TORONTO, Canada—Barry Keoghan is arguably the most electric actor working today, and he absolutely ignites Bird. As the ne’er-do-well single father of a 12-year-old, the Saltburn and The Banshees of Inisherin standout is a whirlwind of exuberant, volatile energy, his eyes as fiery as his body is covered in tattoos of beetles, spiders, and a giant centipede that stretches from around his neck to the side of his face—hence his name, Bug.

Whether riding through town on a scooter while singing along to punk rock, line dancing to “Cotton Eye Joe,” or crooning Coldplay’s “Yellow” with friends in order to make a toad excrete its hallucinogenic slime (yes, you read that correctly), Keoghan exudes an unruly magnetism that’s the stuff of movie superstardom.

One of his two standout projects at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (alongside Bring Them Down), Bird—premiering at the fest on Sept. 7—is a showcase for the charismatic Keoghan. Nonetheless, he’s merely a supporting player in Andrea Arnold’s lyrical drama, the auteur’s first feature since 2016’s American Honey.

Set in a London council estate that recalls the setting of 2009’s Fish Tank, the writer/director’s latest is really about Bailey (newcomer Nykiya Adams), a girl on the precipice of major change whose life is upended by an encounter with a stranger named Bird (Passages’ Frank Rogowski) who claims to have once lived in a nearby apartment building. A story of abuse, escape, resilience, hope,........

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