11 Highly Anticipated Films to Watch at TIFF 2025
The Toronto International Film Festival is celebrating its 50th edition with an explosive and diverse lineup. From chilling mysteries to powerful biographical dramas, the festival promises a cinematic experience for every taste with over 300 films being showcased.
Rian Johnson’s detective Benoit Blanc returns in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, a new gothic whodunnit, while visionary director Park Chan-wook delivers the satirical thriller No Other Choice, about a laid-off man who takes extreme measures to secure a job. For something more action-packed, watch for the star-studded satirical thriller Sacrifice, which skewers phony celebrity activism at a chaotic environmental conference.
TIFF also features several highly-anticipated films based on real-life stories. The festival’s opening night gala, John Candy: I Like Me, is a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Canadian comedian. Dwayne Johnson takes on a dramatic role in The Smashing Machine, a raw portrayal of MMA fighter Mark Kerr’s struggles with addiction. Meanwhile, Roofman brings a bizarre true-crime story to the screen, following a thief who lived inside a Toys “R” Us.
For something truly epic, Guillermo del Toro’s passion project Frankenstein promises a visually stunning and emotional reimagining of the classic tale. And on the lighter side, the festival will feature the high-concept comedy Good Fortune, starring Aziz Ansari and Keanu Reeves alongside SHARP cover alum Seth Rogen. Plus, there’s the hilarious Canadian cult classic continuation, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, about two friends who travel back in time. Finally, the dramatic films Hamnet and Ballad of a Small Player explore the profound impact of loss and addiction, respectively, with the former at the grief that inspired Shakespeare and the latter following a corrupt lawyer who gambles away his life in Macau.
Check out the full list below.
Frankenstein
One of the highly anticipated films this year is Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming film, Frankenstein, a grand cinematic retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel. The story centres on Victor Frankenstein, an arrogant but brilliant scientist played by Oscar Isaac, who becomes consumed by a monumental experiment: to create life. He succeeds in his attempt, but is instantly horrified by his creation (played by Jacob Elordi). Frankenstein abandons the creature, setting in motion a tragic and emotional saga. The film, which will have its North American premiere at TIFF, explores the relationship between creator and creation, a father and his son.
John Candy: I Like Me
TIFF’s opening night gala is the John Candy documentary, titled John Candy: I Like Me, a highly anticipated title directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds. The Prime Video documentary is a heartfelt tribute to the late, beloved Canadian comedian and uses a combination of unseen home videos, intimate access to his family and candid interviews with his closest friends and collaborators to paint a picture of the man behind the iconic roles. It will also feature heartfelt testimonies from his co-stars and friends, including Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, and Eugene Levy.
The Smashing Machine
Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is an upcoming biographical sports drama directed by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson as the legendary MMA and UFC artist Mark Kerr. The film is a raw and emotional portrait of Kerr, a dominant figure in the early days of the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships, who earned his nickname “The Smashing Machine” for his fighting style. The exploration goes beyond the ring to explore the personal demons and struggles he faced outside of it, including his battle with painkillers. The film looks like a departure from Johnson’s typical larger-than-life roles, showcasing a more vulnerable and gritty performance.
Roofman
Directed by Derek Cianfrance, Roofman stars Channing Tatum in the titular role. The film is based on the true story of Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by making holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving under the radar while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom, his double life begins to unravel. Tatum is also being recognized with the TIFF Tribute Performer Award for his work in this.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Rian Johnson is bringing his third film in the acclaimed whodunnit franchise to TIFF, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery with Daniel Craig reprising his role as detective Benoit Blanc. This time Johnson is adding elements of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The film is set in a small town and focusing on its local church, starring Josh Brolin as a priest, Josh O’Connor as a younger cleric, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny and Jeremy Renner. Mila Kunis plays a local cop trying to solve this complex murder case. It’s a highly anticipated return for Benoit Blanc, who will be tackling what is described as his “most dangerous case yet.” Since the first two Knives Out films earned Oscar nominations, the award season buzz for this is also sure to follow.
Good Fortune
Another film getting a lot of buzz is Good Fortune, a new comedy film written and directed by Aziz Ansari, who also stars in the movie. The story centres on a down-on-his-luck gig worker named Arj (played by Ansari) who has a chance encounter with a guardian angel named Gabriel (Keanu Reeves). Bored with his celestial duties, Gabriel decides to meddle in Arj’s life to teach him a lesson: that money won’t solve all his problems. To make his point, Gabriel swaps Arj’s life with that of a wealthy venture capitalist named Jeff (Seth Rogen). However, the plan goes hilariously wrong when Arj loves his new life and refuses to switch back. As a result, Gabriel loses his angelic powers and is sent down to Earth, forcing him to room with a now-displaced Jeff. The trio have to then navigate their new circumstances and the comedic chaos that ensues.
Ballad of a Small Player
Oscar-winning director Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player is psychological drama film based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne. The plot centers on a corrupt English lawyer, known as “Lord Doyle” (Colin Farrell), who has fled to Macau to escape prosecution for embezzling money from his clients. He tries to lay low by spending his days and nights at the baccarat tables of the city’s glittering casinos. While a mysterious woman Dao-Ming (Fala Chen) offers him a way out, a private investigator, Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton), is hot on his trail and closing in on him. Critics are keeping an eye out for this one as Berger’s previous film, All Quiet on the Western Front, was a hit, making its way to the Oscars.
No Other Choice
Park Chan-wook, who brought his award-winning film Decision To Leave to TIFF in 2022, returns with No Other Choice, a Gala Presentation at TIFF. It is an adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax and is co-written by Canadian writer Don McKellar. Lee Byung Hun stars as a middle-aged man who, after 25 years of devoted work, is suddenly and laid off from his job at a paper company, and falls back on his mortgage payments. Desperate to provide for his wife and children and save their home, he finds himself in a cutthroat job market with no prospects. He hatches a diabolical plan: to invent a fake job and, one by one, lure his rivals for a potential position to meetings and “dispatch” them, ensuring that he is the last and only qualified candidate left.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
After the success of Blackberry, Matt Johnson is back with the SXSW audience hit, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. He also stars in the Canadian comedy alongside his longtime collaborator, Jay McCarrol. Adapting from the original web series, the film follows two friends, Matt and Jay, as they attempt to book a gig for their non-existent band, “Nirvanna the Band,” at the iconic Toronto music venue, The Rivoli. After a failed stunt to promote their band, and in a desperate, last-ditch effort, Matt accidentally builds a time machine, which sends the duo back in time to the year 2008.
Hamnet
Oscar winner Chole Zhao’s Hamnet is a historical drama film based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel of the same name. The film is a fictionalized account of the life of Agnes Hathaway (Jessie Buckley), the wife of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), after the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. The loss served as an emotional backdrop to the creation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous and celebrated plays, Hamlet.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is a satirical thriller directed by Romain Gavras (Athena). The film takes place at an A-list environmental conference in Greece, a star-studded event where celebrities and billionaires gather to discuss climate change. Among them are a washed-up action movie star (Chris Evans) trying to reinvent his brand and a morally dubious billionaire (Book For Men cover star Vincent Cassel) promoting a questionable deep-sea mining project. The chaotic event is thrown into even greater turmoil with the arrival of Joan (Anya Taylor-Joy), the leader of a radical eco-cult. Convinced that the only way to prevent an imminent volcanic eruption and save humanity is through a ritualistic “sacrifice,” she and her followers abduct a trio of high-profile attendees. This darkly comic satire that takes aim at everything from phony celebrity activism to the hypocrisy of the super-rich, all while exploring the desperate lengths people will go to in the face of what they believe is an impending apocalypse.
Feature photo courtesy of TIFF.
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