ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Female Film Critics 24/375

TIFF 2025

Festivals Reviews 

SWIPED (TIFF) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

Valerie Kalfrin , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The drama Swiped peeks behind the scenes of the dating app Tinder, where a bright young woman who helped launch its success finds she can’t “swipe left” on the misogyny and sexism. Unfortunately, viewers might want to “swipe left” on this film. In portraying the career of Whitney Wolfe Herd, who weathered a scandal after Tinder to become the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, the film skims over a lot. It feels like flipping through several browser windows without reading them.

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Festivals Reviews 

NUREMBERG (TIFF 2025) – Review by Liz Braun

Liz Braun , , , ,

Awards prognosticators have had Nuremberg on their list since even before the film had a world debut at TIFF 2025. Small wonder, given the important historical subject matter and a great cast that includes Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Rami Malek and Richard E. Grant. There’s no doubt it has an important message: the atrocities of WWII happened because people let them happen: “They didn’t stand up until it was too late,” as one character says. Given that it’s already too late, let’s hope the film inspires viewers to take a good look around. And stand the hell up.

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Festivals Reviews 

SWIPED (TIFF 2025) – Review by Rachel West

Rachel West , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Whitney Wolfe appeared to have it all. A smart, business-savvy young woman full of ideas who knew how to work a room full of tech bros to earn herself a place as Tinder’s lone female co-founder. It seems like a tech fairytale come true, full of female empowerment and triumph. But for Wolfe, it was more akin to a nightmare full of misogyny, toxic men, harassment, and sexism. Her story is the basis for the new film Swiped, directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg and starring Lily James as the real-life Wolfe.

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Festivals Reviews 

THE SON AND THE SEA (TIFF 2025) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

Valerie Kalfrin , , , , , , ,

Jonah is a mess of a young man. Early in The Son and The Sea, the twentysomething Londoner wakes after a bender, scrolls through his phone, and jots down a to-do list: Sort room. Sort head. Sort life. It’s a sympathetic and relatable start to this compassionate coming-of-age story that sees the adrift Jonah and two friends find solace and support over a trip to the northeast coast of Scotland.

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Festivals Reviews 

THREE GOODBYES (TIFF 2025) – Review by Liz Braun

Liz Braun , , , , , , , ,

Isabel Coixet’s Three Goodbyes is a deeply moving film about love and loss. As Marta (Alba Rohrwacher) puts it at a crucial moment, “Life is just a beautiful accident.” This is a love letter to life, and Coixet quietly tosses works of art into the film — shots of Madonnas on buildings, of a single lighted room in a dark apartment, of two men passing by and carrying a mirror. Breathtaking to look at and both transporting and heartbreaking to experience, Three Goodbyes

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Festivals Reviews 

ELEANOR THE GREAT (TIFF 2025) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

Valerie Kalfrin , , , , , , , , ,

June Squibb’s latest venture, Eleanor the Great, is so-so in spots, but Squibb is a firecracker, dropping tart observations between poignant reflections on grief. Ultimately, this is a film about grief, survival, and the power of stories conveyed with empathy and hope. While it’s not new to say that stories help the dead to live again, Eleanor the Great proves to be a tender reminder about how stories are essential to connection, even when they’re not our own.

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Festivals News 

FORASTERA (TIFF 2025) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

Valerie Kalfrin , , , , , ,

A teenage girl steps into her late grandmother’s dresses and quietly takes on helping her grandfather with grief in the subtle drama Forastera. The film is at times too subtle for its own good. Its pacing lags over an hour and 37 minutes, and the ambiguity meant to blur Cata with her grandmother keeps viewers from understanding its young protagonist better, sapping its emotional impact. People grieve in different ways, but Cata’s seems to hold her away from us when it should draw us closer.

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Festivals Reviews 

MODERN WHORE (TIFF 2025) – Review by Liz Braun

Liz Braun , , , ,

It’s a warts ’n’ all examination of the industry, an industry that needs to be regulated like any other so that dignity and human rights can be part of the deal. It’s a heavy subject, but Andrea Werhun and director Nicole Bazuin put their message across with humor and high energy, featuring engaging interviews, spirited re-enactments and even some delightful animation. It’s a beautifully made film.

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Festivals Reviews 

HONEY BUNCH (TIFF 2025) – Review by Rachel West

Rachel West , , , , , ,

Honey Bunch aims for a 1970s psychological comedic thriller, but its ambition far outweighs its execution. Writing and directing duo Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s second feature is a muddled mess of style over substance. Though there’s ambition and style here, Honey Bunch never finds its footing. For all its visual flair, the film collapses under the weight of its own ideas.

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