TIFF 2022 Picks: The Good Nurse / Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot / Viking / Bruiser

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The Good Nurse
Special Presentation
Director: Tobias Lindholm

Single mother Amy (Jessica Chastain) is an ICU nurse struggling to keep her life on track while dealing with her own health issues. A new nurse arrives on her shift Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) and the two begin a strong friendship as Amy trusts him with her health secret and he becomes a main support in her life. All the while, the death rate among ICU patients is up and an investigation ensues. Soon Amy suspects Charles is the culprit and she must work to ensure no more of her patients die while concealing her part in catching him. Based on a real-life story, Redmayne gives a chilling performance as Cullen, a serial killer whose total victim count remains unknown.

Self-Portrait As a Coffee Pot
TIFF Docs
Director: William Kentridge

Out of the COVID-19 pandemic emerges prolific South African artist William Kentridge, known for prints, drawings and hand-drawn animated film, with Self-Portrait As A Coffee Pot. Confined to his studio, Kentridge examines a variety of topics in a nine-part series, vignettes all exploring different topics. Kentridge draws, dances, narrates, performs skits, animates throughout, bringing various art forms together in an effort of self examination. TIFF 2022 shares three segments in a dazzling display of artistry and self-exploration by an extraordinarily talented artist and filmmaker.

Viking
Platform
Director: Stéphane Lafleur

The first manned flight to Mars is underway and the organizers of the mission are worried about the astronauts and if they will be able to get along to achieve their objectives. They recruit a “crew” of civilians who exhibit the same personality traits of the astronauts and ask them to live in a mission to Mars simulation in the desert. Soon the five faux astronauts assume their new roles trying to problem solve for the personality conflicts and scenarios presented to them by the organizers. Will they be able to work together to provide solutions for the astronauts on Mars? Or will this replicated crew face on Earth the same challenges?

Bruiser
Platform
Director: Miles Warren

Generational violence and toxic masculinity are contrasted with the role of mother, Christian values and forgiveness in the story of 14-year-old Darious trying to find his place among his friends and family. He attends private school paid for by his hard-working yet stern father where he is sometimes bullied. His mother strives to keep the household calm, nurturing Darious as best as she can. When Darious befriends a stranger new to town, the family dynamic begins to unravel. That same stranger is actually Darious’ biological father, a man with a reputation for violence. Violence brings violence and soon Darious must reckon with the role nature and nurture play in who you become.

Photos courtesy of TIFF and filmmakers.

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