[TIFF Review] Blue Heron, No Other Choice, The Man in My Basement
On the second day of the Toronto International Film Festival, I watched two films that had previously premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and Venice Film Festival last month. I also had the opportunity to see The Man in My Basement, which also premiered at TIFF that day, and will share my thoughts on it here as well.
Blue Heron
This film centers on a family who immigrated to Canada from Hungary about thirty years ago and their early life in their new home. The family consists of six members, with the eldest son, Jeremy (Edik Beddoes), having a significant age gap with his three younger siblings. His personality and behavior are noticeably solitary. The first half of the film focuses on the family's daily life, featuring tense conversations between the parents about Jeremy's escalating issues. In one scene, a persistent banging sound is heard in the background, creating a slightly unsettling atmosphere, only for it to be revealed that Jeremy is outside, repeatedly throwing a ball against a wall. While this might seem like normal childhood behavior, Jeremy remains completely unresponsive when his mother calls him. This is just one example of many. Edik Beddoes portrays Jeremy with restraint, showing little overt emotion, yet deeply conveying his pain and struggle to the audience.
During the depiction of these events, the camera frequently captures the reactions of the youngest daughter, Sasha (Eylul Guven). Viewers might wonder how much she understood at the time and whether she grasped what was happening. Like several acclaimed films in recent years, this one effectively uses motifs like decades-old home videos and photographs to evoke a sense of intimate memory. While this might sound like an ordinary coming-of-age story, its true brilliance lies in the second half. Time jumps to the present, where Sasha has grown into an adult filmmaker (Amy Zimmer), and her current project is about her brother Jeremy. In this part of the film, she interviews professionals, presenting Jeremy's case to understand how support and treatment for young people with such issues have evolved from the past to the present. The color tone, cinematography, and texture in this section differ significantly from the first half, giving it the feel of a documentary. The film explores whether things would have turned out differently if resources and support were available to Jeremy's parents today. Drawing from the director's own childhood, the film uses Sasha's character to investigate this theme alongside the audience. Sasha's experiences in the film mirror what the director went through while making it, making this a deeply personal and thoughtful work. The film's conclusion offers a surprising presentation of Sasha's grief and helplessness, leaving a heartbreaking impact.
No Other Choice
At the beginning of the film, the protagonist seems to be in paradise: a stable job, a happy family, a beautiful home. The next day, he falls from grace to hell – he's laid off from his company. Labor is honored, it's paradise; unemployment is an insult, it's hell. No Other Choice unfolds in such a world. Like director Park Chan-wook's previous works, the subject matter is dark, filled with absurdity and satire. The plot, which begins with the protagonist normally seeking employment, eventually devolves into him ruthlessly eliminating competitors. The film features a wild narrative, full of unexpected twists and striking visual and sound design, some of which are truly astounding. At its core, the film isn't just about job hunting; it also delves into marital and family relationships.
By the film's end, I felt the plot had become somewhat excessive, and I wondered when or how it would conclude. However, the director delivers another twist at the finale, reinforcing the film's central theme and making the preceding exaggerated events feel more plausible: it's all the fault of capitalism.
The Man in My Basement
The film opens by briefly introducing the protagonist Charles (Corey Hawkins) and the story's background, quickly moving to the core of the plot: a strange white man named Anniston (Willem Dafoe) appears at his door, expressing a desire to rent his basement. Normally, most people would refuse such a request, but Anniston entices Charles with a substantial sum of money. Charles, who is unemployed and facing mortgage payments, ultimately agrees, likely unaware of Anniston's subsequent demands. Adapted from the novel of the same name, the film explores themes of race, ancestry, guilt, and confinement. While it could have been a deeply philosophical film, the production team has turned it into a thriller, incorporating elements that seem supernatural. Initially, it creates a sense of mystery and suspense, but ultimately it feels like it's trying too hard to be enigmatic, relying heavily on dialogue between the two main characters to convey its themes. Willem Dafoe, accustomed to such roles, delivers a performance that effectively creates an unsettling feeling as the mysterious Anniston.
Photo: TIFF