The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival is only days away, and every year we compile a list of must-see films to check out at the fest. There’s currently over 300 films screening at this year’s film festival which celebrates its 50th year in 2025. Not every attendee can see that many films, so with that in mind, here is a selection of films to keep on your short list!
Eleanor The Great
Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut in this evocative film about a 95-year old woman by the name of Eleanor (June Squibb) who strikes a fascinating and endearing friendship with Nina (Erin Kellyman) a college student studying journalism who wants write an editorial on Eleanor and her history as a Holocaust survivor. The kicker? Eleanor isn’t actually a Holocaust survivor. She’s been living vicariously through her best friend and long-time roommate Bessie (Rita Zohar) and telling her story. Bessie is in fact an actual Holocaust survivor and years ago, shared the gut-wrenching story of her survival to Eleanor. The two shared a home together in Florida, but when Bessie recently passed away, Eleanor moved in with her daughter and grandson in their New York City apartment. When Eleanor visits the Jewish Community Center on her daughter’s wishes, that is where the story begins between Nina and Eleanor who build an unexpected friendship that blossoms into something both would never expect. Chiwetel Ejifor also stars in the film as Nina’s father Roger.
If you’re interested in heartwarming stories, women-centric narratives and doses of humor with a burst of drama this film may be right up your alley.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
Laundry
With an ensemble cast featuring captivating performances, Zamo Mkhwanazi’s gut-wrenching film Laundry will have you leaned in from the opening credits to when the movie fades to black. At the core of this story, Laundry is about a family-run laundry business set up in a whites-only neighborhood. Enoch (Siyabonga Shibe) is bestowed with the rare privilege of having this access as the family’s tough but protective patriarch. However, it’s only on paper that he’s allowed to be there. In reality, that permission doesn’t shield him from the hostility of neighbors, local law enforcement or the crushing unpredictability of an oppressive government. At home, Enoch dreams of passing the business down to his son Khuthala (Ntobeko Sishi). But Khuthala wants to become a musician. What follows is a gripping family drama filled with secrets, ambition, and the struggle to carve out freedom in a world determined to shut it down.
If you’re interested in international narratives and historical dramas this is one worth checking out. Be prepared to have your heart ripped out through your chest with this one.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
Steal Away
Clement Virgo, who back at TIFF 2022 gave us the evocative film Brother starring Aaron Pierre and Lamar Johnson, has returned with Steal Away. Part fairy tale and part horror story, this mind-bending thriller stars Mallori Johnson as Cécile (Kindred) and Angourie Rice (Mean Girls) as Fanny. The two women who form a bond that may be the key to withstanding the turbulent forces of passion and peril encircling them. However, there are temptations and dangers that engulf them.
Fanny lives within the confines of her wealthy mansion, not having much street sense and Cécile along with her mother seek refuge in Fanny’s estate. Her mother Florence (Lauren Lee Smith), is a known humanitarian with a history of housing immigrants. But as the viewer follows this story along with our protagonists, we learn that not everything is exactly as it seems. And what appears to be beautiful and pristine on the outside, carries a deep, dark and ugly secret on the inside.
If you’re into films with extreme plot twists that take you on an unexpected journey, Steal Away is one to keep on your radar.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
Youngblood
Hubert Davis reimagines the sports drama with Youngblood, a thought-provoking and emotionally precise take on hockey, masculinity, and resilience. While it shares a title with the 1986 Rob Lowe film, Davis’ version pushes past nostalgia, recasting the ice as an arena where identity and aggression collide.
Ashton James delivers a breakout performance as Dean Youngblood, a gifted but volatile player hardened by his father Blane (Blair Underwood). A last chance with the Hamilton Mustangs forces Dean to confront corrosive locker-room culture, prove himself to wary coach Murray (Shawn Doyle, also at the Festival in Nika & Madison), and navigate his growing connection with Murray’s daughter Jessie (Alexandra McDonald).
The film was originally set to be directed by the late Charles Officer, and carries a legacy that Davis honors with both grit and grace. Balancing moments of quiet fracture with visceral, hard-hitting hockey action, Youngblood cements Davis as one of Canada’s most essential filmmakers. If you’re a fan of sports dramas, this one you definitely do not want to miss.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
Dust Bunny
What happens when you conjure up a recipe of three of the greatest shows on TV into one film? Sprinkle in the whimsical element of Pushing Daisies, add a dash of the darkness of Hannibal and top it off with the fantastical aspects of American Gods and you have Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny. Director Bryan Fuller by the way, was the creator for the aforementioned shows included here. Aurora (Sophie Sloan) discovers there’s a monster under her bed. And what may seem like a harmless situation for Aurora turns out to have devastating consequences for whoever gets in the monster’s way. So much so that Aurora has to hire a hit man (Mads Mikkelsen) to kill it. But the job isn’t going to be quite that easy.
On the surface, Dust Bunny might look like a quirky, family-friendly horror fable, but don’t be fooled. Beneath its playful premise lurks a deliciously dark core, the kind of offbeat storytelling that instantly calls back to Bryan Fuller’s TV legacy (and we know his shows stay living rent-free in fandom hearts forever). Adding to the hype, the film’s cast boasts none other than the sci-fi queen herself, Sigourney Weaver, alongside genre favorite David Dastmalchian. Together, they’re serving up a bedtime story that horror stans, action junkies, and lifelong Midnighters will be swapping like it’s fresh fandom canon.
If you’re a fan of Pushing Daisies, Hannibal, American Gods, Dead Like Me…heck anything Bryan Fuller, be sure to have this one as a priority to check out.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
The Man In My Basement
There’s something about Willem Dafoe playing a creepy guy that’s always piqued my interest. If you feel the same, then look no further than The Man In My Basement, adapted from the Walter Mosely novel of the same name.
Charles Blakely (Corey Hawkins) is at his end with his finances. He’s drowning in debt, his sick mother recently passed, and he can’t seem to find work. He’s also about to lose his home. One fateful day a mysterious man by the name of Anniston Bennet (Willem Dafoe) offers to rent his basement for a large sum of money, enough money that will allow him to keep his house and then some. While Blakely has some serious doubts about this mysterious man’s intentions, the money is just too tempting to give up.
As Charles is pulled deeper into his tenant’s unsettling world, the boundary between reality and childhood fears begins to dissolve. What emerges is a chilling recognition: what is buried is never truly gone, nor entirely forgotten.
Anchored by searing performances from Willem Dafoe and Corey Hawkins, Nadia Latif’s The Man in My Basement announces itself as a bold entry for the filmmaker. In a moment defined by polarization and willful blindness, the film’s power lies in watching two men, divided by background yet bound by circumstance — grapple with the presence of evil in its starkest, most unflinching way. If you love character-driven performances, keep this one on your radar.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
Dinner With Friends
Last year during our TIFF curtain-raiser one of our must-see films was Millers In Marriage, a narrative about interconnected stories about complicated relationships and people navigating adulthood. In Sasha Leigh Henry’s film Dinner With Friends, she offers a unique perspective on exactly that, but using the dinner table as a placeholder for the story.
Creator Henry, with longtime collaborator Tania Thompson, takes the most mundane parts of adult life — aging parents, endless commutes, the grind of responsibility — and spins them into combustible drama and razor-sharp character turns.
The only time we step outside the group is at the start, with Joy (Tattiawna Jones) and Malachi (Alex Spencer), a married couple debating whether it’s even worth dragging their friends back together. Once they do, all bets are off. Old tensions bubble up, loyalties shift, and those “remember when” stories start cutting a little too close to the bone.
This isn’t just catching up with old friends — it’s watching what happens when history, humor, and heartbreak collide at the dinner table. If you’re a fan of the 2023 TIFF selection Bria Mack Gets A Life, also directed by Sasha Leigh Henry, you’re sure to enjoy her follow-up project.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
My Father’s Shadow
This film marks the directorial debut of Akinola Davies Jr. who delivers a heartfelt narrative about a father named Folarin (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) and his two sons Remi (Chibuike Marvelous Egbo) and Aki (Godwin Egbo). Real-life brothers Chibuike and Godwin give riveting performances as sons tethered to their absentee dad that has wandered back into their lives and three share this journey together. Folarin works to collect a salary that is due to him, while his sons are not only still getting to know his father, but at times question his loyalty to his mother and to his presence in their lives. Set in the backdrop of Lagos, Nigeria during 1993 under harsh military rule, the film explores the politics of the region, the family dynamics of this single parent relationship and this coming of age story of our protagonists, Remi and Aki.
If you’re intrigued by family dramas and coming of age stories check this one out.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
The title alone is certainly intriguing. But Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is a film that is a character study on what happens when you feel like your life is spiraling out of control? Rose Byrne plays Linda, whose daughter is suffering from an illness that forces her to tend to her 24/7. While her spouse is away, she’s left with the responsibility of being the sole provider of her daughter’s care. Meanwhile, more added pressure and weight to Linda’s stress occurs when a pipe in her home bursts causing a gaping hole in her ceiling to open up and floods her home. This forces her to move into a motel, where she meets a superintendent (A$AP Rocky) who is helpful when she needs it. Who isn’t helpful is her therapist (Conan O’Brien) who she thinks hates her.
This film played over at Sundance with great buzz and was picked up by A24. Now making its premiere at TIFF. If you’re into films that are heavily character-driven and deliver a substantive story. Don’t walk…run to see this movie.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
Director Kahlil Joseph brings together an ensemble of leading Black intellectuals to co-author BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions. A film framing itself as an act of shared imagination. Bold in form and daring in scope, the work unfolds like a cinematic mixtape, layering textures that echo the rhythm and improvisation of music. Its structure resists linearity, weaving through memoir, speculative storytelling, archival fragments, and references to celebrated artists (including some familiar Wavelengths figures), all stitched together through a restless, associative flow.
At its center, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions balances two narrative threads. One takes root in the vision of Pan-Africanist thinker W. E. B. Du Bois and his never-realized Encyclopedia Africana, reimagined here as a living, illustrated archive. The other follows a journalist charting the contours of an Afro-futurist art biennale staged on a cruise ship named The Nautica. This vessel nods both to Marcus Garvey’s dream of the Black Star Line and to the spirit of painter Noah Davis, whose Underground Museum remains a beacon for radical Black cultural expression.
If you’re into avant-garde stylized films, put this one on your radar.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here.
Little Lorraine
Rooted in the real-life 1986 Cape Breton mining disaster that claimed ten lives, this gripping crime drama reimagines the fallout of economic collapse on a coastal community. What begins as a tale of survival quickly spirals into an underworld thriller, blending the rhythms of small-town fishing with the high stakes of international drug trafficking.
Stephen Amell (Arrow) anchors the story as Jimmy, a miner suddenly stripped of livelihood when the pits close. Salvation appears in the form of his slippery great uncle Huey, played with trademark menace by Nova Scotian stalwart Stephen McHattie, who lures Jimmy onto his lobster boat under the guise of honest work. Seeing a chance at stability, Jimmy ropes in his friends Tommy (Joshua Close) and Jake (Steve Lund), and before long, the trio are flush with cash and convinced they’ve found their escape hatch. Director Andy Hines makes his feature debut in this flick.
If you love films that have an 80s nostalgic vibe, this may be the one for you.
For more information on when and where to watch screenings go here.
From intimate character studies to sprawling international narratives, the slate is nothing short of essential viewing. For audiences eager to witness the films that will shape conversations and awards races in the months ahead, TIFF continues to be the place where must-see cinema reveals itself first. The festival runs Sept 4-14th.
