TIFF 2026: Day Nine

The sales have begun out of TIFF.

What no one expected, however, is that the most high profile purchase thus far is for a film that shouldn't have been on the market. Because Joshua Giuliano's River already had distribution. The IFC and Shudder logos played before my screening of the movie last Saturday. So, what happened?

Was Jason Blum just so enamored by it that he talked Universal and Focus into giving a rival studio ten million bucks to take it off their hands? Indiewire is on the case to call attention to the fact that Giuliano's next film Occupant is already set-up at their studio. So, it might be a legacy purchase. Monopolize the filmmaker and hope to sell one title with the other.

The only other notable sale has been Rapinoe to HBO Documentary Films. We'll see if the damn breaks once awards start being handed out this weekend.

Today's schedule:

• Diary of a Mad Old Man, d. Wayne Wang | Gala Presentations | United States of America | Japanese, Mandarin
• Trees are Watching, d. Bahman Ghobadi | Centrepiece | Turkey | Kurdish, Turkish, English
• Gail, d. Michael Maxxis | TIFF Docs / Unhidden Gems presented by Redbreast | Canada | English

Formed in Austin, TX circa 2023 after singers Zella Day and Jesse Woods began dating, Chaparelle became a start-up project regardless of any success they found prior. Day sought to escape the manufactured pop world that was stifling her creative ambitions. Woods turned forty and still found himself wondering if art and music remained viable as a career choice. They were two solo acts coming together to form a partnership and a band.

So, why not document the journey? Maybe the potential for a juicy Fleetwood Mac-type fallout would deliver some exciting drama via a film about their very short origins leading to implosion. Maybe love would conquer all as Day and Woods find the delicate balance of respect and adoration to deal with that struggle between wanting to dig in their heels and knowing a compromise is necessary. Director Andrew Morgan had something either way.

The result is a black and white recording and tour diary named after the trio's (the two are joined by producer and multi-instrumentalist Beau Bedford) debut single, Bleeding Hearts. Besides a couple quick glimpses into their disparate origins (the Californian Day writing songs at twelve before hitting it big as a teen and the Texan Woods sneaking on headphones to listen to secular music against his parents' wishes before becoming a folk singer), it's truly about the now.

There's the honeymoon period full of excitement as they compose music and put everything into making a go of it with Bedford loving every second watching them work and performing some mediation when tensions rise. Those initial concert dates with all three basking in the energy of pouring their hearts out. And, of course, the tired drives and hotel stays where the lines can't help blurring since Day and Woods' co-worker and confidant is one and the same.

Both are keenly aware of their starkly divergent personalities with each rearing their head in its corresponding venue. Woods is the introvert who would rather just stand and sing (he's a "little claustrophobic" and thus finds it difficult to allow himself to be touched on-stage by the woman he loves). Day is the rock star showman who craves movement and rapport to feel in the moment while communing with an audience. She wants him to relax. He wants to be himself.

So, we bear witness to the ways in which he tries to control things in the booth by requesting certain vocal stylings and musical choices. We see the same as she tries to take charge on the road to, at the very least, try to coax him out of his shell. Their arguments sound and feel like any you might have with your own significant other. The "I know what you want, don't worry." The "That's not who I am." And the "I'm done with this conversation."

It doesn't really get much more incendiary than that—especially since Day and Woods have an early conversation about not wanting to go on-stage angry like many couples say they don't go to bed mad. I think having experienced life and a career on their own helped them to not only realize what they want, but also to self-reflect and accept their flaws. They go into this thing with eyes open knowing they can rely on the other's strengths to pull them through.

And that's exactly what occurs during the approximately two-year adventure on-screen (their album Western Pleasure releases in April 2025). Yes, they can get snippy, but they still always give each other a kiss before performing to recenter the love that trumps everything else. It's why Bedford is constantly calling attention to their aura of creativity and life while still admitting it's a risk putting his career in the hands of a couple. The historical track record isn't great.

Would Morgan have liked a bit more fire? Would you? Maybe. But there's something to a story about two grown adults finding each other at a place in their lives where they needed a change. That they can possess such different personalities while being perfectly aligned artistically proves to be the sort of sweet spot to remind them of what this is all about. They didn't fall in love because of proximity in a band. They formed a band out of their love.

Bleeding Hearts is a nice little showcase as a result. It provides them a forum to work through giving yourself over to collaboration and thinking in terms of "we" rather than "I." That they are able to also find success is almost just a bonus since it gives them incentive to push the envelope of what they probably would have done anyway—even if only for themselves. Will that fame increase the potential for chaos? Sure. But making music is who they are. They cannot stop.

Twenty-somethings Claire (Xuan Chen) and Kitty Lin (Yeh Shu-hua) still live at home. They would tell you it's begrudgingly so, but we know they appreciate the perks of not having to pay for rent or food. Dad (Jack Kao) is quick to remind them of this fact whenever the idea of moving out comes up because he knows what it costs—and that his daughters couldn't afford it on their own. Mom (Kuei-Mei Yang) is desperate for it, however, because it would mean marriage.

It's all she wants for her daughters. To marry well and have grandchildren. It's quite literally a topic of conversation she brings up unprovoked before Kitty gets engaged (to Kent Tsai's Ledo Yang) and with more regularity afterwards as a push for Claire to follow suit. There's just one problem: Claire is dating her editor Shannie (Hung Pei-Yu), a woman. It's a subject she cannot broach because of how conservative her mother is. Happiness always seems conditional.

Hence the title of Feng-I Fiona Roan's Happily Ever After. This should be a time of celebration. One daughter is getting married. The other has won a major writing award of which the novel is being turned into a stage play. And yet both women feel crushed by the weight of expectations thanks to desires they're too afraid to admit to the people placing undue pressure on them out of excitement. Mrs. Lin wants two weddings. Ledo's mother (Alice Lee) wants a grandson.

The result is a seemingly infinite well of resentments. There are the obvious ones courtesy of what the sisters feel is disrespect from external forces and each other once tempers rise. But there are also the more nuanced ones born from a sense of obligation. Ledo is quick to dismiss a lot of his affluent family's actions as "tradition" not to be taken seriously, but his own say otherwise. And what of Kitty fulfilling her mother's wishes only because Claire can't?

Those easy smiles from the opening act are gone by the second. More than gone, they've transformed into scowls. With good reason too considering Kitty and Claire's idealism has them making promises they aren't sure they can keep with so many conservative parents turning their desires into their identities. The former wants Shannie at the wedding to force everyone to deal, but is that the time and place? Then what happens when she rescinds it?

Suddenly the one champion both women thought was in their corner forever starts to pull away. Claire sees Kitty being walked all over and decides to belittle her by predicting the marriage won't last. Kitty sees Claire losing herself whenever she's at home because she believes she cannot be her true self in front of their mother. Kitty is too lazy to care for herself. Claire is too stubborn to give an inch when it comes to her principles. Things turn ugly quick.

What some might miss, however, is just how loved they are outside of their own insecurities and fears. The ones showing it could do better, but so much of their troubles stem from assumptions they're forced to conjure because they refuse to actually talk about their feelings. Is Ledo a momma's boy? Yes, but he does pick Kitty whenever a choice between them must be made. Is Mr. Lin supportive of Claire no matter who she loves? Yes, but he won't say so to his wife.

Kao is one of my favorite parts of the film because he portrays his character with an intriguing sense of timing. He's so quiet in the background while the sisters fight and Mrs. Lin makes things worse by pushing too hard, but he knows exactly what is going on. He simply picks his spots judiciously to try and please everyone at once (the fatal flaw of this entire family). And when it's time to supply tough love, he does so with purpose.

They all need more. Not from him, but each other. They need to push back when challenged. To stand their ground and fight for what's right no matter who is telling them differently. Fight for the agency to let the others know their actions are hurtful. Fight for a place in their own lives when it seems like everyone knows what's best. Be happy with who you are so they can see that happiness and recognize it's their job to become part of it rather than manipulate it.

Roan has put together a wonderful character study that is as heartfelt in its drama as it is entertaining in its joy. The latter fades as things progress to a much tenser dynamic, but the actors never lose their sense of humor—even if it can sometimes cut more than heal. Chen and Yeh (from K-pop group i-dle) expertly imbue their roles with the depth necessary to be the rebel and princess, respectively, while also possessing the yearning to escape those labels.

Because the driving force behind both of them is fear. The fear of letting those who love you down. The fear of making the wrong decision and being unable to turn back. And their fear for each other insofar as the uncertainty of whether they can succeed alone. Is that why Kitty is getting married? Is that why Claire can't talk to her mother about Shannie? They're so wrapped up in who they should be that they sometimes forget to embrace who they are.