The best inter­na­tion­al genre films at the 2021 Toron­to Inter­na­tion­al Film Festival

If you are look­ing for the most kick-ass and bound­ary-break­ing films on the fes­ti­val cir­cuit, you can nev­er go wrong with the Toron­to Inter­na­tion­al Film Fes­ti­val. Even out­side of its famed Mid­night Mad­ness selec­tion, the fes­ti­val is known for intro­duc­ing audi­ences to films out­side of their com­fort zones. Despite the hybrid online and in-per­son pro­gram­ming approach, this year’s selec­tion of films proved no different.

Many view­ers might have been dis­ap­point­ed that high-pro­file films such as Dune or Titane were only avail­able for in-per­son screen­ings, but this set the per­fect stage for inter­na­tion­al genre movies to make a much-deserved splash for both online and in-per­son atten­dees. Four such films, three of which were helmed by first-time direc­tors, were high­lights in an already-promis­ing line­up. Here are a few of the most unique and dar­ing movies that caused a stir at TIFF this year.

Set against the back­drop of Guinea-Bissau’s 2003 coup d’état in Sene­gal, direc­tor Jean Luc Her­bu­lot spins a twisty tale of folk­lore and mys­ti­cism. A group of mer­ce­nar­ies called the Hye­nas (Yann Gael, Roger Sal­lah, and Men­tor Ba) find them­selves strand­ed on the Sine-Saloum Delta. Upon dis­cov­er­ing that the land har­bors dark secrets, they enlist the help of a mys­te­ri­ous Deaf woman (Eve­lyne Ily Juhen) to fig­ure out how to leave their new per­son­al Hell. The film main­tains a bal­ance between action and hor­ror in an effort­less­ly styl­ish way, while the fran­tic cam­er­a­work and impres­sive dig­i­tal effects could even make Quentin Taran­ti­no blush.

This South African hor­ror satire cen­ters around the reunion between young moth­er Tsi­di (Chu­misa Cosa) and her moth­er, a maid named Mavis (Nosipho Mtebe) who cares for the ail­ing Diane (Jen­nifer Boraine). Imme­di­ate­ly, both Tsi­di and the audi­ence know that some­thing is sin­is­ter with­in the Madam’s estate, and a malev­o­lent enti­ty has tak­en con­trol of Mavis for years. While ten­sions are appro­pri­ate­ly height­ened thanks to the eerie cin­e­matog­ra­phy and intense per­for­mances, the fact that the film had 12 cred­it­ed screen­writ­ers shows with its some­times clum­sy dia­logue. Nev­er­the­less, it’s a fas­ci­nat­ing and inven­tive look at the lin­ger­ing effects of Apartheid.

Com­ing to terms with your sex­u­al­i­ty is already hard enough, but what if the threat of a mys­te­ri­ous crea­ture loomed in the back­ground? This is the idea behind Agusti­na San Martín’s stun­ning debut fea­ture. To Kill the Beast cen­ters around the com­ing-of-age of Emil­ia (Tama­ra Roc­ca) who goes to a town on the Argen­tin­ian-Brazil­ian bor­der to look for her miss­ing broth­er. There, she is thrust into a hunt for a mys­te­ri­ous and seduc­tive man who can shapeshift into ani­mals. San Martín’s direc­tion ele­vates it from a sim­ple sto­ry to an expe­ri­ence that merges sap­ph­ic desire, Goth­ic aes­thet­ics, and creepy imagery.

The com­bi­na­tion of sci­ence-based skep­ti­cism and reli­gious faith go hand-in-hand in Arsalan Amini’s debut fea­ture Zala­va. When a series of demon­ic encoun­ters ter­ror­izes a vil­lage in Kur­dis­tan, doubt­ing offi­cer Masoud (Navid Pour­faraj) finds him­self test­ed by beloved but mys­te­ri­ous exor­cist Amar­dan (Pouria Rahi­mi Sam). As anx­i­eties and curiosi­ties height­en, both men’s lives are put into jeop­ardy. Thanks to the com­po­si­tions by Ramin Kousha and won­der­ful cam­er­a­work by Moham­mad Rasouli, a per­sis­tent eeri­ness haunts the entire film, affect­ing you as if you too are involved in the unfold­ing events. While the sto­ry does end up mean­der­ing in its sec­ond part, its final act pro­vides the dark cul­mi­na­tion you’ll be wait­ing for.