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["Toronto film festival diaries" is a series of daily updates on screenings at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. For fast reactions and more follow Metromix's Geoff Berkshire on Twitter.]
I closed off 10 days at the Toronto fest with three films unlikely to make a big commercial splash, but all good enough to keep an eye out for.
The most likely to break through is probably "Stake Land"—a post-vampire apocalypse action-horror film that plays a little like "Zombieland" reimagined with the somber tone of "The Road." An orphan teen (Connor Paolo of "Gossip Girl") tags along with an expert vampire slayer known as Mister (Nick Damici, who co-wrote the script) and they form a makeshift family with a nun (Kelly McGillis), a pregnant young woman (Danielle Harris) and a drifter (Sean Nelson). Michael Cerveris co-stars as the primary nemesis—a charlatan preacher who feeds his enemies to the vamps.
"Stake Land," directed and co-written by Jim Mickle, is part of an ongoing run of serious-minded horror from producer Larry Fesenden ("The Last Winter," "The House of the Devil"), but all that means is a slightly more thoughtful approach to genre than you might expect. It's not preachy or issue-oriented, but it does have a steadfast integrity uncommon to most horror. On the whole, "Stake Land" is more admirable than enjoyable, but it's an easy recommendation for genre fans, especially those who like it bleak.
"Womb" is an even more difficult film to enjoy, but it's also a more rewarding experience for those who can warm to its offbeat rhythms and eerie fable-like quality. Like a cross between "Birth" and "Never Let Me Go," the story involves childhood friends who are separated but reunite and fall in love as adults (played by "Casino Royale's" Eva Green and current "Doctor Who" Matt Smith).
Early in the film, Smith's character dies and Green decides to bring him back by giving birth to his clone. This leads to some uniquely complicated relationship dynamics, to say the least. Written and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Benedek Fliegauf and shot on majestic, remote coasts of Germany, "Womb" feels like it's taking place in another world entirely and the minimalist sci-fi approach works wonders.
Smith's presence could help in marketing the odd and challenging material to genre fans, but the slow-paced, quiet "Womb" is about as far removed from the giddy adventuring of "Doctor Who" as sci-fi can get. Still, Smith is perfectly at home in a terrific cast that also includes Mike Leigh regulars Lesley Manville and Peter Wight as his parents, "Harry Potter" bit player Natalia Tena and standout newcomer Tristan Christopher as the younger version of Smith.
The trickiest role falls to Green, who subtly ages decades through the story and balances a complicated mix of a lover's obsession, mother's devotion and mathematician's practicality. There always seems to be something mysterious happening behind her eyes, which only adds to the film's inescapably haunting power.
French actor Romain Duris' profile has been steadily rising on the international scene. He had a smashing breakthrough in 2005's "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" and since appeared on (select) U.S. screens in "Paris" and the current Hollywood-style rom-com "Heartbreaker." He's the primary reason to see "The Big Picture," a slick and contemplative thriller from French writer-director Eric Lartigau based on American author Douglas Kennedy's novel about a man whose life turns upside down after he kills his wife's lover.
"Picture" quickly becomes a beautifully photographed portrait of isolation, not unlike George Clooney's recent success, "The American." There's no spy intrigue, of course, but this is still the kind of movie that earned "American" comparisons to European filmmaking.
In addition to Duris, recognizable faces in the cast include Catherine Deneuve as his boss and Branka Katic (of "Big Love" and "Public Enemies") as a woman he meets in his new life. They're both solid, but this is Duris' film all the way, and that's a good thing.
Check out the Metromix picks for Best of the 2010 Toronto Film Festival
Check out the full collection of 2010 Toronto film festival diaries.
