Christopher Walken Leads Funeral-Home Comedy Back in Black at TIFF
A failing funeral home finds new customers for a deadly reason in Back in Black, set for its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF).
The film is the debut feature, meaning the first cinema film, from director Ron Murphy. Christopher Walken stars as family patriarch Clyde Mortimer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A world premiere is the first public screening of a film.
Clyde runs a family funeral home that is facing bankruptcy. Business is bad. Then the bodies start arriving.
The turnaround centres on his quiet granddaughter Sam, played by Ella Ballentine. Sam works as an embalmer by day and kills local townspeople by night, The Hollywood Reporter reports. TIFF lists the story as a family funeral business experiencing a reversal of fortune and describes it as a hilarious satire, according to TIFF.
Jane Curtin plays the wife of Clyde Mortimer, completing the central family unit, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Walken is a long-standing favourite with theatre and film audiences. He won an Oscar for his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter.
Murphy co-wrote Back in Black with Nick Torokvei. He began his career as an assistant to comic actor John Candy before moving into directing, The Hollywood Reporter reports. His Canadian television credits include Trailer Park Boys, Heartland, Lost Girl and Wynonna Earp. Murphy was born in Toronto, according to TIFF.
For audiences, this means the first viewing will happen on the festival circuit, where a premiere shapes early attention for a small film. What makes this stand out is the mix at its core: a cash-strapped family firm, dark humour around death, and a crime twist driving the plot.
