TIFF 2024 Romance Films
TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival has become one of my favorite times of the year. It was such an incredible week of watching inspiring films, reconnecting with friends, and playing tourists in our amazing city.
A few years ago, I really started diving into the festival, and this year I saw seven films—five of which revolved around relationships.
Here are my reviews, and next year I’ll be sure to share my short list with those of you who want to enjoy the film festival.
Mistress Dispeller
Director: Elizabeth Lo, China
This documentary was hands down my top pick of the festival. It follows a Chinese woman who uses unconventional methods to end extramarital affairs. Yes, that’s right. If you suspect your husband is having an affair, you can hire a “mistress dispeller” to attempt to break it up.
Apparently, this is an unregulated industry in China, which the director believes will eventually be shut down.
MY REVIEW
When I read the description of this documentary, I knew I had to see it!
What I found most fascinating was how they were able to capture such intimate conversations between all three parties involved— including with the mistress.
The director, Elizabeth Lo, shared that they accomplished this by setting up their cameras and microphones and then leaving the location to allow the participants to speak more freely. I was amazed at the rawness of the conversations.
Interestingly, Lo shared that they used “deception tactics” to get the footage, with the participants thinking the documentary was about Chinese marriages. Once she disclosed this to the six love triangles participating, only one love triangle agreed.
Naturally, in the Q&A after the film the viewers had questions about the ethics of the making of the film and the manipulative tactics used by the mistress dispeller depicted.
Faithless
Swedish director Tomas Alfredson’s Faithless is an adaptation Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman’s (Scenes from a Marriage) classic about infidelity and the emotional consequences of infidelity.
The series follows Marianne, a young actress in a happy marriage, who becomes entangled in an affair with her husband’s best friend. Forty years later, they reunite, still haunted by the repercussions of their choices. The series delves into themes of guilt, love, and the lasting impact of betrayal.
Two out of six of the episodes were shown.
MY REVIEW
I chose to watch this film on my own due to its complex subject matter. Working with clients who find themselves on all sides of a love triangle (or square or hexagon!) I naturally have a tremendous amount of compassion for the painful emotions associated with experiences.
Infidelity is a topic that upsets many people, and I wanted to have a personal experience of this film uninterrupted by another’s.
Cast of Faithless
Peter Bose, Producer
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
Director: Laura Piani, France
I ended the film on a lighter note with the French romantic comedy, with this film about an aspiring author who tired of living through others' stories, embarks on a writing residency.
It was a sweet film, and I heard a beautiful poem, “Path,” by Jack Hirschman, in it, which made the film for me.
Here is a video of the Hirschman reading it.
Path, Jack Hirschman
Go to your broken heart.
If you think you don’t have one, get one. To get one, be sincere.
Learn sincerity of intent by letting
life enter because you’re helpless, really,
to do otherwise.
Even as you try escaping, let it take you
and tear you open
like a letter sent
like a sentence inside
you’ve waited for all your life
though you’ve committed nothing.
Let it send you up.
Let it break you, heart.
Broken-heartedness is the beginning
of all real reception.
The ear of humility hears beyond the gates.
See the gates opening.
Feel your hands going akimbo on your hips,
your mouth opening like a womb
giving birth to your voice for the first time.
Go singing whirling into the glory
of being ecstatically simple.
Write the poem.
Daniela Forever
Director: Nacho Vigalondo, Spain
This Spanish film follows a grieving man who joins a clinical trial for a drug that allows him to reunite with his deceased lover, Daniela, through lucid dreams.
MY REVIEW
This film gave me me “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” vibes and also reminded me of
”Love Hurts” is the CBC documentary I helped promote in the spring.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this film as much as I’d hoped I would. I wished there had been more development in the chemistry between the leads so that I could feel more invested in their love story.
Don't Cry, Butterfly
In this Vietnamese film, a housewife learns through live TV that her husband is having an affair. She’d determined to turn her situation around, but instead of confronting him, she turns to mystical means to win him back.
Two other non-romance films I saw were:
Pedro Páramo
Director: Rodrigo Prieto, Mexico
Rodrigo Prieto’s “Pedro Páramo” is a visually stunning adaptation of Juan Rulfo's classic 1955 novel, which inspired the magical realism of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez (100 years of Solitude).
The film follows a man who who travels to the ghost town of Comala to find his estranged father, Pedro Páramo, only to uncover a haunting world suspended between life and death.
MY REVIEW
When I heard that the Mexican writer Juan Rulfo had inspired Márquez, I knew I had to see this film.
I saw the world premiere of this film with my sister. It was mystical, visually stunning, and in the classic elegance of Mexico’s relationship with death, a beautiful depiction of ancestral bonds.
I look forward to reading the book.
Cast of "Pedro Páramo"
And if you underspand Spanish, here is a beautiful interview with the director on his inspiration and the making of the film.
Dead Talent Society
Director: John Hsu, Taiwan
This Taiwanese horror-comedy follows a group of ghosts who navigate the afterlife while dealing with unresolved emotions from their lives. The film blends humor with heartfelt moments as it explores themes of friendship, family, and personal growth, all while offering plenty of horror-movie references and laugh-out-loud moments.
MY REVIEW
Natalia Juarez | Relationship Coach & Dating Strategist
Natalia Juarez is a breakup coach and dating strategist. After going through a broken engagement in 2010, she became obsessed with reimagining heartbreak as an opportunity for transformation. Today, she helps men and women through the entire spectrum of breakups or divorce—helping them recover, initiate a separation, win an ex back, and find new love.
She's been featured in publications worldwide, including Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, The Guardian, Vice Media, NPR, among major Canadian media.
