Vintage Violence is an absurdist crime thriller for phone addicts

Vintage Violence is an absurdist crime thriller for phone addicts

Reviews from TIFF 2026: Vintage Violence, Ken Russell’s The Devils in 4K, and Gentle Monster.

Reviews from TIFF 2026: Vintage Violence, Ken Russell’s The Devils in 4K, and Gentle Monster.

by

Andrew Webster

Sep 15, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

Image: TIFF

Andrew Webster

is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

There are a lot of movies that have tried to seamlessly integrate modern tech — text messages, livestreams, etc. — into their storytelling. Some of the most novel attempts have been in the genre space, like the Twitch-style horror flickDeadstream. But the most chaotic to date might just beVintage Violence, an absurd crime thriller with lots of blood, jokes, and screentime.

I was able to catchVintage Violence, the latest from director Eugene Kotlyarenko, on my fifth day at the Toronto International Film Festival. Kotlyarenko has previously explored our hyper-connected culture in 2020’sSpree, a movie in whichStranger Things’ Joe Keery plays a rideshare driver who starts murdering passengers while livestreaming the crimes. ButVintage Violencetakes things a step further by trying to replicate what it’s like to constantly be on your phone as the movie plays out. It’s a lot to take in, but I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately there isn’t a trailer yet to give you a better sense of how things work onscreen, but I’ll make sure to share it when they do release one.

Vintage Violencewas one of three films I took in on day 5 of TIFF 2026; the others were a 4K restoration of a cult classic and a devastating drama that’s on its way to Netflix. Here are my thoughts on all three.

Image: TIFF

Vintage Violence

No theatrical date yet

From the premise alone you can tell this movie is ridiculous. Carter (Cole Sprouse), a disgraced MrBeast-style influencer, finds a cache of vintage Levi’s while livestreaming, and one of his fans, Izumi (Kiko Mizuhara), suggests he comes to Tokyo to sell the denim for some big cash. When he gets there, just about everyone is running some kind of scam — pretty quickly the yakuza get involved, including an enforcer with a prosthetic middle finger — and things play out like a toned-down, but still brutal and bloody, Takashi Miike film. But what really elevatesVintage Violenceis the way it constantly displays what characters are doing on their phones right alongside the main film. That means everything from sending text messages to livestreaming to listening to whale sounds to relax. It can get chaotic and a challenge to follow — at one point I was trying to read the chat on a Kick stream while an action scene played out beside it — but that’s also kind of the point.

Ken Russell’s The Devils

In theaters on October 16th

The Devilsis one of those cult classics I’ve always meant to watch but never got around to. But this new 4K theatrical rerelease was the perfect excuse. First released in 1971,The Devilsis a surreal and disturbing account of a witch trial in a small, independent town in 17th-century France. Run by an impossibly handsome priest (Oliver Reed) who openly defies a powerful cardinal, the town soon descends into pure hysteria following reports of demonic possession, which the church seizes on in order to oust the priest. This version is not only a remaster but also a director’s cut — it’s rated NC-17 — and while I can’t speak to what’s new since I hadn’t seen it before, I will say the film rarely shows its age, with enthralling and disturbing sequences merged with a poignant story about the dangers of mixing politics and religion. And in 4K the stark architecture and uncomfortable violence really pop on the big screen.

Gentle Monster

In theaters on October 30th; streaming on Netflix on November 18th

Marie Kreutzer’s latest feature is a difficult watch. It follows a young family that is torn apart when the police arrive at their country home one day to seize the father’s digital devices as part of a CSAM investigation. The story is primarily centered on the mother, Lucy (Léa Seydoux), a pianist who struggles with accepting a truth that threatens to upend her entire world.Gentle Monsterdoes a remarkable job of slowly taking you through Lucy’s complicated, messy, and constantly changing understanding of the situation, but what really makes it work is Seydoux’s raw and unnerving performance, which oscillates between wishing the problem would go away to doing anything she can to protect her son. It’s a great film, but one that’s certain to leave you unsettled.

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• Andrew Webster

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