So, if you’re playing along at home, the announcement this week of ROOM as The People’s Choice Award winner at TIFF 2015 could be a big deal.

The festival is on a bit of a run where its top dogs are concerned. Coming into 2015, six of the last seven winners went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, with three even taking top honours (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, THE KING’S SPEECH, and 12 YEARS A SLAVE). So, has the festival become a tastemaker…or is the award looking to play kingmaker and just going for more likely candidates?

Whatever the case, ROOM has just gone from mildly interesting autumn fare to must-see status. It’s quite possible that the film might not make the jump to contend for any end-of-year gold, but by all accounts, the movie is quite something to behold. Therefore, it seems like it’s going to be an interesting evening of cinema no matter what (says the guy twenty pages from the end of the book).