Something old, something new, several things that are borrowed, and more than a few films that will leave you feeling blue — the Toronto International Film Festival is about to roar back to life, and its 51st edition sticks to the tried-and-true formula that’s established it as a fall-fest favorite. There are a handful of revivals, including a preview of a new, restored cut of Ken Russell’s The Devils. You’ll get the best of several other festivals, including many of the big titles from Cannes (All of a Sudden, Fjord, Club Kid, The Beloved) and recent premieres from Venice (Ink, Wild Horse Nine, Possible Love) and Telluride (Tender Loving Care, The Debut). And, of course, you’ll get your very first looks at a number of titles that use TIFF as a launch pad for potential awards-season glory.
And naturally, this year’s festival has more than its fair share of “midnight madness” genre flicks, arthouse movies from virtually every corner of the globe, and a strong selection of documentaries; the music-doc lineup is particularly varied this time out, with portraits of everybody from an up-and-coming Americana trio to drumming god Neil Peart. We’ve selected 22 films that have our interest piqued, from a Japanese spin on Bad Lieutenant to an intimate year in the life of Lisa from Blackpink. Here’s what we’re itching to see at TIFF 2026.
‘Alpha Gang’
When the inevitable alien invasion of Earth happens — you know it will, people! — our cosmic overlords will not look like little, bug-eyed green men. They will apparently resemble a 1950s biker gang modeled after Marlon Brando from The Wild One. That’s the basic premise of David and Nathan Zellner’s satirical sci-fi opus about of group of extraterrestrials who take a very, shall we say, retro attempt to blend in. The longer these would-be conquerors of humanity spend among us noble, flawed Homo sapiens, however, the more they began to realize that maybe the planet has more perks than they’d imagined. Dig this cast, daddy-o: Cate Blanchett, Lea Seydoux, Chris Pine, Dave Batista, Riley Keough, Lily-Rose Depp, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Bae Doona.
‘Always Lalisa’
Lalisa Manobal — better known as the K-pop superstar Lisa — had already conquered the world as one fourth of the record-breaking group Blackpink. She then decided to take a year or so to focus on a solo career, a screen career, and several creative endeavors outside of the band. Luckily for us, filmmaker Sue Kim trailed along with her cameras, and the result is an intimate look at a global pop star exploring new frontiers and pushing past her comfort zones. Out of all the premiere screenings at TIFF this year, we’re betting this will be both the hottest ticket and the one with the most screaming fans outside the venue.
‘Babies’
To procreate or not to procreate? That is the question in Lauren Miller Rogen’s dramedy about a couple, played by Anna Kendrick and the director’s IRL spouse Seth Rogen, who have been on the fence about whether they would eventually have kids or not. Then a recently separated friend (Kate Berlant) with a kid crashes at their house while looking for a new residence, and the two get an impromptu What Parenting Is Actually Like 101 course, which may end up affecting their final decision. There’s a deep bench here regarding the supporting actors as well: Dan Stevens, Sharon Stone, Issa Rae, Ed Helms, Ashley Park, David Strathairn, Severance‘s Zach Cherry.
‘Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo’
Sayuri Suzuki/NEON
Who better to do a Tokyo-based variation on Abel Ferrara’s chronicle of a self-destructive, spiritually adrift cop than Takashi Miike? The auteur behind Ichi the Killer, Audition, the incredible Dead or Alive trilogy, and dozens of other mind-altering movies digs in to the story of a hard-living Japanese cop (Shun Oguri) who must team up with an FBI agent (Lily James) to find a politician’s missing daughter. There’s also a killer on the loose, and he has the lieutenant, who we are assuming is bad (see title), in his sights. We predict this will be off any number of different hooks.
‘Being Heumann’
Apple
Toronto’s opening night film — and director Siân Heder’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning hit CODA — gives the spotlight to activist Judy Heumann (Ruth Madelay), who fought the powers that be over accessibility for the millions of Americans with disabilities. Combating not just public misconceptions but political indifference and hostility, notably from Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano (Mark Ruffalo), Heumann recognized that this wasn’t just a personal issue but a human-rights issue, and her protests helped bring about meaningful change. Rob Delaney, Dylan O’Brien, Ray Fischer and Fargo‘s Russell Harvard costar.
‘Bleeding Hearts’
TIFF
Zella Day was a country-music prodigy who had a record out by age 14, a hit single by 19, and a desire to reinvent herself as an artist by the time she was 25. Jesse Woods was a troubadour out of Austin, Texas, who specialized in twangy melancholy. The two fell in love and started the band Chaparelle with their collaborator Beau Bedford, with the idea that they’d finally found the perfect vehicle for the sound they’d all been chasing. The couple also let filmmaker Andrew Morgan document both the early stages of their relationship and their new musical project, and the result is the sort of warts-and-all portrait of backstage drama and onstage epiphanies that remind you that it is possible to combine the personal and the professional. You may end up with a few great songs and a helluva lot of scars in the wake of it all.
‘Bucking Fastard’
TIFF
To say that Werner Herzog’s new narrative movie sounds a little weird is like saying that Pacific Ocean sounds like it could be a tad bit moist — there’s an inherent element of assumption there, what with past behavior being the best predictor for future behavior. But even by the standards of a filmmaker that previously hypnotized his actors during a project, Herzog’s new one sounds like he’s tapping into a uniquely strange frequency. Real-life siblings Rooney and Kate Mara play sisters who aren’t just close — they do everything together and actually speak in unison. Both women have so much in common that they each fall in love with the same man (Orlando Bloom), and long story short, end up facing a media frenzy and a legal case. Seriously, even if we weren’t die-hard Herzog fans, we’d still be so stucking foked to see this.
‘Bunker’
Blue Morning Pictures/Mod Producciones/Pathe Films
Let’s say you’re an architect. You’re approached by a billionaire, who wants you to design a bunker for him and his fellow One-percenters. Money is no object. Your wife thinks the entire concept of the ultra-rich designing a luxury apocalypse domicile is disgusting. You agree, but also know that your fee will be appropriately astronomical and could set your family up for life. What do you do? This is the ethical dilemma at the heart of the new film by writer-director Florian Bunker (The Father), with the added bonus that the married couple at the center of it is played by actual spouses and dual Oscar-winners Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. Also down in the hole with them: Paul Dano, Stephen Graham, Mark Gatliss, and The White Lotus‘s Patrick Schwarzenegger.
‘Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been’
TIFF
R&B vocalist, recording legend, the voice behind “He’s a Rebel,” one of Rolling Stone‘s 150 best singers of all time, the “Queen of Christmas” — the great Darlene Love is all this and more. She fronted her own band, the Crystals, and provided back-up vocals for everything from “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” to “Be My Baby,” and her annual performance of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on both of David Letterman’s late-night shows was as much a holiday tradition as fruitcake and mistletoes. Documentarian Barry Avrich (Oscar Petersen: Black + White) lets Love take center stage and shines the spotlight on a truly singular six-decade career behind the mic.
‘Hombre al Aqua’
TIFF
Gael García Bernal directed, cowrote and stars in this twisty tale of a Cuban lifeguard who saves the life of a Mexican businessman (Jorge Salinas) on vacation in Havana. The tourist rewards his savior with a job and a luxurious life back in the Yucatán. Remember that phrase about no good deed ever going unpunished? That applies double here.
‘The Housewife’
TIFF
Russel (Luke Evans) and Hermine (Naomi Watts) are just your perfectly, totally average married couple living in New York City circa 1964. Enter a New York Times reporter (Tye Sheridan), who begins investigating a tip he’s received that Russel is actually a Nazi officer who evaded capture in Europe, and is living under an assumed identity. Things get even more complicated when the journalist and Hermine starts to develop a bond that goes slightly beyond the boundaries of journalist and his subject’s spouse. This sounds heavy. Also in the cast: Michael Imperioli, Lena Olin, and Debi Mazar.
‘I Play Rocky’
Anthony Ippolito stars as Sylvester Stallone in I PLAY ROCKY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Claire Folger © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.CLAIRE FOLGERIt’s a tale of two underdogs — one who’s a Philly pugilist trying to prove he can go the distance, and another who’s a struggling actor who is determined to play the lead part in a script he just wrote. The fictional boxer is named Rocky Balboa. The real-life performer is Sylvester Stallone. You all know what happens next. Peter Farrelly (Green Book) directs this origin story about the Italian Stallion fighting to get the first Rocky movie made, starring Anthony Ippolito as the young and hungry Sly, determined to do whatever it takes to make his dream a reality. [Cue theme music]
‘Julián’
TIFF
The Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon may not have the name recognition of a Pixar or a Ghibli, but it’s been putting out some of the best feature-length ‘toons over the past few decades (see: The Secret of Kells, The Breadwinner, Wolfwalkers). And their latest looks to extend their winning streak: an adaptation of Jessica Love’s 2018 bestseller Julián Is a Mermaid, about a seven-year-old who spends a summer with his Dominican grandmother in Brooklyn. Julián is less than thrilled with his new environment, until a group of local girls tell him about the annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island — at which point the boy becomes obsessed with creating the perfect, bedazzled tail. Expect both a faithful translation of the book’s water-color-like artwork and a moving take on both NYC’s African-Carribean community and the concept of inter-generational tolerance.
‘The Last Photograph’
Zach Snyder
A last-minute addition to the festival, Zack Snyder’s revenge thriller follows a DEA agent (Stuart Martin) and a war photographer (Fra Fee) as they shoot — that verb is doing double duty here — their way through South America in search of the men who murdered the former’s family. Judging from the trailer, this looks like it’s got the usual combination of dark, visual panache and pulpy, operatic overtones. That it seemed to have materialized out of nowhere and landed a slot on TIFF’s lineup at the 11th hour has us intrigued. The fact that this film has kept Snyder too bust to make more Rebel Moon movies makes us extremely grateful.
‘The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd’
TIFF
Triple-threat hyphenate Tim Blake Nelson (Leaves of Grass) sets two characters — a creative-writing instructor (Amanda Seyfried) working at a prison and a convict (Scoot McNairy) in her class — on a collision course. Both of them have been dealt a bum hand by life, in terms of bad relationships, bad decisions, and an intimate familiarity with violence. Both feel a connection via the written word. And when a plan is hatched to help him break out, both find themselves having to deal with the consequences of their actions. This one seems intense. Sinners‘ Wunmi Mosaku, The Good Place‘s William Jackson Harper, Missi Pyle, and Elisabeth Marvel costar.
‘A Long Winter’
MUBI
Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years, All of Us Strangers) returns with a take on Colm Tóibín’s short story about a young man (Fred Hechinger) who’s dealing with both a sexual awakening and the sudden, inexplicable disappearance of his mother (Caitríona Balfe) during a snowstorm. The longer they look for her, the more strained the relationship between him and his father (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) becomes. We have high hopes for this one. Costarring Martin Freeman, Kit Connor, and Reservation Dogs‘ D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.
‘Look Back’
TIFF
Acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda has already graced this year’s festival circuit with his A.I. parable Sheep in a Box; he now returns with another humanistic drama, an adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga about two young women ((Natsuki Deguchi and Aju Makita) who go from childhood rivals to aspiring artists. Everything about this sounds like classic Kore-eda, as well as the perfect combination of auteur and source material, and we’re dying to see his take on this tender, intimate story of bonding over creative expression.
‘Misty Green’
Merrick Morton/A24
Once upon a time, Misty Green was an Emmy-winning star with a hell of a singing voice. Then her career took a bit of a nosedive. A reconnection with a filmmaker who once fired her and a potential role in an upcoming project may mean that a second chance at stardom, however, is right around the corner, if she can just keep the old habits from coming back. Writer, director, and actor Chris Rock’s new character-driven drama from A24 will get its world premiere at TIFF, and he’s packed the cast with some big names: Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace. But this really looks like a major showcase for Rosalind Eleazar, a British actor who’s been a big presence on TV in the UK (Harlots, Slow Horses) and, if this trailer is any indication, will likely generate a lot of awards-season chatter with her performance as the title character.
‘Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple’
TIFF
The influence of the late, great Neil Peart on his fellow drummers, not to mention his band mates and longtime brothers-in-arms Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, is incalculable. Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, a.k.a. the documentarians behind the invaluable Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, take that idea one step further. They not only cover the late, great musician’s life, career, and his personal tragedies and triumphs, as well as gathering testimonies from his friends and loved ones. The duo also enlist a who’s-who of first-ballot percussionists — Stewart Copeland, Danny Carey, Chad Smith and Gavin Harrison — to play Peart’s parts in classic Rush songs alongside Lee and Lifeson. It’s a well-earned tribute to a much-missed legend, as well as a chance to see the Professor’s “drum brothers” test their chops via some of the most intricate rock songs ever composed.
‘Pretenders’
The Pretenders photographed at Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut on March 25, 1980.Ebet Roberts
Why hasn’t there been an extensive rock doc on the Pretenders until now? Thank god that director Joss Crowley — who’s been involved in documentaries on Iggy Pop, Shania Twain, Freddie Mercury, the Simple Minds and more — stepped up to tell the story of how a young woman from Ohio went to London right before the dawn of punk and ended up founding one of the most venerable rock outfits ever. Comprised of three new conversations with singer/icon/notoriously tough, takes-zero-shit interview Chrissie Hynde, remembrances from the band’s longtime tour manager, and a treasure trove’s worth of archival footage, this should hopefully be the definitive portrait of a band rocked by both tragedy and a phoenix-like rise from the ashes. Precious it ain’t.
‘Prima Facie’
Nicola Dove
Suzie Miller’s play about a barrister who finds herself on the other side of the bench in a sexual-assault case was designed as a one-woman show and won Jodie Comer a slew of awards. Now Cynthia Erivo leaves her mark on the role in this expanded take on the harrowing drama, as her lawyer’s unshakable faith in the legal system is tested once she’s forced to navigate it as a survivor. Susanna White (Woman Walks Ahead) directs; Daniel Ings, Simon Russell Beale, and Harry Treadaway costar.
‘The Surgeon’
TIFFMichelle Yeoh is set to have a busy TIFF this year — she’s headlining both the feel-good nursing-home comedy It’s My Life and this crime thriller, in which she plays a veteran surgeon who’s recently hung up her scrubs. Her retirement is cut short when a group of mobsters led by Martin Freeman kidnap her and force her at gunpoint to operate on one of their wounded brethren. This ex-medical expert is not going to go out without a fight, however. The fest’s program notes describe this as a “scalp-’em-up,” which, y’know, yes. A new action subgenre? We’re 100-percent here for it.
Jeremy Strong and 