‘I Play Rocky,’ ‘Elsinore’ and ‘Tangles’ Signal an Oscar Season About the Craft of Acting and Memory

‘I Play Rocky’, ‘Elsinore’ and ‘Tangles’ Signal an Oscar Season About the Craft of Acting and Memory As the major fall festivals draw to a close and the awards race comes into focus, two themes have emerged among a crop of early favourites: what it costs to act and what it costs to forget. At first, those seem like separate matters. On one side, we observe a surge in movies that are‑so‑much‑about‑the‑process of becoming a character that the process itself becomes the story..

On the other, a quieter group of films turn the spotlight on memory – its fragility, its malleability and the toll it exacts when it slips away. Together, they suggest an Oscar season less about spectacle and more about the interior labour of performance. ‘I Play Rocky’ (directed by Nadine Glover) opens with a young actor, Maya (played by Zadie Khan), rehearsing a monologue in a cramped London flat..

The camera lingers on her trembling hands, the sweat on her brow, the way she physically reshapes herself to inhabit a boxer’s grit. Glover’s decision to film the rehearsal in a single, uninterrupted take forces the audience to experience the same breathlessness that actors feel when they must summon a life that is not theirs. Critics at Cannes described it as “a study in the anatomy of empathy”, and its relentless focus on craft has already earned it a spot on the BAFTA shortlist for Best Newcomer..

Across the Atlantic, ‘Elsinore’ (by Canadian‑American writer‑director Maya Desai) tackles the cost of acting from a different angle. Set in a derelict theatre in rural Quebec, the film follows veteran stage‑coach Léo (Jean‑Baptiste Marchand) as he trains a troupe of non‑professionals for a Shakespearean revival. The rehearsals become a crucible in which each participant confronts personal histories they have long tried to bury..

When Léo urges a shy apprentice to “forget everything you are and become the king”, the line blurs between artistic transformation and psychological erosion. The film’s deliberate pacing – long, unhurried shots of actors stumbling over verses – mirrors the slow, often painful, shedding of self that the craft demands. ‘Tangles’, a debut feature from Irish director Siobhán Ó Ceallaigh, takes the memory theme into the realm of neurological decline..

The narrative follows retired actress Aine (Saoirse Ronan) as she grapples with early‑stage Alzheimer’s while preparing for a cameo in a streaming series. The script interweaves present‑day rehearsal footage with fragmented recollections of past roles, creating a visual knot that reflects Aine’s own mental state. Ó Ceallaich uses a muted colour palette to differentiate memory from reality, and the occasional sudden flash of colour signals moments when a forgotten line resurfaces with startling clarity..

The film’s subtlety has drawn praise from the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the jury prize for emerging talent. What ties these three works together is a renewed willingness to portray the inner mechanics of performance rather than simply the outward glitz of the final product. In past award seasons, the most lauded acting films have often been biopics or historical epics – ‘The King’s Speech’, ‘Lincoln’, ‘The Theory of Everything’ – where the actor’s transformation is celebrated after the fact..

This year, however, the spotlight shines on the rehearsal room, the director’s notes, the sleepless nights spent memorising lines, and the emotional cost of inhabiting someone else’s life day after day. The trend is not accidental. Industry insiders point to a growing awareness of mental health within the acting community, fueled by recent high‑profile disclosures from stars about anxiety, depression and burnout..

Unions such as Equity have campaigned for better support structures, while film schools are incorporating modules on psychological resilience. Filmmakers, in turn, seem eager to reflect this shift on screen, using their narratives to ask whether the pursuit of artistic truth is worth the personal sacrifice it can demand. ‘I Play Rocky’ exemplifies this conversation through its meta‑narrative structure..

Halfway through the film, Maya is shown watching a recording of her own performance, critiquing every gesture as if she were an external director. This self‑reflexivity invites viewers to consider the double‑vision that actors constantly navigate – the character’s perspective and the audience’s gaze. It also underscores a central question: does the act of constantly re‑evaluating one’s performance erode the sense of self, or does it reinforce a resilient, adaptable identity?.

‘Elsinore’ offers a counterpoint by placing the cost of acting within a communal setting. The film’s ensemble cast includes a retired miner, a teenage gamer and an immigrant mother, each bringing personal baggage to the rehearsal space. As the production progresses, the line between the characters they play and the people they are begins to dissolve..

A pivotal scene sees the group performing a fight choreographed by Léo, only to collapse into genuine tears when the choreography triggers memories of real violence. The moment captures how acting can become an unwitting conduit for suppressed trauma. In ‘Tangles’, memory is both a tool and a trap..

Aine’s rehearsals are peppered with moments when she forgets a cue, only to later recall it in a flash of brilliance that adds unexpected depth to her cameo. The film suggests that the very act of remembering – of digging up old performances – can be a form of artistic renewal, even as it threatens to unravel the actor’s current sense.