By John Corrado

New releases for the week of November 3rd, 2023.

Theatrical Releases:

The Holdovers (Limited Release): Alexander Payne’s latest, which was the runner-up for the TIFF People’s Choice Award, is also one of the year’s best. The film is set over Christmas in 1970 at an all-boys boarding school, where an ornery teacher (Paul Giamatti) befriends a rebellious kid (Dominic Sessa) who gets left behind over the holidays. It’s carried by wonderful performances from Giamatti and Sessa, with Da’Vine Joy Randolph delivering standout supporting work as the school cook. It was my favourite movie of TIFF (I saw it twice during the festival!), with Payne going to great lengths to craft a film that feels like it was made in 1970. A future classic that leaves with you that warm holiday feel. Opens in limited release today, and expands on November 10th. (TIFF 2023 Review)

Priscilla (Limited Release): Sofia Coppola’s latest finds the writer-director exploring the troubled relationship between Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) and Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi), and for my money it’s her best movie since Lost in Translation. As I wrote in my review, Priscilla “serves as the subdued, melancholic counterpart to the cinematic spectacle of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis from last year, showing Priscilla’s increasing isolation in the face of Presley’s fame.” I found it to be a captivating, beautifully crafted film, carried by Spaeny’s wonderful performance in the title role and a magnetic turn from Elordi as Elvis. (Full Review)

Beyond Utopia (Limited Release): Director Madeleine Gavin’s documentary offers a compelling glimpse inside North Korea, through the eyes of those who risk their lives trying to escape the country. Through a mix of interviews and secretly recorded footage shot by the defectors themselves, Beyond Utopia is able to pull back the curtain on this authoritarian communist dictatorship, and it offers a fascinating portrait the bizarre realities of living there. (Full Review)

Rustin (TIFF Bell Lightbox): Director George C. Wolfe’s (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) latest is a biopic of the gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), who helped organize MLK Jr.’s March on Washington. This is an entertaining dramatization of the lead-up to these events, carried by Domingo’s towering performance, bringing the right mix of passion, intensity and vulnerability to the role. Playing in limited release before hitting Netflix on November 17th. (TIFF 2023 Review)

More Releases: Fingernails (Limited), Verona (Limited), Hands That Bind (Limited), Who’s Yer Father (Limited), Miracle in East Texas (Limited), Godard Cinema (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema)

Streaming Releases:

Quiz Lady (Disney+): Awkwafina and Sandra Oh team up to play sisters who end up on a road trip together to compete on a game show in this mismatched buddy comedy. It’s a little uneven, but elevated by the two leads who share enjoyable chemistry together, with Awkwafina as the quiz show-obsessed Anne and Oh as her “hot mess” older sister Jenny, who find themselves in need of cash to pay off their mother’s gambling debts and get back their kidnapped pug. A decent streaming comedy. (Full Review)

More Releases: Fingernails (Apple TV+), NYAD (Netflix), All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix), Sly (Netflix)