The play was the the thing for audiences at the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. This year’s coveted TIFF People’s Choice Award went to Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, the Oscar-winning director’s richly imagined and deeply emotional dramatization of the real-world circumstances that may have fueled William Shakespeare to write his most famous play, Hamlet. And the win solidifies Hamnet’s standing as a Best Picture frontrunner following its breakout debut at the Telluride Film Festival.
It’s the second time that Zhao has taken home TIFF’s top prize, previously winning the People’s Choice Award in 2020 for Nomadland. That movie went on to win Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards, held during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Zhao became the second female filmmaker to win the Best Director statuette, and the film also brought Frances McDormand her third Best Actress win.
A pair of Netflix Oscar hopefuls were the runners-up for People’s Choice honors with Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein claiming second place, while Rian Johnson’s trilogy-capping Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery took third. Frankenstein will be the first of the three to arrive in theaters, opening in limited release on Oct. 17 followed by its streaming premiere on Nov. 7. Hamnet debuts in theaters on Nov. 27 and Wake Up Dead Man will briefly be in theaters starting Nov. 26 ahead of its Netflix launch on Dec. 12.
The People’s Choice Award has traditionally served as a Best Picture bellwether with numerous past winners going on to win the top prize or end up in the final group of nominees. American Beauty, Slumdog Millionaire, and 12 Years a Slave are examples of the former, while Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Silver Linings Playbook, and Jojo Rabbit represent the latter. That streak was broken last year when Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck was the surprise winner; Neon acquired the film following its People’s Choice win and released it in theaters this past summer where it had a mixed critical and commercial reception.
The People’s Choice International Award went to Park Chan-wook’s well-received No Other Choice, with Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value — which won the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier this year — taking second place. Interestingly, Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning It Was Just an Accident was passed over by TIFF audiences, with third place instead going to Homebound from Indian director Neeraj Ghaywan.
Midnight Madness audiences bestowed their People’s Choice Award on hometown hero Matt Johnson for Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, a proudly made-in-Toronto comedy that’s part Borat, part Back to the Future and all hysterical. Second place went to Curry Barker’s Obsession, which Focus Features acquired for a reported $15 million and Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious claimed third.
Finally, Barry Avrich’s The Road Between Us was named the winner of the People’s Choice Documentary Award; the film follows Israeli author Amir Tibon’s experience during the Oct. 7 attacks. The doc was embroiled in some pre-festival controversy when filmmakers alleged they were uninvited by TIFF organizers due to the fraught subject matter. After some back and forth, The Road Between Us was ultimately reinstated to the lineup.
Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert finished in second place and Nick Davis’ You Had to Be There — which documents the famous 1972 Toronto production of Godspell that gave future stars like Eugene Levy, Martin Short, and Andrea Martin their big showcase — claimed third.
Here’s the full list of TIFF People’s Choice Award winners:
TIFF People’s Choice Award: Hamnet
First runner-up: Frankenstein
Second runner-up: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
TIFF People’s Choice International Award: No Other Choice
First runner-up: Sentimental Value
Second runner-up: Homebound
TIFF People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
First runner-up: Obsession
Second runner-up: The Furious
TIFF People’s Choice Documentary Award: The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue
First runner-up: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert
Second runner-up: You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…