The Imitation Game: Will Benedict Cumberbatch Ride TIFF Success All The Way to The Oscars?

Benedict Cumberbatch looks set to be one of the big names during the forthcoming awards season after The Imitation Game won the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award.

The award is given to the film received best by public audiences, with each film screening's viewers asked to drop their ticket into a ballot box if they enjoyed it. The film with the most votes wins and this year it was Cumberbatch's Alan Turing drama.

The movie itself reviewed well coming out of the festival but received little truly glowing praise. That said, Cumberbatch's performance has been met with universal approval, with the general feeling being that the Brit could make a push for the Best Actor prizes during next year's awards season.

Clinching an audience award also suggests a wider more popular appeal that would put The Imitation Game in good stead come the Oscars, Golden Globes and Baftas. That, after all, is what often tips the scales and has done with recent winners Argo, The King's Speech and The Artist.

Directed by Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game tells the story of Alan Turing, a hero of the 20<sup>th century who helped crack the German enigma code during World War II before being jailed and chemically castrated by the British government for being homosexual.

Turing was granted a royal pardon for his so-called "crime" last year.

The Imitation Game will be given a wide release on 14 November.