#TIFF24 Review: Matt and Mara (Centrepiece)

By John Corrado

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5th to 15th, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.

The latest mumblecore-inspired Toronto indie from micro-budget filmmaker Kazik Radwanski, Matt and Mara captures the rhythms of a unique dynamic between two old friends. Matt (Matt Johnson) and Mara (Deragh Campbell) know each other from university. He is now a published author, while she is a professor teaching creative writing, who is married to local musician Samir (Mounir Al Shami) and has a young daughter with him (Avery Nayman).

Radwanski’s film follows the two as they start spending time together after he reappears in her life and shows up in her classroom, dredging up old feelings between them, both good and bad. The story itself can feel slight at times, but Matt and Mara is mostly engaging for its naturalistic dialogue and the performances of Campbell and Johnson, who already have a history after appearing together in Radwanski’s last film Anne at 13,000 Ft.

The handheld camerawork by cinematographer Nikolay Michaylov captures every interaction between them, often in closeups that reveal all of Johnson’s jittery, charismatic energy and Campbell’s nervous, socially anxious tics. These are performances that feel lived-in, at once recognizable to the actors playing them and also completely believable as these characters. It’s short and sweet at just eighty minutes, building to a very nice final scene.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)