As September approaches, the city and global film buffs turn their gaze toward King Street for the 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, taking place from September 10-20. Long revered as the unofficial launchpad for awards season and global cinema, TIFF remains a meeting place for cinematic vision and audience frenzy.
This year’s slate brings serious star power and marquee auteurs to town. Heavyweights like Danny Boyle, Lee Chang-dong and Cannes Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu return with anticipated works, while visionary creators like Jesse Eisenberg, Chris Rock, and Bassam Tariq debut sharp new projects.
On the red carpets, expect massive star wattage with turns from Channing Tatum, Tom Hiddleston, Hudson Williams, Jesse Eisenberg, Paul Giamatti, Mahershala Ali, Sebastian Stan, Seth Rogen, Adam Driver, and Daniel Kaluuya.
We’ve rounded up the 12 most anticipated, must-see titles poised to define TIFF 2026.
Ink (Dir. Danny Boyle)
Cast: Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy
Danny Boyle is trading the digital pulse of modern sci-fi for the cutthroat newsrooms of 1960s Fleet Street. Adapting James Graham’s West End play, the film chronicles Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce) who acquires the struggling British daily The Sun and enlists rogue editor Larry Lamb (Jack O’Connell) to resurrect the paper using extreme sensationalism and titillating headlines. While the provocative strategy triggers a meteoric spike in readership and opens a rare door for a female writer (Claire Foy) to pitch stories through a modern lens, her fresh perspective soon collides with Fleet Street’s rigid boys’ club culture; mounting industry backlash threatens their runaway success. Expect Boyle’s electric pacing and a nailbiting look at the media landscape and how facets of splashy journalism still operate today.
The Debut (Dir. Jesse Eisenberg)
Cast: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey
Hot off the critical triumph of A Real Pain, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, writer-director Jesse Eisenberg turns his lens to the delightfully unhinged world of community theatre. When bored suburban housewife Mona (Julianne Moore) lands a small part, she morphs into an obsessive method actor and locks horns with the local troupe’s hard-headed director (Paul Giamatti). In The Debut, Eisenberg mines sharp, dark comedy from the inflated self-seriousness of amateur dramatics. Watching Moore and Giamatti engage in a war of petty artistic egos promises to be one of the sharpest laugh-out-loud comedy highlights of the festival.
Josephine (Dir. Beth de Araújo)
Cast: Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Mason Reeves
Following her gripping, single-take thriller Soft & Quiet, Beth de Araújo returns with an emotionally devastating, formally rigorous portrait of childhood trauma. Eight-year-old Josephine (Mason Reeves) witnesses a brutal park assault alongside her father Damien (Channing Tatum), who manages to stop the attack. With Josephine traumatized by the incident, her parents step in to help: Damien enrols his daughter in martial arts, hoping to give her a sense of power back, while her mother (Gemma Chan) advocates for therapy. The film is a psychological entry that strives to deliver a raw, unforgettable punch.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (Dir. Bassam Tariq)
Cast: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Tramell Tillman
Two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali takes centre stage in what is another highly anticipated film. Director Bassam Tariq crafts a soulful Texas thriller following a devout contract killer under a strict moral code – eschewing firearms entirely and only eliminating targets he believes society is genuinely better off without. Following the tragic death of his wife, Latif vows to leave the underworld behind to raise his three children. However, Latif’s longtime handler Mike (Laith Nakli) refuses to let him go so easily; Mike drags Latif into a vicious turf war while hunting for infant formula. Given Ali’s magnetic mix of pathos and charisma, this is a title many are looking forward to. Tariq is also being honoured at TIFF with the Rising Star Award.
The Stunt Driver (Dir. Michael Dowse)
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Ed Helms, Ben Foster
The winning team behind the cult classic Goon, director Michael Dowse and star Jay Baruchel reunite for the wildly entertaining true story of Ken Carter, Canada’s self-proclaimed “Mad Canadian.” Carter repeatedly risked his life for a series of car stunts that soon led to his mid-’70s quest to launch a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental a mile across the St. Lawrence River. This underdog entry of a Canadian stuntman is loaded with daredevil lunacy and a surprisingly heartfelt look at the steps and missteps that followed his quest.
Fjord (Dir. Cristian Mungiu)
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve
Arriving at TIFF with the prestigious Palme d’Or in hand, Romanian New Wave titan Cristian Mungiu delivers an edge-of-your-seat courtroom drama. The film pairs an electrifying Sebastian Stan with The Worst Person in the World star Renate Reinsve as a conservative Christian couple who move from Romania to an isolated Norwegian town with their five children. They soon find themselves battling a nightmarish bureaucratic machine after child services intervenes. Fjord is a high-stakes, prestige European drama that is already getting awards season buzz.
Club Kid (Dir. Jordan Firstman)
Cast: Jordan Firstman, Reggie Absolom, Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva
Internet savant and sharp-witted comedy voice Jordan Firstman makes his directorial feature debut with a crowd-pleaser that balances downtown hedonism with emotional heart. Produced by the powerhouse team behind Anora, the film follows a reckless queer NYC nightlife promoter thrust into sudden fatherhood when he inherits his 10-year-old son. This one is already poised to be one of the festival’s runaway indie darlings.
Tenzing (Dir. Jennifer Peedom)
Cast: Genden Phuntsok, Tom Hiddleston, Willem Dafoe
Renowned documentary director Jennifer Peedom brings this high-altitude entry that centres on the 1953 Everest ascent by Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay who, alongside Sir Edmund Hillary, became first to top Mount Everest. Backed by Oscar-nominated Luke Davies’ script and stunning mountain cinematography, newcomer Genden Phuntsok stars opposite Tom Hiddleston as they reclaim a legendary achievement through an overdue, heroic lens.
Misty Green (Dir. Chris Rock)
Cast: Rosalind Eleazar, Chris Rock, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick
Chris Rock steps behind the camera for his first feature in over a decade to deliver a biting, no-holds-barred Hollywood satire in the spirit of Top Five and Bamboozled. Rosalind Eleazar leads as Misty, an Emmy-winning actress who is fighting family drama and industry gatekeepers for one last career comeback offered by a director. According to the TIFF site, the film is a “searing portrait of Tinseltown that exposes just how deeply racism, classism, and misogyny contaminate the motion picture ecosystem.” Eleazar is also being recognized with the TIFF Tribute Performer award for her work in this film.
Possible Love (Dir. Lee Chang-dong)
Cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Cho Yeo-jeong, Zo In-sung
Any new work from Korean cinema luminary Lee Chang-dong (Burning, Poetry) is an international cinema event. Returning after an eight-year hiatus, Lee brings together an ensemble for an emotionally devastating study of class divides and buried desire between two very different couples. From intricate storytelling to layered social commentary and powerhouse performances from Korean cinema icons Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu, this film is one to watch at the fest. Lee Chang-dong is being honored with the TIFF Ebert Award at the fest.
YAGA (Creator: Kat Sandler)
Cast: Hudson Williams, Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid, Clark Backo
Landing in TIFF’s coveted Primetime lineup, Toronto playwright and filmmaker Kat Sandler adapts her acclaimed dark comedy stage hit into a noir series. When a wealthy heir goes missing in a sleepy coastal town, the investigation spirals into folklore and small-town secrets. The series is stacked with Canadians Hudson Williams, Noah Reid, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Bunker (Dir. Florian Zeller)
Cast: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Paul Dano, Stephen Graham, Patrick Schwarzenegger
Oscar winner Florian Zeller tackles extreme wealth and paranoia in this high-stakes psychological thriller. The film reunites off-screen couple Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz as a high-society architect and his literary agent wife; drama ignites when a mysterious billionaire (Paul Dano) commissions a luxury doomsday bunker, cracking open moral conversations between the married couple. Expect intense domestic claustrophobia paired with timely class commentary.
FEATURE PHOTO BY NICK WONS, COURTESY OF TIFF.
