The tension between public perception and private history is always at the core of Egoyan’s work. Jim (David Thewlis) is a persnickety, permanently punched-in city health inspector. Though not a religious man, when his time came, the widower left instructions with his daughter Veronica (Laysla de Oliveira) that he be given a church funeral. No one would ever confuse the aseptic beauty for an ex-convict, but when asked to provide memories for the eulogy, all Veronica has to offer is that her father did a great job of looking after her pet bunny while she was in prison. Technology as a tool for evil is another of Egoyan’s pet concerns, this time, it shows up in the form of a single-note school bus driver (Rossif Sutherland) who frames Veronica by surreptitiously using her phone to sexually harass a pair of underage students. serving time for a prank that got out of hand. A visit to an Armenian restaurant finds Jim the eponymous toastmaster, drunk, angry, and issuing a death threat against the driver who ruined his daughter’s life. A video of Jim’s meltdown soon goes viral. As great a performance as Thewlis gives — and there hasn’t been one quite this memorable since Naked — the film never gains the dramatic foothold needed to make his character’s implausibilities plausible. Egoyan-lite is still more full-bodied than almost all of his contemporaries, but this one ends with a bitter aftertaste. (2020) — Scott Marks