TIFF 2023: Quiz Lady Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

It’s always nice and quite refreshing to have something a studio comedy in the TIFF lineup. Quiz Lady follows Anne (Awkwafina), a tightly wound and game show obsessed woman who has to come together with her chaotic and reckless sister Jenny (Oh) to help pay off their mother’s gambling debts. After Anne’s dog is kidnapped, the two sisters set off on a cross country journey in order to get the money they need and turn Anne into the game show champion she’s always wanted and dreamed to be. While the film may not be a new comedy classic and has its fair share of flaws, it’s a pretty delightful and fast-paced watch that will likely find a huge audience once it premieres on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ everywhere else.

Quiz Lady really gets by on Oh and Awkwafina’s winning chemistry as they play against type as two polar opposite sisters. Oh is absolutely hysterical here in a performance that could have easily been overdone. Jenny is such a flawed character who easily could have come off as annoying or unlikeable but she finds the humanity within her and it helps that she has Awkwafina to balance her out. The two share such strong chemistry together in a film that starts off hilarious but builds into something more profound as it went on.

Meanwhile, the film boasts a great supporting cast featuring the likes of Ferrell, Jason Schwartzman, Tony Hale, and Holland Taylor who provide big laughs. Ferrell, in particular, is a lot more reserved than usual though is just as side-splittingly funny here. Also, Schwartzman can play an unlikeable and weaselly character almost a little too well at this point. Clocking in a short 99-minutes, that runtime breezes by. Starting off slow and despite a few unnecessary detours, the film builds over time and finishes on a deeply heartfelt note that is sure to choke up audiences. Like with any comedy these days, not every joke lands and quite a few fall flat.

All that being said, Quiz Lady is a definite crowd pleaser that will hit hard for fans of game shows and will likely be a huge streaming hit this November. While unlikely to become a new comedy classic, the film still makes for a fun watch that will play even better on streaming.

*still courtesy of 20th Century Studios*

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/