TIFF Daily: Kate O’Flynn’s Next Big Awards Play

You know that satisfying feeling of watching a movie where you know how it’s going to end but really enjoy watching it get there? That’s how it felt to be seated for the opening night premiere of Being Heumann at the Toronto International Film Festival. The first movie from Siân Heder since she won an Oscar for CODA had the audience laughing, crying and cheering like it was their job. And, honestly, given Toronto’s reputation for warm audiences, it kind of was their job. 

Not that this should surprise anyone. As Heder proved with CODA, the 2021 Apple drama that upset The Power of the Dog for best picture, she’s adept at wringing emotions out of viewers — and the story of disability rights activist Judy Heumann is nothing if not emotional. Set primarily in 1977 and based on the late Heumann’s memoir, Being Heumann focuses on the historic 504 sit-ins Heumann and her fellow activists led to push for the signing of Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, which guaranteed certain rights to people with disabilities. The eventual signing of Section 504 was considered the most significant legislation for people with disabilities until the 1990s Americans with Disabilities Act.

An inspirational drama that also feels lived-in, frank and funny, the earnestness of Being Heumann is offset by the spiky personalities of its protagonists — especially the self-proclaimed “asshole” Heumann.

Ruth Madeley, who’s had many roles on British television but is leading a film for the first time here, is a genuine revelation in the lead role — well-supported by a large ensemble made up primarily of actors with disabilities (notables include Madeline Delp as Judy’s wingwoman Kitty Cone; and Michael Patrick Thornton, as fellow disability rights activist Ed Roberts) and movie stars like Mark Ruffalo (playing against type as the spineless politician who refuses to sign 504). It wouldn’t be fair to predict the same kind of awards season miracle run for Being Heumann that CODA enjoyed — but if an effusive TIFF premiere still has the power to propel an awards season run, Heder’s follow-up received the boost it needed. (Apple is releasing this one, too, very briefly in theaters on Nov. 6 before it starts streaming on Nov. 13.)

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So that was the big premiere for day one of TIFF, but Thursday was also packed with press screenings, parties, a whole bunch of activations on King Street — and me personally spotting one Canadian legend, Sarah Polley, whose adaptation of The Bell Jar just wrapped production here.

YouTube had taken over a chunk of the festival’s main screening venue, the Lightbox, for an event on behalf of creators Mark Vins and Ziwe; I didn’t catch them at the after-party, but since they visited our studio today, we had plenty of time to chat. (Watch for those interviews later this weekend!)

I skipped out on some new movies and decided to catch the restored version of Ken Russell’s 1971 freakout The Devils, famously banned in its time and still shocking — and shockingly beautiful — today.

But the hottest ticket of the morning was undeniably Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care, which screened for press at 8:40 a.m. — and for which I lined up a full hour early in case I didn’t get in. It’s a TIFF tradition — remember when I nearly witnessed a fistfight in line for The Brutalist in 2024?

You run into a problem somewhat quickly when you start talking about awards prospects for Tender Loving Care — though calling it a “problem” is to glaringly miss the point of this gorgeously observed ensemble drama. The film, which Leigh says is likely his last, is deceptively simple — following two dogged social workers (O’Flynn and Alice Bailey Johnson) and the elderly parents of O’Flynn’s character (the couple is played by Paul Jesson and Leigh’s real-life partner, Marion Bailey). Nothing much happens — jobs are hard, dating is worse, wishing for grandchildren can break your heart — but eventually, as in so many Leigh films, that nothing starts to encompass everything.

So the “problem,” if you’re willing to call it that, is that this is a three-lead film, with O’Flynn, Johnson and Bailey each taking their turn as the emotional center. Given the heartbreaking Oscar snub for Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the star of Leigh’s last film, Hard Truths, talking about category placement for Tender Loving Care may be getting ahead of ourselves. But as we discussed on the podcast a few weeks ago, distributor Bleecker Street is preparing a major awards push for this one, and voters who may feel sheepish about overlooking Hard Truths may be ready to atone.

I have no idea how Bleecker will strategize its way out of this, other than a hunch that O’Flynn’s success on Widow’s Bay — who’s excited to watch her win an Emmy on Monday night? — may make her the film’s default lead. It’s not the kind of titanic central performance Jean-Baptiste gave in Hard Truths, but in a best actress race that feels tantalizingly open, it’s more than enough to be competitive.