The Toronto International Film Festival gets underway this week with over 200 feature films and dozens of special events. We will have multiple people on the ground in Canada to report on the best, the worst, and everything in between. Now, a lot of what people see in Toronto, and some of what we’ll cover, are films that premiered at other festivals like Cannes, Venice, and Telluride, including new takes on Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada,” David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds,” and a full review of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis.”
However, we’re especially excited about the world premieres, the films that drop in Toronto before anywhere else in the world, including new works by Mike Leigh, Ron Howard, Gia Coppola, Mike Flanagan, David Gordon Green, and many more. So we thought we’d spotlight 20 of the most intriguing world premieres, accompanied by the official synopses courtesy of TIFF. Come back to this space over the next two weeks for reviews of all of these and more by Brian Tallerico, Zachary Lee, Monica Castillo, Tomris Laffly, and Marya E. Gates.
“Daniela Forever”
In the latest from Nacho Vigalondo (Colossal, TIFF ’16), Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) soulfully portrays a bereaved man who enrolls in a clinical trial for a drug that allows him to reunite with his lost lover (Beatrice Grannò) through lucid dreams.
TIFF and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are proud to select Daniela Forever for the third edition of the Sloan Science on Film Showcase.
Following the Saturday, September 7 screening, the Sloan Science on Film Showcase will feature a Q&A with director Nacho Vigalondo and a scientific expert in lucid dreaming. The Showcase promises to explore dream states and the neuroscience behind lucid dreaming.
Funding for the Science on Film Showcase is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Public Understanding of Science and Technology program, which supports books, radio, film, television, theatre, and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience and to bridge the two cultures of science and the humanities.
“Eden”
Oscar-winning director Ron Howard’s scintillating historical thriller stars Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby as high-minded Europeans who seek a new life on a previously uninhabited island in the Galápagos, only to discover that hell is other people.
Based on historical events, this scintillating thriller from Oscar-winning director Ron Howard stars Jude Law (Vox Lux, TIFF ʼ18; Dom Hemingway, TIFF ʼ13) and Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman, TIFF ʼ20) as high-minded Europeans seeking a new life on a previously uninhabited island in the Galápagos archipelago. They and those who follow them believe they’ve found paradise — only to discover that hell is other people.
Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Law, also at the Festival in The Order) and his partner Dora Strauch (Kirby) flee their native Germany in 1929, repudiating the bourgeois values they believe are corroding mankind’s true nature. On the isle of Floreana, Friedrich can focus on writing his manifesto, while Dora resolves to cure her multiple sclerosis through meditation. Their hard-won solitude, however, is short lived.
They are joined by Margaret (Sydney Sweeney) and Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Bruehl), who prove to be earnest, capable settlers. Next comes Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas) a self-described Baroness and the “embodiment of perfection,” who arrives with two devoted lovers, an Ecuadorian servant, a wardrobe full of evening gowns, and plans to erect a luxury hotel. Between inclement weather, unruly wildlife, and a total lack of amenities, all three groups find life on Floreana arduous. But nothing will test their mettle more than the challenge of coexisting with desperate neighbours capable of theft, deception, and worse.
“The Fire Inside”
Renowned cinematographer Rachel Morrison makes her feature directorial debut with this film about boxer Claressa Shields’ true-life ascent to the Olympics. It’s a unique sports story that goes beyond the triumph of the underdog to ask what comes after.
Young Claressa Shields (Ryan Destiny) sneaks into a boxing gym, eager to spar with the boys. Local volunteer coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) quickly takes her under his wing. Claressa proves fiercely talented but soon Crutchfield must go beyond the duties of a coach to keep her on track as she starts to feel not just the pressure of winning, but also the glare of her beleaguered hometown of Flint, Michigan seeking hope in her resilience.
Destiny gives a stunning performance as Shields, weaving between grounded and intense as she tries to shake off her precarious reality. You’re quickly rooting for Claressa’s ascent to the Olympics but also forced to confront the crushing disappointment when things don’t turn out. All the while, Henry keeps us in the fight with a performance that finds warmth and patience amid the frustrations.
“Friendship”
Channelling the cringe comedy of his hit sketch series I Think You Should Leave, Tim Robinson portrays a suburban dad obsessively pursuing camaraderie with his charming neighbour (Paul Rudd).
When an errant delivery pulls suburban dad Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) into the orbit of his mysterious and charismatic new neighbour Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd), a sweet bromance seems to blossom over an innocent evening of urban exploration, punk rock, and a mutual appreciation for paleolithic antiquities. But what should have been the start of a beautiful friendship is soon waylaid as Craig’s obsessive personality begins to alienate his new pal, subsequently inducing a spiral that threatens to upend Craig’s entire life.
With his cult hit sketch series I Think You Should Leave, Robinson has established himself as one of comedy’s most consummate conductors of cringe, skilfully exploring the quiet desperation of stubborn individuals who struggle to navigate society’s shifting social mores. In Friendship, this satirical brand of discomfort is set to simmer across a procession of awkward faux pas as writer-director Andrew DeYoung (whose comedy credentials include episodes of Our Flag Means Death and PEN15) judiciously crafts the conditions for Robinson to hysterically oscillate between his patented childlike vulnerability and uproariously pathetic rage.
“Hard Truths”
In his 23rd film, British director Mike Leigh reunites with Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies) to create a challenging but ultimately compassionate look at modern family life.
Reuniting with Oscar-nominated Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste and returning to contemporary London for a story inverse to his 2008 Festival favourite Happy-Go-Lucky, the latest from seven-time Oscar-nominated auteur Mike Leigh is bracingly tough, darkly funny, and pierced with insight. Shifting between various members of an extended Black family in London, Hard Truths is a psychologically rich ensemble film as only Leigh can cultivate.
Hypersensitive to the slightest possible offence and ever ready to fly off the handle, Pansy (Jean-Baptiste) does not ingratiate. She criticizes her husband Curtley (David Webber) and their adult son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) so relentlessly that neither bother to argue with her. She picks fights with strangers and sales clerks and enumerates the world’s countless flaws to anyone who will listen, most especially her cheerful sister Chantal (Michele Austin), who might be the only person still capable of sympathizing with her. As the film peels back Pansy’s pain and the daily fallout left in its wake, we wonder if a breaking point will come for the family.
“Heretic”
Starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East, this fiendishly irreverent chamber horror from writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (the celebrated scenarists behind A Quiet Place) considers how an innocent chat about theology can go terribly awry.
Deliciously dark and frequently hilarious, this chamber horror from writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (the celebrated scenarists behind A Quiet Place) considers how an innocent chat about theology can go terribly awry. Starring Hugh Grant in a brilliantly against-type performance, Heretic is a fiendishly irreverent tale of battling convictions.
Sister Paxton (Chloe East, TIFF ’22’s The Fabelmans) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher (Prospect) are cheerfully going about their mission to spread good news about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Working down a list of doors to knock on, they arrive at the quiet suburban house of Mr. Reed (Grant), who seems not only polite and hospitable but also genuinely fascinated by the history and teachings of Mormonism.
In fact, Mr. Reed is quite knowledgeable about all the world’s major religions and is eager to discuss them with the women. Perhaps too eager. With the rain coming down outside and Mr. Reed’s wife making pie in the next room, the setting is utterly cozy. The only thing that could spoil it would be if Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes wanted to leave.
“Ick”
In Joseph Kahn’s breakneck sci-fi/horror satire, a high school science teacher (Brandon Routh) does battle with a parasitic alien entity, as well as the apathy of the small town it has been gradually absorbing.
Joseph Kahn (Bodied, TIFF ’17) returns to Midnight Madness with a berserkly sardonic creature feature that riffs on classic science-fiction horror films from The Blob to The Faculty, but with a crucial subversion: what if an invading alien entity was met not with panic and fear, but cavalier indifference?
In the small American town of Eastbrook, nearly two decades after a viscous vine-like growth — colloquially referred to as “the Ick” — began encroaching on every nook and cranny, a nonplussed populus have found their lives seemingly unaffected by the creeping anomaly. The exceptions to this oblivious conformity are Hank Wallace (Brandon Routh), a former high-school football prospect turned hapless science teacher, and his perceptive student Grace (Malina Weissman), who both regard the Ick with a suspicious scrutiny that is soon violently validated. Bursts of bloody bedlam and blasé attitudes ensue, cannily satirizing how a society can grow accustomed to living in a perpetual state of emergency.
“K-Pops”
A father hopes to ride the coattails of his long-lost son’s rocketing stardom in this feature debut from eight-time Grammy winner Anderson .Paak.
Anderson .Paak is best known for his brilliant music career, but this first feature film opens up a vibrant new avenue for him as an artist. In K-Pops, .Paak directs and acts opposite his real-life son Soul Rasheed for a family project inspired by his own personal history and parental connection to Korea.
BJ (.Paak) is a washed-up drummer with a love for music that’s both naive and obsessive. When his friend pushes him to travel to South Korea and work on a pop idol show, he meets Tae Young (Rasheed), a young performer in competition to be the nation’s next music star. Soon, BJ is introduced to Tae Young’s mother, Yeji (Jee Young Han), a woman he had a brief relationship with more than a decade ago. Tae Young is the son he never knew existed.
BJ makes up for lost time, showing a sincere interest in getting to know Tae Young while helping his troupe bring something special to their music and choreography. But in the background, BJ’s desire for stardom persists, tempting him to choose between fame or family once again.
“The Last Showgirl”
A seasoned performer must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. Starring Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dave Bautista.
Most films set in Las Vegas centre on the high-wattage neon glow of The Strip. But the latest from Gia Coppola (Palo Alto, TIFF ’13) turns that tradition around, showing us a story from behind the lights, with a captivating and affecting lead performance by Pamela Anderson.
Shelley (Anderson) has been a Las Vegas showgirl for over 30 years, the feather and crystal–adorned centrepiece of Sin City’s last remaining traditional floor show. The stage and the women she shares it with are her loving, bickering, sequin-clad family. When the stage manager Eddie (Dave Bautista, an island of masculinity in a sea of women) announces the show will close permanently in two weeks, Shelley and her co-workers must make decisions for their future. But the future looks different when you are 50 rather than 20, and your sole job skill is dancing.
Emotionally floundering, Shelley tries to reconnect with a daughter she hardly knows, which proves just as difficult as losing the only job she has ever had. Bolstered by her best friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), a brash cocktail waitress who laughs a little too loud and too often, Shelley must find her place in a world that she shut the (stage) door on years before.
“The Life of Chuck”
Mike Flanagan takes a detour from the macabre with this adaptation of a uniquely structured Stephen King novella that unravels a seemingly ordinary accountant’s world.
With The Life of Chuck, Mike Flanagan takes a detour from the macabre to explore one of Stephen King’s alternate sensibilities in an adaptation that carries the spirit of his most optimistic work. The world feels like it’s ending and everybody’s saying goodbye to Chuck. Wherever Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) goes, he can’t get away from Charles Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). His face is showing up on billboards, window signs — even TV commercials. What’s so special about this seemingly ordinary accountant and why does he warrant such a sendoff?
Their connection includes Marty’s ex-wife (Karen Gillan), her co-worker, his neighbour, and just about everyone else they know. Chuck’s life story soon begins to unravel in front of us, going back to a childhood with grandfather Albie (Mark Hamill), who teaches him about accounting and passes on a love for dancing, all the while keeping him from a prophetic secret in the attic.
“The Luckiest Man in America”
Featuring Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell), Walton Goggins, and David Strathairn, this stranger-than-fiction drama resurrects a hugely popular 1980s game show and the “luckiest man in America” who broke it.
This stranger-than-fiction drama resurrects a hugely popular 1980s game show and the “luckiest man in America” who broke it. Directed by Samir Oliveros (Bad Lucky Goat) and featuring performances from Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell), Walton Goggins, and David Strathairn, The Luckiest Man in America illuminates a forgotten turning point in television history, when a network executive took a gamble and inadvertently made an obsessive eccentric into a folk hero.
Michael Larson (Hauser) shouldn’t even be there. An unemployed ice cream truck driver from Lebanon, Ohio, Michael only made it into auditions for Press Your Luck because he stole someone else’s appointment. The show’s casting director (an excellent Shamier Anderson) thinks Michael is a creep, but co-creator Bill Carruthers (Strathairn) likes Michael’s chutzpah and sees him as a Middle-American everyman the audience can cheer for — the dark horse is in.
Michael fumbles through the first several minutes of play, but once host Peter Tomarken (Goggins) moves onto the second “spin” section of Press Your Luck, where contestants try to get a randomly lit electronic game board to stop on a winning tile, Michael suddenly can’t lose. In fact, he quickly breaks the show’s record — before breaking its savings account. Is Michael cheating? Or does he understand something about Press Your Luck that no one has seen before?
“Nightbitch”
An overworked stay-at-home mom (Amy Adams) tries to catch a break, any break, while caring for her rambunctious toddler. Also, she might be turning into a dog.
Based on the bestselling 2021 novel of the same name, director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me, TIFF ’21) has created a profoundly original exploration of motherhood and identity, destined to be one of the most talked-about films of the year.
Amy Adams plays Mother, a former city-dwelling artist and curator who chooses to stay home (now a suburban home) with her toddler son as her husband travels frequently for business. She loves her son deeply, but that does not prevent her from feeling isolated and exhausted. How did her life become a numbing grind of diaper changes and cutting bananas into little pieces?
Still unstrung from an extremely unsuccessful attempt to connect with other mothers at the library’s Baby Book Time, and unable to keep her emotions bottled up inside any longer, Mother begins to see and hear things in the night that beckon to her. Soon, something primal and feral rises up within her, allowing her to unleash — and return to — her inner power and identity.
“Nutcrackers”
Ben Stiller stars as a city slicker forced to look after a quartet of mischievous rural orphans in this fish-out-of-water comedy that speaks to the hidden talents in each of us just waiting for a chance to shine.
Over a singular, decades-long career, Ben Stiller has shown himself comfortable in everything from farcical comedies like Zoolander to brainy Wes Anderson classics. His Nutcrackers director David Gordon Green has displayed similar range, from his acclaimed indie debut George Washington to stoner comedy Pineapple Express to the Halloween horror reboot. What both have in common is a taste for genuine dramatic emotion. In Nutcrackers, they let it all out.
Hotshot Chicago real estate developer Michael (Stiller) never had time for family. His sister once said he was incapable of love. But when Michael’s sister and her husband have a terrible accident, their house, farm, and four boys become Michael’s responsibility. He drives out to his sister’s small Ohio town thinking all he needs to do is sign some papers and get back to the city, but it’s not nearly that simple.
With the parents gone, the boys are practically feral. Until the family services worker (Linda Cardellini) can find them a home, their only guardian is Uncle Mike. Before he knows it, Michael is chasing chickens and providing improvised “health” classes. Desperate to free himself from inherited fatherhood, he’s both surprised and thrilled to learn his sister trained her boys in ballet. Can that make them cute enough to foster?
“Relay”
Lily James and Oscar winner Riz Ahmed star in this dazzlingly clever high-concept thriller directed by David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water) about a reclusive middleman for would-be whistleblowers seeking to settle with corporate malefactors.
This clever, high-concept thriller stars Oscar winner Riz Ahmed as a rigorously reclusive middleman for would-be whistleblowers seeking to settle with corporate malefactors. Deftly helmed by David Mackenzie (Outlaw King, TIFF ’18), Relay is a cat-and-mouse game for an age of hyper-surveillance when it’s never been harder to leave no trace.
Ash (Ahmed) brokers deals between parties who never learn what he looks like, sounds like, or where he’s located. A brilliant manipulator of technologies old and new, Ash’s primary method of communication is a telephone relay service where operators are legally bound to withhold the identities of their users. Ash’s latest client is Sarah Grant (Lily James, TIFF ’17’s Darkest Hour), a former bio-tech company staffer who’s been on the run since stealing documents that, if made public, would be scandalous for her employer. Sarah now wants to return the documents in exchange for whatever remuneration she can get.
The case should be business as usual for Ash, but the henchmen hired to follow Sarah are ruthless and dogged. What’s more, Ash begins to connect with Sarah on a personal level, potentially compromising the private existence he’s worked so arduously to construct.
“The Return”
Odysseus washes up on the shores of his kingdom to find it much changed since he left to fight in the Trojan War, in this classical drama starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.
Director Uberto Pasolini’s slow-burning adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey reunites The English Patient stars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche for a film grounded in a classical style that captures the steeliness of the Greek epic, where gazes are locked tight and every breath and word is measured.
The Return picks up as Odysseus (Fiennes, also at the Festival in Conclave) washes onto the shores of Ithaca. It has been more than 20 years since he left his kingdom to fight in the Trojan War and, in all that time, his wife and queen Penelope (Binoche) has waited. Their son, Telemachus (Charlie Plummer), has lost faith that his father will return and worries for his mother’s safety as a group of increasingly unruly suitors pressure her to take one of them as the new king.
Barely recognizable to himself or to the people who once revered him as a mighty warrior, Odysseus slowly makes his way toward the castle, seeing what has become a desolate island in his absence. With tension growing, Penelope works on weaving a red quilt, promising that she’ll choose a suitor once it’s finished. It becomes a symbol of all the little ways she keeps holding on. When Odysseus finally enters the fray, Penelope puts forth an iconic and instantly recognizable test for her weakened king to prove himself true among a viper’s nest of men lusting for power.
“Unstoppable”
Moonlight’s Jharrel Jerome gives another outstanding performance amid a star-studded cast (including Don Cheadle and Jennifer Lopez) in this heartfelt sports drama about a college wrestler who dreams of going pro.
Stories like Anthony Robles’ are the stuff of inspirational fiction, except this one actually happened. Though born without a right leg and growing up in a volatile household, Robles never let go of his dream. He set out to develop the strength and skills that college wrestling demands. He aimed to earn a place on a US Division 1 team despite being its only disabled athlete. And he competed to win.
Starring Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight, TIFF ’16; When They See Us) as Robles in another outstanding performance, Unstoppable is both an irresistible sports drama and a family story full of heart. In the wrestling circle and the locker room, he has to convince two tough coaches (Michael Peña and Don Cheadle) that his grit and potential are real. At home, he contends with a mother going through some growing up of her own. Jennifer Lopez, too often underrated, is terrific here.
Unstoppable marks the follow-up to the sports drama Air, from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity company. Director William Goldenberg, a veteran editor who also cut Air, brings a similar optimism and authenticity to this film. Weaving Jerome’s competition performance together with visual effects and Robles himself doubling in some shots, the wrestling scenes carry the on-the-mat urgency of genuine footage.
“We Live in Time”
Featuring gorgeously detailed performances from Oscar nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, this inventively structured romance explores the question of how to make the most of our time in this world.
Featuring gorgeously detailed performances from Oscar nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, this inventively structured romance from director John Crowley (TIFF ’19’s The Goldfinch, TIFF ’15’s Brooklyn) and screenwriter Nick Payne explores the question of how to make the most of our time in this world.
Since their first encounter, Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield) have rarely had a dull moment. A meet-cute car accident, giving birth in the unlikeliest of locations, a world-class gastronomical competition… their time together seems fated to brim with striking events.
We Live in Time alternates between three distinct chronologies, allowing us to experience this couple’s story in a way that heightens our understanding of how memory collides with present experience and how meaning is made through accumulation.
As the film begins, Almut is given a sobering medical diagnosis and options for treatment that may or may not prove effective. What if the time spent in treatment wastes time that could be spent living life to the fullest?
“Went Up the Hill”
Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) and Vicky Krieps (The Dead Don’t Hurt) deliver haunting performances in Samuel Van Grinsven’s atmospheric ghost story that explores the legacy of loss and dark family secrets.
Jack (Dacre Montgomery, Stranger Things) travels to a remote region of New Zealand to attend the wake of his estranged mother Elizabeth, a troubled architect who abandoned him as a child. Jack claims he was invited to the funeral by his mother’s widow, Jill (Vicky Krieps, TIFF 2023’s The Dead Don’t Hurt), who has no recollection of contacting him.
Out of a sense of obligation to her late wife, Jill invites Jack to stay at their house until the funeral, intrigued, as he is, for them to learn more about each other. As Jack grapples with his complex emotions about his mother and the boyfriend he has left behind, his encounters with Jill begin as terse and sometimes tense affairs. Their lives are soon upended further when Elizabeth’s spectral presence makes itself known, inhabiting each of their bodies in turn but leaving no memories of what was said — or done — during the possessions.
“The Wild Robot”
Featuring the voices of Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Lupita Nyong’o, Stephanie Hsu, and Bill Nighy, this DreamWorks Animation sci-fi adventure follows a robot designed to assist humans who finds herself stranded on an island populated exclusively by beasts.
Based on Peter Brown’s bestselling children’s books, this adventure from Oscar-nominated director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) and DreamWorks Animation follows a robot (voiced by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o), designed to assist humans who finds herself stranded on an island populated exclusively by beasts. Also featuring the voices of Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, and Oscar nominees Stephanie Hsu and Bill Nighy, The Wild Robot is an epic tale of survival, in which animals and machines must question their programming and embrace their hidden strengths.
Rozim 7134 (Nyong’o) exists to receive orders. But on the rugged isle where Roz first boots up, no orders are forthcoming. There’s no owner is to be found and none of the island’s motley menagerie of animals have any use for her skills. Until, that is, she meets Brightbill (Kit Connor), an orphaned gosling who attaches to Roz the moment he’s born. Taking advice from a fox called Fink (Pascal), Roz compiles a set of directives to help Brightbill through his infancy. But in this place where every creature is either predator or prey, learning to eat, swim, and fly isn’t enough. Brightbill needs to negotiate sticky social situations and find entry into a flock before migration season comes. In short, he needs qualities like tenderness and nurturing — things Roz will need to look deep inside her robot soul to find.
“Without Blood”
This parable-like tale of family, war, and revenge is directed by Angelina Jolie and was filmed at Rome’s famed Cinecittà Studios.
As a director, Angelina Jolie has made a decisive turn from her glamorous on-screen image, crafting thoughtful dramas that illuminate the horrors war visits on individuals. In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) and First They Killed My Father (TIFF ’17) sharpen that focus further to war’s impact on women and girls in Bosnia and Cambodia, respectively. Without Blood sees Jolie returning to that neglected theme in the cinema of war. This time she directs another global screen icon, Salma Hayek Pinault.
In a frontier landscape at the beginning of the 20th century, gunmen descend on a remote farmhouse, determined to exact revenge. Their target, a doctor — alone with his son and daughter — tries desperately to protect his children. Inevitably, bullets fly.
Years later, Nina (Hayek Pinault) engages Tito (Demián Bichir), a lottery seller, in what seems like casual conversation at his kiosk. But the encounter is anything but chance. It soon dawns on him. “I know who you are,” Tito says, “and I know why you’ve come.“ As their conversation continues, it becomes clear that revenge casts a long shadow, and takes many forms.