Rachel West
@rachelwest.bsky.social
Former grave-digger, future Arby's owner. Journalist, Senior Film Critic at @thatshelf.com, running social @weathernetwork.bsky.social. Former ET Canada & Cineplex producer. @torontofilmcritics.bsky.social & AWFJ member, Rotten Tomatoes-approved.
Applications are now open for membership in the Toronto Film Critics Association! Deadline to apply is June 8 at 5:00 PM EST. torontofilmcritics.com/features/tfc...
TFCA Membership Applications: Now Open! - Toronto Film Critics Association
Applications are now open for membership in the Toronto Film Critics Association. The deadline to apply is Monday, June 8 at 5:00 PM EST
torontofilmcritics.com
Toronto! My pals at the Blue Mountain film festival are screening Damian McCann's Irish noir at the Fox Theatre, on Tuesday. You might find it of interest!
Blue Mountain Film + Media Festival: Aontas - Fox Theatre
What happens when the trademark luck of the Irish turns sour? Aontas tells the story of three women driven to desperate measures in their small Northern Ireland town. They plan to rob the local credit union, but the plan goes horribly awry, pitting neighbours against neighbours in a tense standoff. The story of the robbery unfolds […]
foxtheatre.ca
Congratulations to our latest #TFCAawards winners! 🏆 Company3 Luminary Award: @filmswelike.bsky.social's Ron Mann 🏆 Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Award: Nirris Nagendrarajah 🏆 Jay Scott Prize: Xiaodan He torontofilmcritics.com/features/ron...
Ron Mann Wins Company 3 Luminary Award; Xiaodan He Awarded Jay Scott Prize - Toronto Film Critics Association
Ron Mann wins Company 3 Luminary Award, Xiaodan He awarded Jay Scott Prize, and Nirris Nagendrarajah wins Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Award.
torontofilmcritics.com
On 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE 💀 "Ralph Fiennes gets to release the pig big-time" - Jim Slotek "a solidly satisfying sequel" - @rachelwest.bsky.social "shows how the familiar can quite easily be turned on its head" - @jacksonweaver.bsky.social torontofilmcritics.com/features/tfc...
TFCA Friday: Movie Reviews for January 16 - Toronto Film Critics Association
Movie reviews for The Testament of Ann Lee, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Dead Man's Wire, Rip, The Stranger, and more!
torontofilmcritics.com
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple might already be 2026’s best horror film, and its scariest monsters aren’t the infected. thatshelf.com/28-years-lat...
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review – Sets the Horror Bar for 2026
Bleak, brutal, and deeply human, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple proves the franchise’s rage virus still has teeth.
thatshelf.com
What are the best films of 2025? We polled our contributors to find out! thatshelf.com/the-best-fil...
The Best Films of 2025: A Year in Review
The best films of 2025 include One Battle After Another, Sinners, Sirat, Come See Me in the Good Light, BLKNWS, Kokuho, and more!
thatshelf.com
On DUST BUNNY 🐰 "full of Freudian family weirdness" - @lizbraun.bsky.social "crawls out from under the bed and straight into cult classic territory" - @rachelwest.bsky.social "a slice of fantasy that we haven’t seen since the 80s" - @intheseats.bsky.social torontofilmcritics.com/features/tfc...
TFCA Friday: Movie Reviews for Dec. 12 - Toronto Film Critics Association
Movie reviews for Peter Hujar's Day, Resurrection, Ella McCay, Dust Bunny, Wake Up Dead Man, Hamnet, The Tale of Silyan, and more.
torontofilmcritics.com
This week in movies! On IS THIS THING ON? 🎤 "A solidly smart and sly adult drama" - @rachelwest.bsky.social "a terrific, serious performance by Will Arnett" - Jim Slotek "a raw, incandescent performance" - Brian D. Johnson torontofilmcritics.com/features/tfc...
TFCA Friday: Movie Reviews for Dec. 19 - Toronto Film Critics Association
Movie reviews for Is This Thing On?, Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Spongebob Movie: The Search for Squarepants, Breakdown 1975, and more!
torontofilmcritics.com
Unflashy, emotionally precise, and anchored by a career-best performance from Will Arnett, Is This Thing On? quietly demands attention. thatshelf.com/is-this-thin...
Is This Thing On? Review: Will Arnett’s Career-Best Performance
A solidly smart and sly adult drama about the demise of a marriage, Will Arnett gives what might be the best big-screen performance of his career.
thatshelf.com
Now that the TFCA vote is done and I’ve worked my way thru every prestigious film of the year, I am about to binge some absolute trash as a palate cleanser
Best Original Screenplay: Sinners Runners-up: Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value #TFCAawards
Best Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another Runners-up: Hamnet, No Other Choice #TFCAawards
Outstanding Lead Performance: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You; Ethan Hawkw, Blue Moon Runners-up: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet; Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle; Michael B. Jordan, Sinners; Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent #TFCAawards
Best Supporting Performance in a Canadian Film: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Sweet Angel Baby Runners-up: Charlotte Aubin, Montreal My Beautiful; Troy Kotsur,In Cold Light #TFCAawards
Best First Feature: Blue Heron Runners-up: Eephus, Sorry Baby #TFCAawards
Best Animated Feature: Endless Cookie Runners-up: KPop Demon Hunters, Space Cadet #TFCAawards
How will La Niña and a disrupted polar vortex influence Canada’s winter? Find out with our 2026 #WinterForecast ❄️⬇️ https://ow.ly/w8oa50Xy55G
Canada's Winter Forecast: La Niña and the polar vortex set to deliver a truly Canadian winter - The Weather Network
As winter approaches, the intriguing dance of La Niña and a disrupted polar vortex raises the tantalizing question: will these forces conspire to shape an unforgettable season across Canada? Read on to discover what the forecast holds for the months ahead!
ow.ly
On BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER 🃏 "Colin Farrell is superb" - @rachelwest.bsky.social "Berger is a great stager of scenes" - Gilbert Seah On GOOD FORTUNE 😇 "some kind of revelatory sad sack operetta" - Kim Hughes torontofilmcritics.com/features/tfc...
TFCA Friday: Movie Reviews for Oct. 17 - Toronto Film Critics Association
Movie reviews for Frankenstein, Kiss of the Spider Woman, After the Hunt, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Good Fortune, The Twits, and more.
torontofilmcritics.com
Totally messing with my Spotify Wrapped by listening to “OK Blue Jays” and Harry Nilsson’s “Zombie Jamboree” more than once today
Wildly colourful, spooky, and deliciously funny, #DustBunny is a throwback to the glory days of Midnight Madness. #TIFF50 thatshelf.com/dust-bunny-r...
thatshelf.com
Director Ally Pankiw gives Sarah McLachlan and co. the recognition they deserve in Lilith Fair: Building A Mystery. Read @rachelwest.bsky.social's interview with her now #TIFF50 thatshelf.com/ally-pankiw-...
thatshelf.com
Had a wonderful conversation with Eva Thomas on her #TIFF50 film Nika & Madison awfj.org/blog/2025/09...
Eva Thomas talks NIKA & MADISON (TIFF 2025) – Rachel West interviews – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS
awfj.org
P&I screenings really show you who knows how to dim the brightness on their phone and who does not #TIFF50
Uplifting, emotional, and deeply human, Kirk Jones’ #ISwear is a crowd-pleasing festival standout you won’t want to miss. #TIFF50 thatshelf.com/i-swear-revi...
I Swear Review: TIFF 2025
Kirk Jones’ I Swear tells the inspiring true story of John Davidson with warmth, humour, and heart — a crowd-pleasing highlight of TIFF 2025.
thatshelf.com
I enjoyed A Sami Wedding but TIFF’s Primetime programme just doesn’t work awfj.org/blog/2025/09... #TIFF50
A SAMI WEDDING (TIFF 2025) – Review by Rachel West – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS
awfj.org
Oliver Laxe’s #Sirat is a breathtaking, gut-wrenching desert odyssey. Part road trip, part family drama, part rave-fueled fever dream, and entirely unmissable. #TIFF50 thatshelf.com/sirat-review...
Sirât Review: TIFF 2025 - That Shelf
Sirat review: Oliver Laxe’s film is a breathtaking, gut-wrenching desert odyssey. Part road trip, part family drama, part rave-fueled fever dream, and entirely unmissable
thatshelf.com