2025 brings with it the 50th Toronto International Film Festival and the second time that I’m covering TIFF for EoM. While I’d love to cover all the titles scheduled, in advance of my attendance, I’ve put together a short-list of titles that I’m especially excited to screen during the festival.
**These recommendations are primarily based on reading the summaries and finding them intriguing. If I’m able to cover (or EoM has covered previously), the titles will be hyperlinked with a review – so be sure to check back.**
The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival takes place in Toronto, Canada, from September 4th – 14th, 2025.
Adulthood
Official Synopsis:
When siblings Megan and Noah uncover a long-buried corpse in their parents’ basement, they stumble into a wildly escalating spiral of crime, cover-ups, and murder. The deeper they dig, the harder it becomes to escape.
Blue Moon
Official Synopsis:
On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confronts his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrates the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical Oklahoma!.
California Schemin’
Official Synopsis:
Truth is stranger than fiction in actor James McAvoy’s directorial debut. Inspired by the real-life saga of Scottish rap duo Silibil N’ Brains, a.k.a. Gavin Bain (Séamus McLean Ross) and Billy Boyd (Samuel Bottomley), the film follows the unexpected journey of two lifelong friends from Dundee who dream of hip-hop superstardom. There’s just one problem: nobody takes two white guys with thick regional accents seriously in the UK’s early 2000s rap scene, especially not the London gatekeepers who laugh them out of an audition.
A scene from CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Carolina Caroline
Official Synopsis:
In his latest slice of anarchic Americana, writer-director Adam Carter Rehmeier first introduces us to the always effervescent Samara Weaving (Guns Akimbo, TIFF ’19) as Caroline. Listless and living a small life in a small town, she dutifully cares for her single father (Jon Gries) though she longs to break from her dusty and dull world. But when she observes a handsome drifter (Kyle Gallner) pull a sly con for a few bucks, her curiosity sparks an introduction that ignites an apprenticeship. Before long, their lucrative, if untenable, criminal enterprise dovetails into a passionate romance.
L-R: Kyle Gallner and Samara Weaving in CAROLINA CAROLINE. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
The Christophers
Official Synopsis:
This incisively witty chamber comedy from Oscar winner and Festival fixture Steven Soderbergh ushers us into a tangled web of art, commerce, and long-brewing resentments. Written by Men in Black scenarist Ed Solomon and featuring an acerbic turn from the great Ian McKellen, The Christophers is one of Soderbergh’s most delicious entertainments in years.
L-R: Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in THE CHRISTOPHERS. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Christy
Official Synopsis:
By turns devastating and triumphant, the latest from Australian auteur David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) chronicles the astonishing life of pioneering women’s boxer Christy Martin. Featuring career-best performances from Sydney Sweeney (TIFF ’24’s Eden) and Ben Foster (TIFF ’24’s Sharp Corner), Christy is a fierce tale of self-actualization in the face of terrifying adversity.
Sydney Sweeney as Christy Martin in CHRISTY. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Dust Bunny
Official Synopsis:
Like many children, Aurora (Sophie Sloan) fearfully believes a monster lurks beneath her bed. And she has good reason to: her foster parents have been eaten by one. Fortunately, she has arrived at a practical solution. She will hire the enigmatic hit man who lives next door (Mads Mikkelsen, also at this year’s Festival in The Last Viking) to slay the beast. But procuring her neighbour’s services will not be easy, for he believes her family was mistakenly dispatched by an assassin’s bullets that were meant for him.
Eternity
Official Synopsis:
In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with (Miles Teller) and her first love (Callum Turner), who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive.
The Fence
Official Synopsis:
Within the walls of a private construction company in Africa, British supervisor Horn (Matt Dillon) hangs around with his colleague Cal (Tom Blyth) while expecting his wife Leonie (Mia McKenna-Bruce) to stop by for a visit. There is a sense of foreboding in the air — earlier that day a worker was killed in an accident. Soon, Alboury (Isaach De Bankolé), a local villager and brother of the deceased, arrives and demands to collect the body.
Matt Dillion as Horn in THE FENCE. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Frankenstein
Official Synopsis:
Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, and the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water transformed what monsters mean to us, steeping their outsider narratives in deep emotion and grand tragedy. But the pinnacle on Guillermo del Toro’s horizon was always Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece from 1818. Now it is here.
The Furious
Official Synopsis:
Set in a small Southeast Asian country, the film follows a martial artist and a journalist who join forces to dismantle a brutal child trafficking ring – tearing through corruption and criminal networks in a high-octane mission to rescue the victims and bring justice to the exploited.
Xie Miao as Wei in THE FURIOUS. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Fuze
Official Synopsis:
When a World War II-era bomb is found in a construction site in a busy area of London, the authorities quickly spring into action, determined to save the throngs of innocent bystanders in the vicinity. Scripted by Ben Hopkins (the mind-bending The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz, TIFF ’00), Fuze shifts gears rapidly. As the tension mounts and time threatens to run out, it soon becomes clear that no one can truly be trusted.
A scene in FUZE. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Hedda
Official Synopsis:
Transplanted to mid-century England, this ingenious reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s beloved play from writer-director Nia DaCosta (2021’s Candyman) infuses its source material with erotic power and feminist energy. Starring Tessa Thompson (Passing), Imogen Poots (TIFF ’15’s Green Room), and Christian Petzold regular Nina Hoss, Hedda is a dark work of cinematic rapture.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Official Synopsis:
With her life crashing down around her, Linda (Rose Byrne) attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.
Karmadonna
Official Synopsis:
Aleksandar Radivojević (co-writer of A Serbian Film) makes his directorial debut with an audacious satirical thriller about an expectant mother (Jelena Djokić) who receives a phone call from a deity that demands she obey a list of murderous instructions.
The Man in My Basement
Official Synopsis:
Charles Blakey’s (Corey Hawkins) life is falling apart. He’s lonely, he can’t find work, and he’s boozing way too much and about to lose his family’s Sag Harbor home. When a mysterious white man, Anniston Bennet (Willem Dafoe), offers to rent his basement for a hefty sum, a hesitant Blakey acquiesces despite serious doubts, especially about the decidedly odd accommodations Bennet requests.
Mile End Kicks
Official Synopsis:
Chandler Levack’s widely anticipated follow-up to her directorial debut, I Like Movies (TIFF ’22), stars Barbie Ferreira as a young music critic writing for a male-centric indie publication who takes a leap into adulthood, even though she is little prepared.
Barbie Ferreira in MILE END KICKS. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
New Years Rev
Official Synopsis:
Since Green Day burst onto the scene in the 1990s, their sound and success have helped launch a countless number of garage rock bands, each aspiring to channel the group’s energy and attitude. Among the most committed are The Analog Dogs, who want nothing more than to meet Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool. Forcing their way to drop off a demo to their beloved idols in hopes of earning some recognition, they instead get an extremely rare opportunity — to open up for Green Day at their New Year’s concert.
A scene in NEW YEARS REV. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Official Synopsis:
They were never in time to book a gig at The Rivoli, then one day… they weren’t in their time at all. From Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) and Jay McCarrol’s cult comedy series comes an adventure 17 years in the making.
No Other Choice
Official Synopsis:
Adapted from a novel by Donald E. Westlake (Payback), this incisive, darkly comic satire from Park Chan-wook (TIFF ’22’s Decision to Leave) follows a newly unemployed man who, desperate to land a coveted position, hatches a ruthless plan to dispatch his competition.
Normal
Official Synopsis:
For Sheriff Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk), his provisional posting to the quaint Midwestern American town of Normal was meant to be a welcome respite from both his marital woes and recent moral injuries in the line of duty. But when a botched bank robbery interrupts the municipality’s tranquil pace, a sordid secret is inadvertently exposed and Ulysses learns that the town is anything but its namesake. Suddenly everyone is trying to shoot the sheriff, even his own deputies, and our put-upon policeman must rely on his affable mettle and some motley crooks if he is to survive the night.
Poetic License
Official Synopsis:
Maude Apatow’s debut feature, the hilarious and generous college comedy Poetic License, focuses on the unlikely friendship between two college seniors and a mature woman auditing their poetry course. It’s the perfect fall movie — when optimism and excitement rule and finals are months and months away.
A scene in POETIC LICENSE. Photo courtesy of TIFF 2025.
Rental Family
Official Synopsis:
Set against modern-day Tokyo, Rental Family follows an American actor (Brendan Fraser) who struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients’ worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality. Confronting the moral complexities of his work, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection.
Sacrifice
Official Synopsis:
After the fiery death of their mother, Joan (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her siblings, driven by a mysterious volcanic prophecy, believe it is their duty to cleanse the Earth. Their radical group hijacks a glamorous charity gala and takes three unlikely hostages for a sacrificial ritual: their hero, movie star Mike Tyler (Chris Evans); their villain, pragmatically cold billionaire Ben Bracken (Vincent Cassel); and their lover, an unlucky performer named Katie (Ambika Mod). As the night descends into chaos, both an inward journey and an outward adventure ensue, where the line between performance and belief, salvation and sacrifice, begins to blur.
Thought-provoking, visually arresting, and powered by a kinetic original script co-written with Will Arbery (Succession), Romain Gavras’ English-language debut Sacrifice is a satirical action-adventure and visually explosive epic led by a magnetic star-studded ensemble also including Salma Hayek Pinault, Yung Lean and Charli XCX.
A still from the film SACRIFCE. Photo courtesy of Iconoclast.
Sentimental Value
Official Synopsis:
Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star. Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated relationship with their father — and deal with an American star dropped right into the middle of their complex family dynamics.
Tuner
Official Synopsis:
Having acutely sensitive hearing is both a blessing and a curse for Niki White as played by Leo Woodall in Daniel Roher’s first narrative feature. Though his auditory condition ended a promising musical career, it’s been a boon for his job as a piano tuner. Together with his genial mentor Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman), he spends his days travelling back and forth across New York, tending to instruments that require his special skills. These duties also compel the typically taciturn Niki to come out of his protective shell and interact with such people as Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), a music composition student with whom he feels a spark. But when shady individuals discover that Niki’s talents could be just as useful on locked safes as they are on old Steinways, events take a dangerous turn, one that adds the thrills of watching a heist flick to a film that’s already remarkably fleet-footed as a drama and a romance.
L-R: Dustin Hoffman as Harry Horowitz and Leo Woodall as Niki White in TUNER. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Official Synopsis:
In 2019, Oscar nominated writer-director Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig revitalized the British drawing room murder mystery with the gleeful, star-laden Knives Out, creating their own version of Agatha Christie’s unflappable detective Hercule Poirot with Craig’s brilliant Southerner, Benoit Blanc. The follow-up, Glass Onion (TIFF ’22), focused on a tech-bro billionaire, ratcheting up the humour and evoking Herbert Ross’ cult classic The Last of Sheila. (It also threw in the added fun of seeing obscenely rich people’s gaudiest stuff get trashed.) Wake Up Dead Man shifts gears again with a relatively sombre look into the tensions between faith and logic.
The Wizard of the Kremlin
Official Synopsis:
Oscar winner Alicia Vikander, Oscar nominees Jude Law and Jeffrey Wright, and There Will Be Blood’s Paul Dano star in the latest from Festival favourite Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, TIFF ’16) based on the debut novel by Giuliano da Empoli.
Paul Dano in THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
About Toronto International Film Festival:
The 50th Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, will run September 4–14, 2025. Celebrate with the best of Canadian and global cinema, special events and talks with stars, plus TIFF’s Industry Conference.
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Categories: Coming Soon, Recommendation
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