As August comes to an end, it brings with it the seasonal equivalent of glancing at the clock late on a Sunday night. For most, the onset of dread kicks in as they close up their cottages, pack away their linen pants, and watch the sun set earlier each night. But for Torontonians (and cinephiles worldwide), August’s close signals a new season of excitement as the city transforms into a star-studded cultural hub. Every year, the Toronto International Film Festival returns to our streets, premiering the best films of the upcoming year. This year, for the festival’s 50th anniversary, the team has selected an exceptionally strong lineup of films, running from Sept. 4 to 14. With just under 300 films screening, it can be difficult to know where to focus your attention. Here are the most anticipated, must-see movies of the year — and the celebrities coming with them.
Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo del Toro
One of the most anticipated titles of the season, Frankenstein unites Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth under the direction of recent honourary Torontonian Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water). After speaking at TIFF’s 2023 opening ceremony, del Toro is once again waving the checkered flag, sending this season’s lineup racing out of the gates. After pursuing this project for nearly 25 years, the passion project promises to be a deeply emotional reimagining of Mary Shelley’s classic, blending horror and poetry. If you’re asking yourself, “What’s new?” about del Toro’s reimagining, the creature (portrayed by Jacob Elordi) breaks from tradition as a sympathetic, emotionally complex figure whose humanity is foregrounded over monstrosity. Following the festival, the film will skip the box office and head straight to Netflix, so don’t miss your opportunity to see it on the big screen.
The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie
Making its North American premiere, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returns to the big screen, this time in one of the year’s most unexpected pairings alongside Emily Blunt. Taking a dramatic departure from his long association with action and comedy, this role demands a profoundly emotional, character-driven performance apparently unseen before from the former wrestler. Written and directed by Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, alongside brother Josh Safdie), The Smashing Machine is a biographical sports drama depicting the life of former MMA and UFC fighter Mark Kerr. Johnson will also take the stage for one of TIFF’s coveted “In Conversation With…” panels, making his presence in Toronto all but unmissable.
Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier
After its 15-minute standing ovation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, a comedy-drama by Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World) makes its Canadian debut on TIFF screens. With sweeping rave reviews and some of the festival’s most buzz-worthy chatter, this Norwegian feature starring Elle Fanning and Renate Reinsve is already being called “the best film you might see all year.” Following two sisters reuniting with their estranged father — a charismatic, once-renowned filmmaker — the story blends razor-sharp humour with aching family drama. When stage actress Nora refuses a role in her father’s planned comeback, only to see it handed to a bright-eyed Hollywood ingénue, the sisters are forced to navigate old wounds, shifting loyalties, and the chaos of an American outsider dropped into their fragile dynamic.
Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao
Known for her intimate, character-driven work, Academy Award–winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Songs My Brothers Taught Me) has adapted Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 historical drama novel for the screen — and with it brings a casting choice that feels like a dream pairing: Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare. It’s an inspired match, with Mescal’s quiet intensity perfectly suited to a portrait of the Bard as both artist and man. Making its Canadian premiere, Hamnet follows Shakespeare and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) as they face a timeless and devastating loss — the death of their child — unfolding a marriage shaped by love, grief and the shadow of the work it would inspire. It’s rare to see Shakespeare rendered not as legend, but as a flesh-and-blood husband and father — and rarer still through the lens of one of cinema’s most empathetic modern storytellers. Pair that with two of the most magnetic actors working today, and you have a period drama built to break your heart.
Christy, directed by David Michôd
The year’s most dramatic cinematic transformation has arrived. Sydney Sweeney trades her blonde bombshell persona for a bruising, unrecognizable turn as queer boxing icon Christy Martin, opposite queer heartthrob Katy O’Brien (Love Lies Bleeding). O’Brien — who left every sapphic woman in the theatre catching their breath in 2024 — returns in another gut-wrenching role as Martin’s wife, Lisa Holewyne. In what feels like this year’s standout biopic, director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom, The King) assembles a team all-in on authenticity, with Sweeney reportedly altering her physical appearance and training intensively to capture Martin’s formidable physique — muscles, mouthguard and all. After the first official images of Sweeney in full fight mode exploded online earlier this year, fans couldn’t wait to see her metamorphosis on the big screen. Premiering as a TIFF Gala, Christy promises not just feminism in the ring, but reckoning, resilience and a career-defining test for Sweeney.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, directed by Mary Bronstein
After making waves at Sundance and earning Rose Byrne the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at Berlinale, Mary Bronstein’s unflinching psychological drama lands in TIFF’s Special Presentations. An A24 release, the film features Byrne in what critics are calling a career-defining turn as Linda, a mother pushed to the edge by her daughter’s mysterious illness, a missing loved one, and a therapist played — against type — by Conan O’Brien. A$AP Rocky joins the cast in a quietly magnetic supporting role, adding yet another layer of intrigue. Raw, surreal and impossible to neatly categorize, the film refuses to soften the chaos of caregiving, instead leaning into its jagged edges. With its buzzy festival run and gut-punch emotional core, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You arrives in Toronto as one of the year’s boldest and most talked-about dramas.
Poetic License, directed by Maude Apatow
World premiering in TIFF’s Special Presentations, Poetic License is a meta family affair fans of Euphoria, This Is 40 and the Apatow clan won’t want to miss. Maude Apatow steps behind the camera for her feature debut, directing her real-life mom, Leslie Mann, in a whip-smart campus comedy. Andrew Barth Feldman and Cooper Hoffman star as inseparable best friends whose loyalty unravels when they both fall for their poetry professor — who also happens to be one of their moms. With Nico Parker, Maisy Stella and Method Man rounding out the cast, Poetic License promises sharp wit, a little chaos and a lot of Apatow charm. It’s the rare debut that blends indie credibility with built-in pop culture buzz, pairing breakout Gen Z talent with Hollywood veterans. And with Maude calling the shots on her own family set, this one’s destined to be a festival talking point.
Bad Apples, directed by Jonatan Etzler
Bad Apples hands four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan one of her boldest roles yet — Maria, a primary school teacher whose patience unravels as she clashes with an impossibly disruptive student. What begins as a wry satire of classroom politics swerves into something darker, with Ronan’s performance walking the knife’s edge between comedy and quiet menace. Directed by Jonatan Etzler in his English-language debut, the film has already been tapped to open San Sebastián’s New Directors Competition. It’s the kind of sharp, unpredictable turn that has fans buzzing — and could mark the most daring pivot of Ronan’s career.
Mile End Kicks, directed by Chandler Levack
Making its world premiere in TIFF’s Special Presentations, Mile End Kicks is a Montreal-set rom-com from Canadian filmmaker Chandler Levack (who captured the hearts of Ontarians everywhere with 2022’s I Like Movies), pulling straight from her own past life as a young music critic. Barbie Ferreira stars as Grace, a 24-year-old writer who moves to Montreal to pen a book about Jagged Little Pill — only to fall into a love triangle with two members of the indie band she’s meant to publicize. Set in the heart of the Mile End — the same neighbourhood that gave us Arcade Fire and Grimes — the film hums with local colour, vintage record-store romance and original songs from Montreal band Tops. And in a film landscape starved for rom-coms, Levack is bringing the genre back with wit, heart and a lived-in charm.
