The Toronto International Film Festival is back for its 50th edition and as we prepare ourselves to run around King Street, live off stale popcorn and copious amounts of coffee, while fighting the inevitable hoards at the Criterion Closet, we look ahead to this year’s catalogue. As in previous years, TIFF’s programmers are bringing some of the most highly anticipated titles of the year to Toronto, as well as a multitude of gems from emerging filmmakers and international talents.
Grab your notebooks, water bottles, and runners — it’s the most wonderful time of the year!
A Useful Ghost
Dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
When it comes to Asian horror cinema, I feel like Thailand’s output stands underrated, especially on a Western, mainstream scale. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s film stood out to me for two reasons: firstly, it’s one of the (very) few Asian LGBTQ+ films playing at TIFF this year; and, secondly, vacuums possessed by ghosts. That it’s being promoted as an amalgamation of genres and likened to Yorgos Lanthimos can only mean we’re in for a treat.
—Jericho Tadeo
Between Dreams and Hope
Dir. Farnoosh Samadi
Admittedly, I’m bracing myself for this one. I’ve had the privilege of covering many films from Iranian women filmmakers at different festivals, and there’s always been an undercurrent of resistance and protest in their works, but also — and most importantly — joy. Farnooh Samadi’s film feels like it’ll be a harrowing journey across the kaleidoscope of the human experience, and I can’t wait to be inspired (maybe even devastated).
—Jericho Tadeo
The Furious
Dir. Kenji Tanigaki
Being a staple of Hong Kong’s action cinema scene for more than two decades now, Kenji Tanigaki has become synonymous with refined choreography of the highest quality. With the exception of some mid-tier action films in Japan during the early 2000s, he has rarely taken the reigns as a director, and mainly worked as a steadfast action choreographer. Ignoring his co-directorial effort with Wong Jing on Enter the Fat Dragon (which featured Donnie Yen in a fat suit), The Furious looks to be the Christening of Tanigaki as a director that fans have been yearning for. Featuring action powerhouses Xie Miao and Joe Taslim, amongst others, this is a film that seems perfectly suited for the Midnight Madness program. One can only imagine that it will ignite the crowd in a way that SPL: Sha Po Lang and SPL II: A Time For Consequences did during their respective TIFF premieres. Any fan of Hong Kong action cinema should be more than ecstatic for The Furious.
—Wilson Kwong
Hamlet
Dir. Aneil Karia
There have been so many interpretations of Shakespeare’s timeless Danish play that another can feel a little stale. This newest iteration promises to shake things up by setting the angst-filled tragedy of Hamlet within the South Asian community of modern-day England. Helmed by the chameleonic and mesmerizing Riz Ahmed, Aneil Karia’s latest film is sure to be an intriguing interpretation of those classic themes of family, betrayal, grief, faith, and doubt. I can’t wait to see how the original text translates to a thoroughly contemporary context with a predominantly non-white cast.
—Rose Ho
It Was Just an Accident
Dir. Jafar Panahi
The most recent Palm D’Or winner out of Cannes, It Was Just an Accident marks Jafar Panahi’s first film since his 2022 release from imprisonment in Iran. A key member of the Iranian New Wave, Panahi’s latest reflects the filmmaker’s most recent plight following a recently released inmate who confronts his supposed torturer. Decisions of whether to show mercy or exact revenge become the movie’s core, setting up what looks to be a vibrant and poignant thriller.
—Rachel Ho
Magellan
Dir. Lav Diaz
Putting Ferdinand Magellan on screen will always be tricky, depending on which side of history you’re looking from. For Filipinos, he’s not just a historical figure but a reminder of colonization and the way narratives have been bent to glorify the conqueror. That’s exactly why Lav Diaz, for me, feels like the right filmmaker to take this on. His films have always been fearless in confronting national memory, never shying away from uncomfortable truths, yet refusing to simplify them into easy answers. I’m especially curious about Magellan because, at under three hours, it’s among his shortest films — a rarity from a director best known for eight-hour canvases of history and trauma. For longtime admirers, it promises to be another sharp, unflinching reflection; for newcomers, it might finally be the approachable entry point into one of Philippine cinema’s most uncompromising voices.
—Paul Enicola
No Other Choice
Dir. Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook returns to Toronto with No Other Choice, a film based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax following a desperate jobseeker pushed to the extreme. The ensemble cast includes Squid Game‘s Lee Byung-hun and we can be sure the Korean auteur will bring his full bag of tricks and filmmaking flourishes to his follow to Decision to Leave. Some directors build a reputation such that the mere mention of their name creates must-see viewing, and Park’s lengthy career has certainly justified that honour.
—Rachel Ho
Palestine 36
Dir. Annemarie Jacir
It’s hard to turn on the news or click onto our social feeds today without seeing something related to Palestine and the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The modern-day politics of the country almost demands a retread of its history, and while a dramatization, Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 feels like a good starting point to the country’s colonial past. Jacir’s film will examine Palestinian life in 1936 across a wide swathe of the population, showing the complexity of the country’s people, history, and identity.
—Rachel Ho
Renoir
Dir. Chie Hayakawa
I was immediately taken with Chie Hayakawa’s debut Plan 75, which also premiered at TIFF a few years back. That film showed her ability to handle urgent social themes without ever losing sight of the individual human being at the centre. It’s that balance — between the intimate and the political — that makes her one of the most exciting Japanese filmmakers working today. Renoir looks to continue in that vein, focusing not on spectacle but on the quotidian rhythms of life and the quiet decisions that shape us. I’m eager to see how she builds on the promise of her first feature, especially in a story that seems to ask us to slow down and really look at people as they are.
—Paul Enicola
Rental Family
Dir. HIKARI
The second I saw Brendan Fraser’s face appear in the trailer, I was sold. In his post-Oscar return to TIFF after his momentous work in The Whale, Fraser gets to star in more lighthearted fare, leveraging his innate likability. Directed by HIKARI, Rental Family looks to be a comedic yet heartwarming tale of a struggling American actor hired to take on unusual roles in the lives of various Japanese people. Based on the trailer, the film appears sweet, humanist, and life-affirming, scratching a heretofore unrealized itch of exactly what I want to see Fraser doing on screen. Fun fact: HIKARI directed three episodes of the acclaimed Netflix and A24 series BEEF.
—Rose Ho
The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 4 to 14. Be sure to check back here for all our coverage!
