‘The Life of Chuck’ Wins 2024 TIFF People’s Choice Award, ‘The Substance’ Nabs Midnight Madness Prize

After 11 days, the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, came to a close and with it the ticketholder and juried prizes for the best films of the festival where Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck won this year’s People’s Choice Award. Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez was the first runner up and Sean Baker’s Anora was second runner up.

Based on the novella by Stephen King, The Life of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles Krantz in a story told in three chapters following a world-ending apocalypse (review here). Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Jacob Tremblay co-star. While the winner of the TIFF People’s Choice has traditionally gone on to a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and sometimes wins, The Life of Chuck is in a very unique circumstance in that at the time of its win it was a sales title with no U.S. distribution. With Flanagan’s highly successful television series relationship with Netflix (The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, Midnight Mass) it makes sense as a home but no announcement has been made (entered into an exclusive overall deal with Amazon Studios in 2023 for television projects similar to his previous one with Netflix). The streamer already has Malcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson, recently picked up Pablo Larraín’s Maria just ahead of its Venice and Telluride bows and already had scooped up double Cannes winner Emilia Pérez. Will they swoop in once again and possibly pivot to Chuck? The last TIFF winner to earn zero Oscar nominations Nadine Labaki’s 2011 film Where Do We Go Now? Before that David Cronenberg’s 2007 film Eastern Promises didn’t make the Best Picture cut but did earn Viggo Mortensen his first Best Actor Oscar nomination. He lost the award to Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood. Last year’s People’s Choice winner, American Fiction, went on to nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor and won the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay. The previous year, The Fabelmans earned seven Oscar nominations but became the first TIFF winner in over 10 years to reap no wins.

It’s often worth noting that the number of times a film plays the festival can certainly impact the number of votes it can get. This year, the #1 and #2 placing films, The Life of Chuck and Emilia Pérez, both had a whopping nine screenings. Anora, the Cannes Palme d’Or winner and Telluride hit, had four. The popular Saturday Night came in with six and Midnight Mass winner The Substance (review here) had seven. Alternatively, it was Dreamworks’ animated hit The Wild Robot (review here) that had the most, 10 screenings, which meant many people had it in their top 3 vote getters for the award.

Over in documentaries, Canadian Mike Downie’s The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal was the top vote getter with Josh Greenbaum Will & Harper and Ali Weinstein’s Your Tomorrow coming in at #2 and #3.

“As we conclude this year’s Festival and present these 10 awards today, I’d like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated juries, our TIFF programmers, and all of the filmmakers who have shared their work with us,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF. “Most importantly, I want to thank our audience, who are truly the best in the world. Their passion and enthusiasm bring this festival to life every year, and we couldn’t do it without them. To The Life of Chuck, The Substance, and The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, this year’s winners of the People’s Choice Awards, presented by Rogers, I can’t wait to see the future awards and accolades that await your incredible films.”

Last Sunday, the following were honored with TIFF 2024 Tribute Awards, with Sandra Oh as Honorary Chair of the sixth annual fundraising gala:

• Amy Adams: TIFF Tribute Performer Award
• Angelina Jolie: TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media
• Cate Blanchett: TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award
• Clément Ducol & Camille: TIFF Variety Artisan Award
• David Cronenberg: TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement
• Durga Chew-Bose: TIFF Emerging Talent Award
• Jharrel Jerome: TIFF Tribute Performer Award
• Mike Leigh: TIFF Ebert Director Award
• Zhao Tao: TIFF Special Tribute Award

Here is the complete list of winners.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD PRESENTED BY ROGERS

People’s Choice Award presented by Rogers: The Life of Chuck, dir. Mike Flanagan | USA  
The first runner-up: Emilia Pérez, dir. Jacques Audiard | France/USA/Mexico
The second runner-up: Anora, dir. Sean Baker | USA

People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award presented by Rogers: The Substance, dir. Coralie Fargeat | United Kingdom/USA/France
The first runner-up: Dead Talents Society, dir. John Hsu | Taiwan 
The second runner-up: Friendship, dir. Andrew DeYoung | USA

People’s Choice Documentary Award presented by Rogers: The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, dir. Mike Downie | Canada
The first runner-up: Will & Harper, dir. Josh Greenbaum | USA 
The second runner-up: Your Tomorrow, dir. Ali Weinstein | Canada

SHORT CUTS AWARDS

Short Cuts Awards are for Best International Film and Best Canadian Film. Each of the two winning films will receive a bursary of $10,000 CAD. The 2024 jurors for the Short Cuts Awards were Luis De Filippis, Micah Kernan, and Shane Smith.

Short Cuts Award for Best International Film:
Deck 5B, dir. Malin Ingrid Johansson | Sweden

Honorable Mention: 
Quota, dir. Job Roggeveen, Joris Oprins, Marieke Blaauw | Netherlands

Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film:
Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?, dir. Bec Pecaut | Canada

FIPRESCI AWARD

The FIPRESCI jury is awarding the Prize of International Critics, dedicated to emerging filmmakers, to a debut feature film having its World Premiere in TIFF’s Discovery programme. The 2024 FIPRESCI jury members are Li Cheuk-to, Pierre-Simon Gutman, Azadeh Jafari, Saffron Maeve, and Wilfred Okiche.

FIPRESCI Award:
Mother Mother, dir. K’naan Warsame | Somalia

NETPAC AWARD

Presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema, the NETPAC Award recognizes films specifically from the Asian and Pacific regions. The jury consists of three international community members selected by TIFF and NETPAC, who award the prize to the best Asian film by a first or second-time feature director. The 2024 NETPAC jury members are Hannah Fisher, Dr. Vilsoni Hereniko, and Kerri Sakamoto.

NETPAC Award: 
The Last of the Sea Women, dir. Sue Kim | USA

BEST CANADIAN DISCOVERY AWARD

Back this year after being on hiatus since 2019, and with a new name and new criteria, the Best Canadian Discovery Award celebrates works of emerging filmmakers who contribute to enriching the Canadian film landscape. All first or second feature films in Official Selection by Canadian filmmakers are eligible for this award. The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000. This year’s jury members were Estrella Araiza, Chelsea McMullan, and Randall Okita.

Best Canadian Discovery Award: 
Universal Language, dir. Matthew Rankin | Canada

Honourable Mention: 
You Are Not Alone, dirs. Marie-Hélène Viens, Philippe Lupien | Canada

BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM AWARD PRESENTED BY CANADA GOOSE

Canada Goose has always played a supporting role in the magic of filmmaking. TIFF continues to celebrate the unique craft and storytelling within Canadian cinema with the Best Canadian Feature Film Award. All Canadian feature films in Official Selection — excluding first or second features — will be considered for the award. The winning filmmaker will receive a $10,000 cash prize. The 2024 Best Canadian Feature Film Award is presented by Canada Goose.

Best Canadian Feature Film Award: 
Shepherds, dir. Sophie Deraspe | Canada

PLATFORM COMPETITION AWARD

The Platform Award is an award of $20,000 CAD given to the best film in the competition selected by an in-person international jury. This year’s jury members were Atom Egoyan, Hur Jin-ho, and Jane Schoenbrun.

Platform Award: 
They Will Be Dust, dir. Carlos Marques-Marcet | Spain, Italy, Switzerland

Honourable Mention: 
Sylvia Chang in Daughter’s Daughter, dir. Huang Xi | Taiwan