Once again, it’s time for the Toronto International Film Festival, and we’ll be covering it here at JoBlo. This will be my eighteenth consecutive year covering my favorite festival, as I’ve been going since way back in 2009. I even covered the fest during its remote edition in 2020, when we were all stuck at home due to COVID, as well as the bizarro 2021 hybrid edition, where we did have some in-person screenings but still had to cover the majority of screenings online. I did, however, get to see Dune in IMAX that year, which made the trip well worth it.
Over my time at the festival, I’ve seen a huge number of all-out masterpieces, including future Oscar winners like 12 Years a Slave, La La Land, and The King’s Speech, blockbusters like The Martian and Joker, and cult faves like The Substance and last year’s The Furious. Will anything break out in a big way this year? Here are the ones I have my eye on:
Here at JoBlo, we take our Sylvester Stallone coverage seriously. In fact, I’d wager that no single person has gotten as many articles written about him as Sly has, so when I found out that TIFF would be premiering I Play Rocky, which tracks his early years and the filming of his star-making classic, I made it my mission in life to secure a world premiere ticket. Early buzz suggests this one is a winner on par with director Peter Farrelly’s Oscar-winning Green Book.
The latest from Zack Snyder is a late addition to the fest, with it only getting a single screening. As unabashed fans of the man’s work (mostly), it will be interesting to see his detour into indie filmmaking, with this apparently being a passion project he’s been wanting to make for years. I have a ticket to this one, and I can’t wait to see it.
Danny Boyle’s movie about the rise of the infamous English tabloid The Sun, under editor Larry Lamb (Jack O’Connell) and publisher Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce), has already had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it received raves. Boyle is a favorite of mine, and as a former journalism major (in another life), I’m intrigued by this now-infamous story.
Another one that premiered in Venice, this hails from Martin McDonagh, who is one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers. Apparently, John Malkovich delivers the performance of a lifetime as a bitter CIA agent visiting Easter Island with an associate (Sam Rockwell) while planning a coup. The trailer promises lots of great dialogue and a blackly comedic good time at the movies.
Duncan Jones (Moon, Warcraft) returns with his first movie in eight years (since Mute), with it being an animated adaptation of the classic 2000 AD comic strip of the same name. It screened a few months ago at Annecy and earned raves, with many saying it’s truly unique as far as animated fare goes and certainly an adults-only affair, which explains why it’s in the Midnight Madness section.
Speaking of Midnight Madness, ever since Obsession broke out there last year, all eyes have been on the programming. One of the more promising titles seems to be River, a slasher flick starring the perennially underrated Liane Levy, as well as Jessica Rothe. It’s high on my list of must-sees, as are other MM titles like Vintage Violence and Kick On.
One of my all-time fave TIFF movies is the Michael Dowse-directed hockey flick Goon, and he reteams with star Jay Baruchel for this true account of Ken Carter, who was basically the Canadian Evel Knievel. Carter tried to make a historic jump across the St. Lawrence River in a custom-made “rocket car” built out of a Lincoln Continental. Sounds like a blast to me!
Jesse Eisenberg’s follow-up to his feature directorial debut, A Royal Pain, received raves for stars Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti following its earlier fest debuts at Venice and Telluride. Moore, in particular, is said to have a showcase as a woman who volunteers to act in a community theater production under a perfectionist director (Giamatti).
Of course, TIFF isn’t only about movies. More and more TV shows have been premiering there as part of its Primetime section, and there are some big ones this year. One, certainly, is Mike Flanagan’s ambitious adaptation of one of Stephen King’s seminal works, Carrie. While it’s hard for me to imagine anyone doing it better than Brian De Palma (many have tried and failed), the fact that it’s being done by Flanagan and as a limited series is intriguing.
2026 is a good year for horror TV at TIFF, with the fest also hosting the debut of A24 and Peacock’s Crystal Lake, which stars Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees — mother of a guy you might know named Jason, who has a fondness for machetes and hockey masks. This Friday the 13th prequel series is getting loads of buzz — let’s see if it’s worth it.
What are you most excited to hear about? Let us know in the comments