The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) officially begins on September 5th and runs until September 15th. Several films are playing at the festival that had their world premieres at either Berlin, SXSW, Cannes, Telluride, or Venice. Still, we’re mostly looking forward to the TIFF-specific world premieres. Here is a list of 15 world premieres the Next Best Picture team is looking forward to watching at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (presented alphabetically).
40 ACRES
From David Fincher to Spike Jonze to Antoine Fuqua, quite a few big-name directors took their talents from music videos to film. Having worked with artists like Drake and Snoop Dogg, R.T. Thorne is the latest director to take that swing. While he has directed episodes of TV shows like “Degrassi” and “The Porter,” “40 Acres“ is his film debut. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the film follows a family (led by Danielle Deadwyler and Michael Greyeyes) who fight to defend their land from those who would kill for it. It will be interesting to see how a fresh voice like Thorne’s weaves this narrative with concurrent and historical metaphors while bringing his own touch to a malleable genre.
DANIELA FOREVER
Nacho Vigalondo is one of the most original voices working in cinema, but his last film was “Colossal,“ the Anne Hathaway kaiju film from 2016. It’s been even longer since his masterpiece “Timecrimes“ came out in 2007, but, like those films, his latest has a killer hook: Nick (Henry Golding), who has been moping in a daze since his lover Daniela died, is enrolled by a concerned friend in a clinical trial for a drug that allows users to have completely lucid dreams. Despite the possibility of having unlimited time with Daniela, Nick doesn’t adhere to the trial’s instructions. As his lucid dreaming continues, the dream world becomes more real, and the Daniela of his dreams begins to display disquieting signs of autonomy. This high-concept sci-fi is what Vigalondo does better than anyone, but this love story offers a potentially different tone than any of his previous films. Or is a dark surprise lying in wait?
EDEN
Ron Howard is bringing his newest film, “Eden,” to TIFF, and all eyes are on it to see if it will be a possible Oscar contender from Imagine Entertainment. Starring Academy Award nominees Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas, Sydney Sweeney, and Daniel Brühl, the survival thriller is based on real-life events with a screenplay from “Tetris” writerNoah Pink. The film is being given a good slot on the programming (Saturday night) to make quite an impression with audiences and critics, and with its stars and director, it might do just that. While no distributor for the US has been announced yet, some feel this film might crack the Best Picture conversation. After all, we often see filmmakers such as Howard bringing a title to the fall film festivals.
FRIENDSHIP
Who knows what to expect from “Friendship?” The fact that it’s one of the selections for Midnight Madness only piques our curiosity. Why Hollywood hasn’t paired Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd together yet isn’t beyond our comprehension, but it’s better late than never. Robinson, fresh off his hit comedy sketch series “I Think You Should Leave,“ is bringing his signature sense of exaggerated comedy to this tale of obsession and male isolation. Let’s face it: Rudd is always great no matter what he does, and seeing these two square off in a battle of cringe-inducing antics is all we need to stay laughing awake through the early morning with this romp.
HARBIN
Hearing that filmmaker Woo Min-ho not only has a film premiering at Tiff but that it’s an espionage thriller in the 1950s is all we need to know to put it on our most anticipated list. With “Harbin,“ the film follows a Korean resistance soldier (and survivor) leading a blood-soaked quest for retribution that takes them all the way to the doors of the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea. We’re all for a politically fueled action flick, and having the director of “Inside Men” only inspires confidence that this will deliver in all the right ways. Plus, who doesn’t love to see Hyun Bin dripped out in a cool jacket?
HARD TRUTHS
After a six-year hiatus, acclaimed director Mike Leigh is back with what sounds like another compassionate slice-of-life drama. “Hard Truths“ tells the contemporary story of Pansy (played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a working-class woman who lives with her family in London and may potentially be on the verge of a breaking point. Leigh’s track record alone is stellar — from 1993’s “Naked“ and 1996’s “Secrets & Lies“ to 2004’s “Vera Drake“ and 2008’s “Happy-Go-Lucky.“ But what I find most anticipatory about “Hard Truths“ is that the film reunites Leigh with Jean-Baptiste over 20 years after their previous collaboration, “Secrets & Lies,“ for which she received an incredibly deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Jean-Baptiste’s brilliant performance in this film is among the all-time greats, and in the many years since then, she has been delivering terrific work that flies too often under the radar. The opportunity to watch her headline a world premiere at the festival and play the lead in an improvisational-heavy production makes “Hard Truths“ a must-see.
HERETIC
Trusting a movie to have a conversation about religion that is both entertaining and incisive is perhaps asking for too much. Despite that, it’s hard not to be intrigued by the premise of “Heretic”: Two Mormon missionaries (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) find themselves at the home of one Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who actually seems eager to discuss the history and teachings of Mormonism with them. The only problem is that when the girls want to leave, they find themselves locked in, with the only way out being a test Mr. Reed has devised to see how much the girls really believe. The note-perfect trailer released earlier this summer leaves a lot to be discovered, but it leaves no doubt about the visual prowess Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (the writers of “A Quiet Place“) will be bringing to the table; that slow pull-out revealing one of the girls running through what looks like a labyrinth, like a rat in a maze, is a stunner. The official TIFF write-up also calls the film hilarious and “fiendishly irreverent,“ which makes it seem like an even more likely crowd-pleaser. What’s the secret sauce that puts this piece of chamber horror in the festival’s Special Presentations section instead of Midnight Madness? We have our suspicions but can’t wait to find out.
JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE
Jane Austen’s literary mind has seen ample screen and stage adaptations, but there is something to be said about why so many take a page out of her novels. Austen’s works are thematically timeless. They inspire various perspectives, from the textually faithful (1995’s “Sense & Sensibility”) to the more modern retellings (1995’s “Clueless”) to the blatant misreadings. After the misfortune of seeing 2022’s “Persuasion,“ I can’t say my enthusiasm for Austen adaptations is high, but “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life“ has me at its title. The feature debut of Laura Piani, a screenwriter and director based in Paris, follows an aspiring author who finds herself romantically entangled at a writing residency. The film stars Camille Rutherford, whose previous credits include 2023’s “Anatomy of a Fall,“ which had its Canadian premiere at last year’s festival. Rutherford plays Agathe, a clerk at the bookshop Shakespeare & Co (famously where Jesse and Celine reunite in 2004’s “Before Sunset”) who dreams of being a novelist. A Jane Austen-inspired rom-com with a love triangle sounds like a breezy time.
THE LAST SHOWGIRL
Following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Gia Coppola is the youngest of the famous film family to step into the director’s chair. While her first two films, “Palo Alto“ and “Mainstream,” weren’t met with the warmest reception, “The Last Showgirl“ can, hopefully, be a hit. Looking at the behind-the-scenes of working on The Strip, the film focuses on one performer’s life as her Vegas show suddenly closes after 30 years. It’s exciting to see how Coppola looks to the truth behind the glare of neon lights, but the film’s biggest draw is Pamela Anderson. While working as a comeback of sorts for the star, it will be interesting to see if “The Last Showgirl“ will also work as a metaphor for a career and life that has, unfortunately, often been the butt of jokes.
THE LIFE OF CHUCK
You have to take notice when Mike Flanagan’s name is attached to a film or TV series. With films like “Hush“ and “Gerald’s Game“ and the Netflix series that put him on the map, “The Haunting of Hill House,“ Flanagan has proven time and time again to be one of the best voices in horror today. His latest project, “The Life of Chuck,“ seems like a big detour for the filmmaker. While an adaptation of a Stephen King novella, a film about unraveling an accountant’s life doesn’t seem like the macabre, genre-fare that we’re used to from Flanagan. Following the titular Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) from childhood to his life’s end, one wonders how Flanagan will add a spine-chilling brushstroke over his latest canvas. Regardless of genre, his skills as a storyteller make this a must-see.
THE LUCKIEST MAN IN AMERICA
Paul Walter Hauser is perfectly cast as Michael Larson, the man who infamously broke the popular game show “Press Your Luck“ in the 1980s. An ice cream truck driver from Lebanon, Ohio, Larson crashed auditions for the show and somehow made it on despite getting found out, only to quickly break the show’s record for most money won and keep on winning. If you don’t know the story, don’t look it up because figuring out what Michael’s game is and how he’s doing it is half the fun. Director Samir Oliveros has rounded up quite the cast for his sophomore feature: Walton Goggins as host Peter Tomarken, David Strathairn as co-creator Bill Carruthers, Shamier Anderson as the show’s casting director, and Maisie Williams as an assistant in charge of the contestants. The most curious thing is that Oliveros shares co-writing credit with Maggie Briggs, the writer of the recent “Joyland,“ hinting at a deeper resonance to this story of a man who saw an opportunity, seized it, and refused to let go.
NIGHTBITCH
Writer-director Marielle Heller has, up until this moment, had a perfect track record, as far as I’m concerned. Her latest film features Academy Award-nominee Amy Adams in what might be her most challenging role to date and promises to throw in dark comedy and memorable moments that will surely have the audiences at TIFF howling. The trailer, which debuted online a few days ago, didn’t do much to make us more excited for “Nightbitch.” Perhaps interested is the word best used to describe our feelings toward this movie now that the trailer seemed to be leaning more into absurd comedy rather than psychological thriller/drama. Perhaps there are some tricks this dog hasn’t shown us yet?
ON SWIFT HORSES
On paper, “On Swift Horses“ is the Gen-X dream of a Tiff world premiere. Fresh off the mega-hit sequel “Twisters,” Daisy Edgar-Jones is heading back to her indie drama roots, which she typically excels in. A sprawling romance focusing on the desires and struggles of one family barely able to hold on. Not only is there solid material to adapt from the Shannon Pufahl novel of the same name, but you also have an ensemble with the likes of Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle. There’s no reason not to get excited about this steamy flick that sounds like it will rip our hearts into a million pieces.
SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON
One of the most fun-sounding films having its world premiere at the festival is Reema Kagti’s “Superboys of Malegaon.” The 1997-set story follows Nasir (Adarsh Gourav), a diehard movie lover who reimagines classic cinema from the perspective of his hometown in Malegaon, India. With borrowed equipment and a local community-sourced cast and crew, Nasir chases his vision of making Malegaon a place where cinematic dreams are born. Written by Varun Grover and inspired by Faiza Ahmad Khan’s documentary “Superboys of Malegaon,“ the premise promises an imaginative ode to movie making. Also, the protagonist’s no-budget movies are a winning reminder that big budgets are not prerequisites to making good cinema.
THE WILD ROBOT
Chris Sanders is one of the best storytellers working in animation today. Having helmed “How To Train Your Dragon,” “The Croods,” and “Lilo & Stitch,” the Academy Award-nominated director is bringing his latest animated feature, “The Wild Robot,” to Toronto. Universal is going all out for it, giving it the most screenings of any film at the festival (there is a higher chance it could win the People’s Choice Award that way), which suggests there is a degree of trust and enthusiasm in this project. The initial trailer was well-received by audiences and has everyone currently predicting it as a Best Animated Feature Oscar contender. Let’s see if it can deliver on these high expectations.
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival? Anything you’d specifically like to hear our take on when we attend? Please let us know in the comments section below or on our X account.
You can follow Matt, Dan, Sara, Nadia & Giovanni and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars & Film on Twitter at @NextBestPicture,@dancindanonfilm, @mildredsfierce, @nadreviews & @TheGiovanniLago
