This year’s TIFF has been a subdued affair compared to its pre-pandemic days, but the announcement of a new, secret Steven Soderbergh film built up a lot of interest and buzz for festival patrons. There were a few theories about what the project could be: a recut of one of the director’s older films, most likely, 1991’s “Kafka”; a sequel to his debut feature film “sex, lies, and videotape”; or “Kimi,” the mystery thriller Soderbergh has been working on with screenwriter David Koepp, starring Zoë Kravitz, set in a post-covid world and supposedly reminiscent of “The Conversation,” “Rear Window,” and “Panic Room.”

Of those three options, the least enticing was definitely a recut film, and that is exactly what TIFF’s secret screening ended up being. Soderbergh introduced a reimagining of his sophomore film “Kafka,” retitled “Mr. Kneff” and re-edited as if from the perspective of a “deranged critic/fan.