All the movies directed by big-name actors at TIFF 2023, ranked from best to worst

TORONTO — Though Toronto International Film Festival Chief Executive Cameron Bailey attributes it to the pandemic rather than the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, there’s no doubt that the heightened presence of actor-directors is among the main themes of this year’s edition. Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Taika Waititi and Ethan Hawke were among the A-listers who stepped behind the camera for TIFF 2023 — and, in a spirit of friendly competition like Toronto’s coveted People’s Choice Award, we decided to rank them. Here’s how the big-name actors (as directors) stacked up.

1. ‘Woman of the Hour’ (Anna Kendrick)

There’s the potential for a wacky, tacky 1970s Americana true-crime story in the premise of Anna Kendrick’s “Woman of the Hour” — an active serial killer who was on “The Dating Game” — that she instead pushes toward a more haunting and unnerving conclusion. With an assured mix of righteous anger and sad resignation, the film explores the things men get away with and that women are expected to put up with. Kendrick plays the woman who picked Rodney Alcala, eventually convicted of seven murders and implicated in many more, on the lighthearted TV game show and immediately realized the vibes were way off. Yet she is only one in a gallery of women depicted