Saoirse’s presence at Toronto International Film Festival has been confirmed! She’ll be attending the premieres of Lady Bird and On Chesil Beach, both during the event’s opening weekend. The festival’s full lineup has been revealed, including more information about both movies, such as new summaries and running times.

Lady Bird

USA / 94 minutes / 2017 / STC / Colour / English / International Premiere

A rebellious young woman (Saoirse Ronan) navigates the pressures and constraints of Catholic school and life in Sacremento, in Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut.

Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan, also appearing at this year’s Festival in On Chesil Beach) — affectionately known and self-proclaimed as Lady Bird — is an ambitious, bright, and precocious high school senior. Longing to break free of suburban Sacramento, she dreams of a different life full of east coast skyscrapers, Ivy League universities, and cosmopolitan culture.

With modest grades and no alumni connections to speak of, Lady Bird needs extracurriculars to beef up her college applications. Joining the drama club leads to new friends (sometimes at the expense of old ones), first loves, and a social life in full swing. Dealing with her critical mother and succeeding at math do not come as easily. With her dad recently laid off, her mom working double shifts as a nurse, and her brother and his girlfriend — Berkeley grads — working at the supermarket, she is keenly aware that post–high school life is no walk in the park. Old enough to appreciate what she has, but not always mature enough to show it, sometimes she just wants to go shopping for her prom dress rather than putting her clothes away.

Navigating the awkward space between adolescence and adulthood, Lady Bird, splendidly brought to life by Ronan, is a character to whom we can all relate. With her solo directorial debut, Greta Gerwig continues the charm and wit of her previous screenwriting work — think Frances Ha and Mistress America but with a more sophisticated approach to character and interpersonal relationships. Incredibly personal and immensely relatable, Lady Bird is sure to be one of the defining coming-of-age films of its generation.

Showtimes:
Friday – Sep 8, 2017
Saturday – Sep 9, 2017
Wednesday – Sep 13, 2017
Saturday – Sep 16, 2017

Click here to visit TIFF’s page for Lady Bird.

On Chesil Beach

United Kingdom / 110 minutes / 2017 / STC / Colour / English / World Premiere

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) and Billy Howle (Dunkirk) star in this adaptation of Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel, about a newlywed couple whose honeymoon retreat becomes a comedy of sexual errors.

The story begins enticingly. “They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night.” But the first sentence of Ian McEwan’s compact, unforgettable novel continues: “and they lived in a time when conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible.” On Chesil Beach has been called both a horror story and a comedy, because it’s about what happens when newlyweds attempt to consummate.

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn, and also at the Festival in Lady Bird) and Billy Howle (Dunkirk) star as Florence and Edward, a young couple on their honeymoon at the English seaside. It is 1962, and overcast. Florence is a disciplined violinist, raised in a cold vise of middle-class repression. Flashbacks show her mother (Emily Watson) crushing all impulse with propriety. Edward offers Florence some promise of freedom. He was raised in the countryside in a more volatile family, and found liberation in literature and ideas. The two arrive at a Chesil Beach guest house in love and ready to begin their life together, but hopelessly ill-equipped for their first night.

Adapted for the screen by McEwan himself and directed by former Royal Court Theatre head Dominic Cooke, this is a beautifully precise anatomy of thwarted desire. Edward has worked himself into a volcanic state, but fumbles as he tries to express himself to Florence. She views the marriage bed with fear verging on revulsion. Neither of them knows what to do next, so they perform the social rituals of dinner and polite conversation until there is no recourse left to them. As On Chesil Beach reaches its shattering conclusion, it reveals a stark, primal scene from a marriage.

Showtimes:
Thursday – Sep 7, 2017
Friday – Sep 8, 2017
Wednesday Sep 13, 2017

Click here to visit TIFF’s page for On Chesil Beach.