Julie Sisk

This time of year marks the end of the “festival season”—and, almost immediately, the beginning of the next one.I’m just back from the BFI London Film Festival and have taken a beat to reflect on what was the final stop in my May-to-October Festival-palooza.

I am mid-Fall Festival Frenzy. Venice, Telluride and TIFF are behind us. We’re mid-New York Film Festival and heading toward the BFI London Film Festival. There has been a massive amount of overlap. For festival junkies, that almost makes the films that don’t overlap more interesting. Every festival this fall seems to have its handful of must-see films: Wild Horse Nine, Elsinore, Musk, Tender Loving Care, Bunker and others that appeared over and over again on festival schedules.

We took a group to Venice this year and it was everything I hoped it would be—a fantastic festival, a lovely group of cinephiles, an amazing cultural experience, great food and, most importantly, really fun conversations about the films! Because, of course — rarely does everyone agree. One person's masterpiece is another person's two hours they'll never get back. So, with that in mind, here are my one-second reviews of what I saw in Venice and Toronto.