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TIFF 2026

Exclaim! •

Sebastian Stan Relates to "an Awareness of Being Different" in 'Fjord' │ Exclaim!

When Sebastian Stan first read Cristian Mungiu's script, it was the children in Fjord with whom he found the most connection."Being in a foreign land, the idea that was always taught to me from my mom is you want to make allies, you don't want to make enemies," Stan tells Exclaim! while in Toronto ahead of the film's screening at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.Born in Constanta, Romania, Stan immigrated with his mother to the United States at the age of 12 following the Romanian...
Exclaim! •

Mike Flanagan Is Modernizing 'Carrie,' Even If It Causes Him "Everyday Nausea" │ Exclaim!

The beginning of Stephen King's Carrie is troubling. Equating a young girl's first period with abject horror seemed to reflect how the author views this transition: a grown woman is something to be feared, and not in a girl-power kind of way.Brian De Palma's 1976 adaptation of the novel continued King's thought: the sight of Sissy Spacek's Carrie being mercilessly pelted with pads and tampons as she cries out for help at the sight of blood in between her legs, unsure of what this means, codified...
Exclaim! •

'The Stunt Driver' Is the Perfect Vessel for Canada: "Identity Is a Powerful Motivator," Says Jay Baruchel │ Exclaim!

Director Michael Dowse had the seed for The Stunt Driver planted about 12 years ago, when a friend turned him on to the National Film Board's documentary The Devil at Your Heels. It was a simpler time, when the need for phrases like "Canada down" and "elbows up" wasn't apparent just yet.By the time production on the film began in Quebec last year, however, Jay Baruchel's run-through-a-brick-wall monologue as titular stunt driver Ken Carter — which ends with him declaring Canada to be "God's coun...
The Globe and Mail •

The Stunt Driver delivers a wild Mad Canadian epic for our Elbows Up era

Written and directed by Michael Dowse

Starring Jay Baruchel, Ed Helms and Laurence Leboeuf

Rating 14A

Run time 99 mins

Release date Sept. 25

Critic’s Pick

It would have been easy to take a person as colourful as Canadian stunt driver Ken Carter and turn him into a caricature; something along the lines of an Adam McKay-Ricky Bobby number. But in making The Stunt Driver, writer-director Michael Dowse understands that the appeal of Carter’s story is his determination to chase the impossible d...
Exclaim! •

The Best and Worst Films We Saw at TIFF 2026 │ Exclaim!

In its 51st edition, the Toronto International Film Festival brought us wild horses, stunt drivers, trash mountains and a reason to re-watch Rocky (as if we needed one). All of a sudden, we're finding possible love and pickpockets in New York while drifting through fjords as Blue Jays' manager John Schneider discovers that Moroccan techno-thrillers can be so fucking heartwarming.This year, La bola negra took home the coveted People's Choice Award, while Elsinore was the International People's Ch...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'Once Upon a Time in Harlem' Is a Resonant Historical Document │ Exclaim!

Once Upon a Time in Harlem affords us the position of a fly on the wall at a once-in-a-lifetime gathering.The documentary was originally conceived in 1972 by William Greaves, a director and actor who found his footing as a documentarian during the civil rights movement in the United States. William invited surviving members of the Harlem Renaissance to a party at Duke Ellington's townhouse in Harlem, where they smoked, drank, traded memories, gossiped and shared some laughs. He captured the enti...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'Possible Love' Offers Profound Class Commentary │ Exclaim!

Here's a hot take: Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love explores the socioeconomic class disparity in present-day South Korea better than Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award-winning Parasite.Coincidentally, Cho Yeo-jeong is present in both films, playing the matriarch of the wealthy Park family in Parasite, and in Possible Love playing Ye-ji, a documentarian who befriends Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon), a subject in Ye-ji's latest film about labour issues in South Korea, in particular corporate restructuring trigging...
The Globe and Mail •

How Denis Villeneuve and TIFF show up for each other, again and again

As the 51st Toronto International Film Festival takes over the city Sept. 10-20, this series of articles examines some of the Canadian directors whose lives and careers have been shaped by TIFF.

Not since James Cameron has a Canadian director found as much continuous mainstream success in Hollywood as Denis Villeneuve.

Born in Gentilly, Que., a village on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, Villeneuve cut his teeth with some of the most acclaimed Canadian indies this side of the new mil...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'Elsinore' Is Infinite in Faculties, in Form and Moving │ Exclaim!

Andrew Scott has given a number of memorable performances throughout his career, but his portrayal of Scottish actor Ian Charleson transcends them all — a tall order for an actor with Scott's filmography.Elsinore captures the leadup to Charleson's second run of Hamlet at the National Theatre in London, a pivotal moment in the final chapter of his life. It's 1989 and Daniel Day-Lewis has infamously walked off the stage mid-performance, leaving director Richard Eyre (Johnny Flynn) scrambling to fi...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'Love of Your Life' Awkwardly Makes COVID a Plot Twist │ Exclaim!

It's been a minute since we've seen an epic romance on the big screen, and given the state of the world, we could absolutely use one right about now. Love of Your Life positions itself as something to fill that void, a story about how love can defy life's expectations, how the loss of that love can leave you in emotional stasis, and how a new, different love can be the remedy to said stasis.But in spite of this captivating premise and strong performances to see it through, Love of Your Life is a...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'I Play Rocky' Is a KO │ Exclaim!

I Play Rocky is easily the most crowd-pleasing film at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. An underdog story where we all know the outcome — both for the film and its screenwriter and lead actor — Peter Farrelly expertly plays to the audience's knowledge to make us laugh, holler and cheer at exactly the right moments.The film takes us through the seemingly impossible task of making Sylvester Stallone a leading man. When we first meet Sly, played by newcomer Anthony Ippolito, he's in...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: Chris Rock Shows His Depth with 'Misty Green' │ Exclaim!

Chris Rock's progression as a director has seen him go from the comforts of the broad comedy, like Head of State and I Think I Love My Wife, to more serious, meditative fare where he has found a much firmer footing, such as Top Five and now Misty Green.Similar to Top Five, Rock's latest navigates the less-than-savoury side of Hollywood, this time setting his sights on the business of acting. Misty Green (Rosalind Eleazar) is an Emmy Award-winning actor on the decline, professionally and personal...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'Wild Wild East' Is a Fresh WWII Story │ Exclaim!

With a screenplay by Aleksandra Takuska, director Jan Holoubek searches across a multitude of genres to find a seemingly straightforward mystery treasure hunt set in Poland during the Second World War. While the different styles of Wild Wild East create an interesting viewing experience, it proves to be one too many at times, hampering an otherwise fascinating side quest in the bleakest of times.An affecting Itay Tiran leads the film as Martin Wolff, a German clerk sent to a small Polish village...
The Globe and Mail •

From scandal to celebration: David Cronenberg’s evolving legacy at TIFF

As the 51st Toronto International Film Festival takes over the city Sept. 10-20, this series of articles examines some of the Canadian directors whose lives and careers have been shaped by TIFF.

When David Cronenberg’s 1988 film Dead Ringers had its world premiere at TIFF to open the festival, it sparked a “classic festival scandal,” says current TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey, who was a film critic at the time.

Bailey points out that in 1988, Cronenberg was not yet “fully canonized” as one of the co...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney' Is an Inside Joke for Canadians │ Exclaim!

Anyone who says Canada's political history is boring can now be happily pointed towards Matthew Rankin's Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, a gonzo documentary that leans hard on the gonzo.As per the title, the film focuses on the ascent of Brian Mulroney from labour lawyer to Canada's 18th prime minister, and the first Tory to give the Conservatives a majority government in 26 years. While Rankin studiously takes us through an assortment of Conservative leadership races, debates, by-election...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'In the Heart of the South' Is the Work of an Auteur │ Exclaim!

Where Nyla Innuksuk's feature debut Slash/Back brought genre filmmaking to the North with a refreshing air of creativity, her sophomore effort brings the North to Toronto with a devastating psychological thriller that bends minds and perceptions.In the Heart of the South reunites North of North co-stars Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq in an entirely different environment with an entirely different relationship to that of Siaja and Millie. Playing childhood friends from Nunavut, Lambe's Yura moves to...
Exclaim! •

TIFF 2026: 'Fjord' Thrives in Ambiguity │ Exclaim!

Cristian Mungiu's Fjord presents an interesting question in a world where liberal and conservative values have construction firm boundaries: to what end should freedom be afforded to us?Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve play the parents of the Gheorghiu family, both turning in powerful performances. Stan's Mihai met Reinsve's Lisbet in his home country of Romania where his soon-to-be Norwegian wife was visiting, and the two got married, had five children and are raising them in a strict, traditi...
Exclaim! •

Exclaim!'s 10 Most Anticipated Films at TIFF 2026 │ Exclaim!

While the Ex marks the unofficial end of the summer in the city, the Toronto International Film Festival ushers in the autumn, as well as begins the push for studios to drop their award contenders.TIFF's 51st edition runs from September 10 to 20, as King Street West gets shut down to roll out the red carpet and audiences figure out what this year's ad schtick will be (at least we can count on no "Happy TIFFty" this year).As in previous years, TIFF programmers have assembled a line-up representin...