The Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, wraps up its section-specific announcements with another electric and eldritch edition of its Midnight Madness program. Spanning the full spectrum of midnight movie modes, from classic horror and wicked action to absurdist alt-comedy and the return of gonzo documentaries to the section courtesy of Canada’s Matthew Rankin (“The Twentieth Century,” TIFF ’19; “Universal Language,” TIFF ’24), the 2026 Midnight Madness lineup includes six World Premieres across 10 countries of production. Further assembled within the slate are an awesome array of masked killers, medieval ghosts, drug-addled mobsters, denim-desiring yakuza, amnesiac detectives, martial artist vampires, interstellar infantrymen, competing Canadian politicians, Faustian bargains, existential ennui, and even an infamous talking pineapple.
An audience favorite with an “obsessed” following, Midnight Madness delivers 10 late-night screenings at the (allegedly) haunted Royal Alexandra Theatre, each starting at 11:59 pm. Hosted by section curator Peter Kuplowsky, Midnight Madness invites the Festival’s most devoted and raucous audience to close out each night by diving into the best of the bizarre in contemporary genre and underground cinema, from emerging and established provocateurs.
And the Midnight Madness mayhem expands this year, with a special screening of Na Hong-jin’s sci-fi action thriller “Hope” starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Hoyeon on Wednesday, September 9th, the eve before the Festival; and a “return to where it all started” screening of Focus Features and writer-director Curry Barker’s breakout success “Obsession” on Friday, September 11th. As previously announced, TIFF: The Market will host an onstage moderated Dialogues conversation with director Barker and star Inde Navarrette as part of the seven-day Summit at the John Bassett Theatre; accessible by pass holders and public ticket holders.
2026 Midnight Madness program (in alphabetical order):
Anchors Aweigh | Matt Barats | USA
International Premiere
Arrested Memory | SABU | Taiwan, Japan
North American Premiere
HALF | Samjad | India
World Premiere
Kick On | Nick Kozakis | Australia
World Premiere
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney | Matthew Rankin | Canada
World Premiere
River | Joshua Giuliano | USA
World Premiere
Midnight Madness Opening Night Film
Rogue Trooper | Duncan Jones | United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Midnight Madness Closing Night Film
The Face of Horror | Anna Biller | United Kingdom
World Premiere
The Spiral | Paolo Strippoli | Italy, France, Belgium
International Premiere
Vintage Violence | Eugene Kotlyarenko | USA, Japan
World Premiere
The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 10th–20th, 2026. Today concludes this week’s programming announcements, and the full schedule will be live on tiff.net on Tuesday, August 11th.
Previously announced:
Galas And Special Presentations Lineup
Platform Programming & Jury
Discovery
Tributes
Centerpiece
Docs
Short Cuts
Upcoming announcements:
TIFF Schedule Announcement – August 11th
Dan Bayer, Nadia Dalimonte, Giovanni Lago, Sara Clements, and I will be attending this year’s TIFF from Next Best Picture in person.
Are you excited for these announcements? What other films do you think will be announced for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.
