Is Zellweger the frontrunner to win the Oscar for Best Actress? The buzz around her "Judy" performance exploded at TIFF.

After surprising audiences at the Telluride Film Festival, Rupert Goold’s biographical drama “Judy” exploded onto the scene at the Toronto International Film Festival with a three-minute standing ovation for star Renée Zellweger after the movie’s screening. The rapturous applause for Zellweger left the actress in tears. If the “Judy” premiere at Telluride signaled Oscar buzz for Zellweger, then the “Judy” screening at TIFF was a full blown confirmation that the actress is a favorite to land her fourth Oscar nomination. Zellweger was nominated for Best Actress with “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Chicago” and won the Best Supporting Actress trophy for “Cold Mountain.”

“Judy, ” an adaptation of Peter Quilter’s musical “End of the Rainbow,” stars Zellweger as famed actress and singer Judy Garland during the final months of her life as she is forced to put on a five-week, sold-out concert run at London’s Talk of the Town. IndieWire’s awards expert Anne Thompson wrote out of Telluride that Zellweger’s “moving portrait of Garland on the ropes could land her a movie comeback and a fourth Oscar nomination,” but the TIFF response was even more enthusiastic. Variety’s Janelle Riley wrote on social media that in her 15 years at TIFF she had “never seen a standing ovation like the one for Renee Zellweger at ‘Judy.'”

Buzzfeed senior film reporter Adam B. Vary wrote that Zellweger is “stunning, stunning, stunning” as Garland. “I’m a wreck,” he added. “She is incredible. No hyperbole is possible.” Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly chimed in about the film’s TIFF reaction by writing, “Everyone is fucking crying and ‘Judy’ is a soaring, emotional wallop of a comeback for its star.”

“Renee Zellweger is genuinely astonishing in ‘Judy,'” wrote amNewYork editor in chief Robert Levin. “The movie is built around her and she is the reason to see it. It’s cliched to say that you forget you’re not really watching Judy Garland on screen, but it’s true.”

Roadside Attractions is opening “Judy” in theaters September 27.

In 15 years at #TIFF I have never seen a standing ovation like the one for Renee Zellweger at JUDY. I started this about a minute into it and it only stopped because she made us. pic.twitter.com/NGXWLMbDxm — Jenelle Riley (@jenelleriley) September 11, 2019

Renee Zellweger getting a huge, long standing ovation at #TIFF19 for her stunning stunning stunning performance as Judy Garland in JUDY. I’m a wreck. She is incredible. No hyperbole is possible. pic.twitter.com/0M33STXLup — Adam B. Vary @ TIFF (@adambvary) September 11, 2019

Renee Zellweger is genuinely astonishing in Judy. The movie is built around her and she is the reason to see it. It’s cliched to say that you forget you’re not really watching Judy Garland on screen, but it’s true. #TIFF19 — Robert Levin (@Rlevin85) September 11, 2019

A standing ovation for JUDY. Lasted about two minutes and only ended because Renee Zellweger got teary-eyed and requested everyone sit before she messed up her makeup. #TIFF19 pic.twitter.com/DBVlFvsGEl — Tara Deschamps @ #TIFF19 (@tara_deschamps) September 11, 2019

Renée Zellweger is crying. I’m crying. Everyone is fucking crying and Judy is a soaring, emotional wallop of a comeback for its star. #TIFF19 pic.twitter.com/NeEF6X7ssL — Joey Nolfi @ TIFF (@joeynolfi) September 11, 2019

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