This year, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is looking to be bigger and better than ever, making a full return after the recent pandemic and SAG strike last year. The slate is packed with highly anticipated titles — including world premieres. Here’s what to look out for.
The festival is usually a strong indicator of Oscar contenders and this year’s slate is just as promising: Francis Ford Coppola is returning with Megalopolis starring Adam Driver; Steven Soderbergh is bringing a chilling horror with Presence; John David Washington is starring in Malcom Washington’s directorial debut The Piano Lesson, based on a play by August Wilson; Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night details how the first episode of SNL came to be; Sean Baker is back at TIFF with his latest Anora and David Cronenberg is bringing his most personal film yet with The Shrouds.
Moonlight’s Jharrel Jerome is being recognized with the TIFF Tribute Performer Award for his work in Unstoppable, a heartfelt sports drama. Angelina Jolie’s Without Blood and the Selena Gomez-Zoe Saldana starrer Emilia Perez are also among the highly anticipated titles that fans and critics are looking forward to seeing at the fest.
The festival, which runs from Sept 5-15, will definitely showcase some potential award season frontrunners. We rounded out some of the top films on our radar during the fest.
Canadian director Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night is one of the buzziest titles at the festival — it already garnered Oscar season buzz for a Best Picture nod at Telluride, where it had its world premiere. The film follows the chaos that leads to the creation of the very first episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL), started by a bunch of young comedians who step into the spotlight and change history. Saturday Night stars Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Matt Wood as John Belushi, and Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase. The movie hits theatres on Oct. 11, which is the same date of the NBC show’s first broadcast in 1975. SNL celebrates its 50th anniversary on NBC in 2025.
Another highly anticipated title is The Piano Lesson, which makes its world premiere at TIFF. Malcolm Washington makes his feature directorial debut from the Pulitzer Prize-winning August Wilson 1987 play and adapted from a 2022 Broadway revival and carrying over many of the same cast members. Denzel Washington serves as producer. The film stars Danielle Deadwyler, John David Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson in a story about a family haunted by the legacy of an heirloom. In 1936, Boy Willie (Washington) wants to sell the piano to buy the land his ancestors were enslaved upon, but faces strong resistance from his sister Berniece (Deadwyler) who is fiercely protective of it, even though she never plays it. Their uncle Doaker (Jackson) tries to keep the peace.
Sean Baker’s Anora won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year and is already garnering award season buzz for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. The film follows a turbulent relationship between a New York-based exotic dancer Anora “Ani” (Mikey Madison) and the son of a Russian oligarch Vanya (Mark Eidelshtein). They begin a whirlwind romance that’s soon threatened by Vanya’s powerful family. Baker returns to the fest with another crowd-pleaser, following The Florida Project in 2017 and Red Rocket in 2021.
Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh shakes up the horror genre with a fresh take on a psychological horror drama. He tells the story of a family who moves into a haunted house, and it’s told from the point of view of a housebound spirit. The film, starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Julia Fox, will make its international premiere at TIFF. Soderbergh will attend and also host an ‘In Conversation’ event as part of the fest’s programming. The director previously brought his film, The Laundromat, to TIFF in 2019.
Oscar nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield star in this romance by John Crowley. The film, which will make its world premiere at the festival, chronicles their relationship from a meet-cute car accident to giving birth in the unlikeliest of locations to a world-class gastronomical competition, proving destiny strikes in various ways. Crowley and screenwriter Nick Payne explore the question of how to make the most of our time in this world. The film will make its world premiere at the festival. Crowley returns to TIFF after his 2019 film The Goldfinch and 2015’s stellar entry, Brooklyn.
David Cronenberg’s latest film is a personal one as he explores grief — the loss of the filmmaker’s wife Carolyn in 2017 is the driving force of the film. It follows a technological entrepreneur (Vincent Cassel) who is still grieving the death of his wife. He devises a technologically-augmented burial shroud that lets loved ones watch their lost family members decompose. The fact that Vincent Cassel is cast as his own doppelgänger makes the film all the more powerful.
Oscar-winning writer-director Francis Ford Coppola unites with Oscar nominee Adam Driver in this film that follows a visionary architect Cesar Catilina (Driver) as he builds an impenetrable building, Megalon, while demolishing parts of Rome. The film also boasts an incredible supporting cast including Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Schwartzman, and Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito, and Nathalie Emmanuel. It’s been a couple years since Coppola’s last directorial feature so there’s plenty of anticipation around his latest entry.
Jharrel Jerome stars in this sports drama about a college wrestler who dreams of going pro. He has to contend with his coaches (Michael Peña and Don Cheadle) to prove that his grit and potential is valid. He also has to contend with a mother (Jennifer Lopez) doing some growing up of her own. Unstoppable marks the follow-up to the sports drama Air, from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity company. Jerome will be recognized with the TIFF Tribute Performer Award for his work in the film.
Adapting Alessandro Baricco’s novel of the same name, Angelina Jolie co-wrote and directed this war and revenge drama starring Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir. Jolie is also set to receive the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media at the fest. Jolie’s previous directorial was the 2017 film, First They Killed My Father, which also played at the fest. Jolie returns to similar themes as her previous films, crafting a thoughtful drama that sheds light on the horrors of war as it visits on individuals.
French film director Jacques Audiard’s latest entry is already leading award season buzz — the ensemble of Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Karla Sofía Gascón won Best Actress at Cannes. The film follows a Mexico City defense attorney (Saldana) who is hired by a notorious kingpin Manitas Del Monte (Gascón) who is secretly transitioning. He makes plans for his wife (Gomez) and kids he leaves behind, while staging his murder and welcoming his new identity: Emilia Perez.
Hugh Grant stars in this horror from writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (the writers behind A Quiet Place). Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) arrive at the quiet suburban house of Mr. Reed (Grant) to spread good news about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While Mr. Reed is polite and hospitable, he shows genuine interest in the teachings of Mormonism, until it takes a sinister turn. The dark comedy promises to be a dark, thrilling ride with a new side to Grant’s talents.
Feature photo by Shiva Javdan, courtesy of TIFF.
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