGGIE’S PLAN) – and that’s when they met and read the script together in Ronan’s hotel room (Ronan read the lead and Gerwig read all the other parts). Gerwig knew that Ronan was perfect for the role, and she pushed back production by 6 months to make certain it would work for everyone’s schedule.

I capped off the night at a fun party hosted by IFC with a couple friends who I met in Dayton over the years. My friend Glenn works at Dolby and was a guest of the Dayton LGBT Film Festival several years ago (we’ll see several films together over the next few days), and Charlie is a publicist (representing a great roster of films this year) who regularly visits Dayton with his partner who grew up in Miamisburg. It’s been great catching up with both of them.

Thanks for reading!

Jonathan

TIFF 2015 – Day #4

September 14, 2015 By Jonathan McNeal

Hi Again!

My first film today was TRUMBO, directed by Jay Roach. For the first few minutes, I had to get over its visual style. It seemed a little cartoony, and the cinematography seemed more like television than film…but then it took its hold on me with a sharp screenplay and terrific performances. This is the story of Dalton Trumbo, one of the “Hollywood 10” who was Blacklisted during America’s fear of people affiliated with the Communist Party. The script is terrific, and the story is playful but serious – and Brian Cranston is wonderful in his Big performance (during the Q&A, the director noted that “Trumbo didn’t just talk, he performed.”). This is a film that had the packed house bursting into applause during certain key moments, and I think it’s a film that would certainly go over well with NEON audiences. We’ll see what the distributor has in mind (not to mention the crowded marketplace this fall)! (NEON favorite Helen Mirren plays Hedda Hopper – and she chews up the scenery with her wickedly upsetting material. One other supporting role that stood out was John Goodman’s. You’ll love him.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2AaNh4FSig

DISORDER, directed by Alice Winocour, was the next film of the day. Starring Matthias Schoenaerts (a regular face at THE NEON – RUST AND BONE, THE DROP, and FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD…and possibly THE DANISH GIRL this Fall), this is the story of a man with PTSD who is hired to work security for a wealthy family while the husband is away on business. This psychologic turned invasion thriller is marked with great performances, edge of your seat tension and incredible sound design.

Up next was MAGGIE’S PLAN, directed by Rebecca Miller. This seemed like new territory for a Rebecca Miller film to me. It might be in large part to Greta Gerwig’s presence, but it felt more like a Noah Baumbach/Woody Allen comedy. That said, this love triangle comedy starring Gerwig, Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore certainly has some wonderful moments (and Julianne Moore steals every scene she’s in as a Danish professor). The story is about a single woman (Gerwig) who is determined to have a baby and finds herself in a relationship with a married professor.

Lastly, I saw my favorite film of the festival so far – BROOKLYN, directed by John Crowley. In this lovely 1950’s period film, Saoirse Ronan plays a girls who moves from Ireland to Brooklyn in order to have a better life. We witness a wonderful transformation from reserved wallflower to a more confident, stunning woman. With a screenplay by Nick Hornby, this film works on all levels. The screenplay is great, the performances are wonderful, and the cinematography will make you swoon. Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson (seen earlier this year in EX MACHINA), Emory Cohen (who you might recognize from THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES) and director John Crowley were in attendance for an insightful Q&A.

After all my screenings, I met different people at a couple different locations for cocktails. It was a nice mix of business & pleasure to cap off the day.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Jonathan