Overview
A soulful journey through the life of a musical icon, exploring love, loss, and the power of art.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- wistful
- soulful
- bohemian
- music night
- reflective evening
What critics said
Broad audience reception strongly favors the film’s heartfelt music, performances, and emotionally immersive portrait of Toma Zdravković.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Toma’s professional milestones are repeatedly connected to the women, friends, and artists who shaped his songs and private life.
The 1991 treatment and friendship with the doctor form one narrative line, while flashbacks trace Toma from childhood through fame.
Zoran Radmilović, Mika Antić, Tozovac, Silvana Armenulić, and Toma’s many artistic friends animate the former Yugoslav cultural scene.
The plot contrasts Toma’s unique singing and popularity with bohemian behavior, complicated love, illness, and reaching the bottom of life.
Films like Toma, and why
Walk the Line
music biopic centered on a charismatic performer, romantic entanglements, creative ambition, and emotional self-destruction
La Vie en Rose
sweeping performer biography blending musical success, turbulent relationships, bohemian excess, and intimate emotional drama
Bohemian Rhapsody
emotionally expansive singer biopic focused on artistic identity, fame, personal struggle, and culturally defining songs
A Star Is Born
regional music drama combining historical cultural context, complicated love, and a gifted but troubled artist
Movie Details
- Directors
- Dragan Bjelogrlić, Zoran Lisinac
- Release Date
- 2021-12-20
- Runtime
- 140 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (27)
Cast
- Milan Marić
- Milena Radulović
- Radomir Nikolić
- Milan Kolak
- Petar Benčina
- Tamara Dragičević
- Denis Murić
- Olivera Bacić
- Mirjana Karanović
- Andrija Kuzmanović
Common questions
- What is Toma about?
- A sweeping Serbian music biopic follows Toma Zdravković from impoverished beginnings to legendary fame, where soulful songs, bohemian friendships, and consuming romances mirror his rise and ruin.
- What is Toma like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Toma as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Toma violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Toma.
- What did critics think of Toma?
- Broad audience reception strongly favors the film’s heartfelt music, performances, and emotionally immersive portrait of Toma Zdravković.
- Which films are like Toma?
- Films with a similar feel include Walk the Line, La Vie en Rose, Bohemian Rhapsody, and A Star Is Born.
- How long is Toma?
- Toma runs 140 minutes.
