The 20 Most Anticipated Movies at TIFF 2026
The 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) runs September 10–20, and this year's lineup is one of the most stacked in recent memory. Across 11 days, 427 films of all genres will be screened across the city, with opening day alone featuring 98 premieres. The TIFF screenings are divided into regular and premium, with the latter categories including Galas and Special Presentations sections, which are the festival's most prestigious programming tier, drawing filmmakers and stars from nearly every corner of the industry.
It's hard to narrow down this list to be universal, but we've come to 20 films we're watching more closely this year. From a Palme d'Or winner making its North American debut to a hitman drama starring a two-time Oscar winner, a disability rights biopic opening the whole festival, and a long-awaited return from one of South Korea's greatest filmmakers, there is no shortage of reasons to be excited. Here are the 20 most anticipated movies at TIFF 2026.
'Being Heumann'
Director: Siân Heder | Cast: Ruth Madeley, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O'Brien, Rob Delaney, Ray Fisher
Being Heumann is the festival opener and possibly its most anticipated film. Siân Heder's follow-up to her Best Picture Oscar winner CODA tells the true story of Judy Heumann, the disability rights activist who in 1977 led over a hundred protesters in a 28-day occupation of San Francisco's Federal Building—the longest nonviolent sit-in of a federal facility in US history.
Ruth Madeley (Doctor Who) embodies Heumann's scrappy, defiant spirit, while Mark Ruffalo plays the bureaucrat standing in her way, seemingly opposite to his real-life activism efforts. Being Heumann is an Apple Original Film and already carries the weight of one of the year's most prominent awards campaigns before a single frame has been seen by the public.
'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother'
Director: Bassam Tariq | Cast: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone, Laith Nakli
Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali stars in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother as Latif, a devoutly religious hitman struggling to balance work, faith, and fatherhood in Houston. When his wife dies, he embarks on a desperate journey to protect and feed his children, all while balancing his past and involvement with forces outside his power. The name of the film refers to a well-known Islamic Hadith that teaches and preaches respect for mothers.
Writer-director Bassam Tariq reunites with Ali after their long-gestating Blade project was shelved, channeling that energy into something more personal and arguably more interesting. With a September 25 theatrical release and a TIFF world premiere on Friday, September 18, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother arrives at exactly the right moment in the awards calendar.
'A Talent for Murder'
Director: Anton Corbijn | Cast: Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Cooke, Juliet Stevenson
Anton Corbijn's first feature in over a decade, A Talent for Murder is adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith from her stage play Switzerland. The story imagines a fictional encounter between the acclaimed crime novelist Patricia Highsmith (Helen Mirren) and young literary agent Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich) sent from New York to persuade her to write one final Tom Ripley novel.
Set in 1995 at Highsmith's isolated Swiss retreat, Edward's visit turns more sinister with each passing hour. Mirren is a natural fit for Highsmith's enigmatic darkness, but IndieWire's early preview singles out Ehrenreich as delivering a bold, multifaceted performance that could redefine his career. The theatrical release is set for October 23, and the TIFF premiere is set for Monday, September 14.
'Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo'
Director: Takashi Miike | Cast: Shun Oguri, Lily James, Liv Morgan, Jun Kunimura, Hiroshi Tachi
The third (somewhat unofficial) installment in the Bad Lieutenant movie series, Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, follows Abel Ferrara's 1992 original and Werner Herzog's Port of Call New Orleans. The third film was crafted by the Japanese cult auteur Takashi Miike, which is as fitting a pairing as cinema could devise.
Japan's biggest TV and film star, Shun Oguri, plays a gambling-addicted Tokyo cop who gets drawn into an intricate investigation when an FBI agent (Lily James) arrives to find a politician's missing daughter. At the same time, a plot about a deviant killer watching their every move is introduced, promising to provide the signature Miike twist to the film. Distributed by Neon, Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo is one of the festival's most purely exciting genre offerings; it premieres on Monday, September 14, at TIFF.
'Elsinore'
Director: Simon Stone | Cast: Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, Joe Locke, Peter Mullan, Juliet Stevenson
In 1989, Scottish actor Ian Charleson, best known for Chariots of Fire, delivered a legendary run of 24 performances as Hamlet at London's National Theatre while privately battling AIDS. Simon Stone's Elsinore tells that story with Andrew Scott, himself a celebrated stage Hamlet, in the lead role. Oscar winner Olivia Colman plays Charleson's doctor, while a greatly talented ensemble of British actors fills out the rest of the cast with exceptional beauty.
Early reactions to Elsinore have been especially strong, in particular to Scott's performance, which has emerged as one of the season's defining discoveries and a leading contender in the upcoming Best Actor race. Focus Features opens it November 20, while the TIFF premiere is set for Saturday, September 12.
'Fjord'
Director: Cristian Mungiu | Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve
Cristian Mungiu's Fjord won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, making him only the tenth filmmaker to claim the award twice. His first English-language film follows a Romanian-Norwegian couple, Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) and Mihai Gheorghiu (Sebastian Stan). Reinsve and Stan reunite after having previously starred together in A Different Man, playing the Gheorghius as they move to the remote Norwegian village where Lisbeth was born with their five children. When they are suspected of treating their children in ways the community disapproves of, the cultural and social scrutiny spirals into a legal issue.
Fjord is a slow-burning social drama about cultural friction, parenting, and institutional power. It arrives at TIFF as the strongest international awards contender of the season and a leading contender for the People's Choice Award. Fjord premieres on Thursday, September 10.
'Ink'
Director: Danny Boyle | Cast: Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy, Bertie Carvel, Georgie Henley
Danny Boyle opened the 2026 Venice Film Festival with his latest film, Ink, an adaptation of James Graham's Tony-nominated stage play of the same name, earning a four-minute standing ovation in the process. Set in 1969 London, Ink chronicles Rupert Murdoch's transformation of The Sun into Britain's dominant tabloid, depicting a story of ambition, moral compromise, and the reshaping of modern media as it took place.
Guy Pearce plays a brash, thirty-something Murdoch, two years on from his first Oscar nomination for The Brutalist, while Jack O'Connell plays the working-class editor Larry Lamb, who crosses every line to get the story. The film is distributed by Netflix and will premiere on the streaming service in December. After having its world premiere on September 2 in Venice, it will screen on Tuesday, September 15, at TIFF.
'Atonement'
Director: Reed Van Dyk | Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Hiam Abbass, Kenneth Branagh
Reed Van Dyk's feature debut, Atonement, is based on Dexter Filkins' acclaimed New Yorker article of the same name, about a US Marine haunted by memories of a deadly incident in Baghdad in 2003 as he seeks out the surviving family members in Iraq to try to reconcile.
Atonement was described by Variety as a "different kind of war movie," and it premiered at Cannes Directors' Fortnight, where it was nominated for the Caméra d'Or. It arrives at TIFF as a Gala Presentation ahead of its October 2 release via Kino Lorber. Letterboxd reviews from festival-goers describe Boyd Holbrook delivering a career-best performance, while Hiam Abbass brings understated strength to the other side of an impossible confrontation. The TIFF premiere of Atonement is set for Thursday, September 10.
'Tender Loving Care'
Director: Mike Leigh | Cast: Kate O'Flynn, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Alice Bailey Johnson
Tender Loving Care is—possibly—seven-time Oscar nominee Mike Leigh's final film, and it is exactly what his loyal audience would hope for: an intimate, emotional portrait of ordinary British life under strain. Kate O'Flynn plays Amy, a government child-protection worker whose personal life begins clashing with the emotional demands of her job, while her elderly parents grapple with their own crisis.
Leigh has spent decades finding drama in ordinary people, and early reactions have been particularly strong for O'Flynn, whose performance has emerged as one of the season's breakthrough discoveries. Distributed by Bleecker Street, Tender Loving Care is set to premiere on the first day of TIFF, September 10.
'Club Kid'
Director: Jordan Firstman | Cast: Jordan Firstman, Reggie Absolom, Diego Calva
Writer-director-star Jordan Firstman, better known until recently as a social media personality, proved at Cannes that his storytelling talent transcends mediums. In Club Kid, Firstman plays Peter, a hedonistic New York club promoter whose whirlwind lifestyle is upended by the arrival of Arlo, the 10-year-old son he never knew he had.
It is an offbeat, charming story of parenthood, redemption, and unexpected bonds that earned a 7-minute standing ovation after its Cannes premiere. One of the year's most delightful surprises, Club Kid is set to premiere at TIFF on the first day of the festival, September 10.
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