The second round of this year's film festivals is about to begin. We've had Cannes, Berlin, and Sundance – and now it's time for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which has just announced a list of acclaimed filmmakers and talent who will be premiering and screening their films at the festival.
It's a bigger deal than you might think – programmers spend most of the year attending festivals and tracking post-production projects, selecting just 69 out of 9,000 films submitted from 100 countries to make it to the special presentation rollout. The festival is also well known for highlighting future Academy Award contenders. In 2025, TIFF's featured highlights included Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, Sentimental Value, and Obsession. Running for 10 days, this year's festival kicks off on September 10 and finishes on September 20.
With the full TIFF 2026 lineup now released, there are plenty of major world premieres and screenings on the horizon. Below, the RUSSH team has curated the premiering films we're adding to our watch list
Toronto International Film Festival 2026 highlights
I Play Rock, Peter Farrelly
The director behind There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber is leading I Play Rocky, which will premiere at this year's TIFF. The film captures a young Sylvester Stallone determined to make it as an actor. We've all seen Rocky – the iconic film that thrust him into stardom – but now we get a look behind the scenes at how he wrote the ultimate underdog story. Stallone is played by Anthony Ippolito, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the actor in his transformation. Other notable cast members include AnnaSophia Robb and Stephan James.
Misty Green, Chris Rock
This is Chris Rock's first feature film with A24 – written and directed by the Actor, the story follows an actress who's career has taken a bit of a derailing, until someone from her past offers her an opportunity that grants her a comeback to acting. The rest of the cast is still pretty underwraps, including who's role is who's. However, it is a pretty major cast starring Adam Driver, Rock himself, Daniel Kaluuya and Anna Kendrick.
Always LaLisa, Sue Kim
The feature-length documentary is about the beloved K-Pop star Lisa from BLACKPINK. It follows Lisa on her first year as an independent artist, seperate from the group she rose to fame with. We're expecting a personal look behind the scenes of her life and career.
Prima Facie, Susanna White
This acclaimed story is brought to life by Cynthia Erivo, who stars as Tessa — a brilliant and ambitious barrister known for expertly defending her clients. But when she herself becomes the victim of sexual assault by a colleague, she is forced to confront the deep injustices embedded within the legal system she has spent her career upholding.
Love Of Your Life, Rachel Morrison
Love of Your Life stars Margaret Qualley as Maya, a nurse trying to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. When she unexpectedly falls for someone new, she is pulled into a relationship that challenges everything she thought she knew about love, grief and moving forward. We expect this one to be hot and steamy – it's already got an R rating.
A Talent for Murder, Anton Corbijn
This is a psychological thriller that was adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith from her own 2014 play, Switzerland. The story follows a writer from a New York publication who is sent to Switzerland to try and convince writer Patricia Highsmith to write one more instalment of the Ripley anthology. Starring Helen Mirren, Olivia Cooke and Alden Ehrenreich.
The Debut, Jesse Eisenberg
Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, The Debut is a musical comedy that stars Julianne Moore as a shy housewife Mona who gets cast in a small local theatre production, that's is under the director Jerry played by Paul Giamatti. From shy to fierce, Mona turns into a fierce method actor all in the act to protect her part in the production.
The full program
Competition
All About Corinne, Marc Fitoussi
Atonement, Reed Van Dyk
Babies, Lauren Miller Rogen
Being Heumann, Siân Heder
Bunker, Florian Zeller
Diary of a Mad Old Man, Wayne Wang
Evil Genius, Courteney Cox
Girl Group, Rebel Wilson
Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story, Adrian Buitenhuis
Onwards and Sideways, John Madden
Pretenders, Joss Crowley
Prima Facie, Susanna White
Run Terry Run, Sean Menard
Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of the First Emperor, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh
Tenzing, Jennifer Peedom
The Assassin(s), Hur Jin-ho
The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd, Tim Blake Nelson
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, Noah Segan
Up Against It, Trudie Styler
Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend, Yan Lanouette Turgeon
A Long Winter, Andrew Haigh
All of a Sudden, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
All That She Wants, Scarlett Bermingham, Andrew Rhymer
Alpha Gang, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, Takashi Miike
Bitter Christmas, Pedro Almodóvar
Clarissa, Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri
Club Kid, Jordan Firstman
Coward, Lukas Dhont
Elsinore, Simon Stone
Everest: The Other Side, Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Everybody Wants To F*** Me, Jonathan Schey
Faith, Paul Andrew Williams
Fjord, Cristian Mungiu
Gentle Monster, Marie Kreutzer
Glaxo, Benjamín Naishtat
Growth of the Soil, Hans Petter Moland
Happily Ever After, Feng-I Fiona Roan
Hombre al agua, Gael García Bernal
I Play Rocky, Peter Farrelly
In Alaska, Jaap van Heusden, Vinnie Karetak
Ink, Danny Boyle
Josephine, Beth de Araújo
La Bola Negra, Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi
Le Faux Soir, Michaël R. Roskam
Look Back, Hirokazu Kore-eda
Love of Your Life, Rachel Morrison
Minotaur, Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?, Shinya Tsukamoto
Paradise Lost, Yeon Sang-ho
Phoolan, Richie Mehta
Possible Love, Lee Chang-dong
Tender Loving Care, Mike Leigh
The Age of Goodbyes, Edmund Yeo
The Beloved, Rodrigo Sorogoyen
The Housewife, Ben Shirinian
The Julia Set, Niki Byrne
The Man I Love, Ira Sachs
The Stunt Driver, Michael Dowse
The Unknown, Arthur Harari
Whatcha Want, Mina Shum
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Bassam Tariq
