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Toronto International Film Festival · 2026

Toronto International Film Festival 2026

Special Presentations

Programme

14 films · 6 reviews

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All Of A Sudden (Soudain)

Review preview for All Of A Sudden

Hamaguchi’s most pointed provocation is not that the nursing home becomes excessive in its care, but that ordinary neglect has trained us to see basic tenderness as excess.

Edin Custo · 3.5 out of 5
The director of a nursing home in Paris has an encounter with a terminally ill Japanese playwright that transforms her life.

(Country: Japan, France, Belgium, Germany; Year: 2026; Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi; Writer: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna; Stars: Virginie Efira, Tao Okamoto, Kyōzō Nagatsuka, Kodai Kurosaki, Jean-Louis Garçon, Marie Bunel, Jean-Charles Clichet, Margot Maricot, Lazare Gousseau, Jérôme Chappatte, Evelyne Istria, Elisabeth Tamaris, Aurélia Petit, Heidi Becker-Babel)

Full review

All That She Wants

The story of a woman who, after a nasty breakup, hooks up with a charming younger man, only to realise she used to be his babysitter.

(Country: Canada, US; Year: 2026; Director: Scarlett Bermingham, Andrew Rhymer; Writer: David West Reed; Stars: Alden AdairI, liyana Ambrose, Christine Baranski, Lara Da Silva, Everly Dunne)

Alpha Gang

Alien invaders, in the form of a 1950's biker gang, are sent on a mission to conquer Earth.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner; Writer: David Zellner; Stars: Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Dave Bautista, Léa Seydoux, Riley Keough, Lily-Rose Depp)

Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo

A gambling-addicted Tokyo cop and an FBI agent search for a missing politician's daughter, while a mysterious killer lurks in the criminal underworld, watching their every move.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2026; Director: Takashi Miike; Writer: Daisuke Tengan; Stars: Shun Oguri, Lily James, Gionna Daddio, Nihi, Takanori Iwati, Yuka Kouri)

Bitter Christmas

Melodrama featuring parallel stories asks what right a filmmaker has to plunder reality of those close to them for their work.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2026; Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Writer: Pedro Almodóvar; Stars: Bárbara Lennie, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Victoria Luengo, Patrick Criado, Milena Smit, Quim Gutiérrez, Rossy de Palma, Carmen Machi, Antonio Araque, Diogo Belizario, Nourdin Batán, Laura Ledesma, Tusti de las Heras, Gloria Muñoz)

Bucking Fastard

Review preview for Bucking Fastard

For all the strangeness of the premise there’s not a lot of meat on the bones of this story.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
The adventures of a pair of twins whose speech is synchronised and lives co-dependent.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Werner Herzog; Writer: Werner Herzog; Stars: Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Hugh O'Conor, Simon Delaney, Terry McMahon, Shane Connellan, Orlando Bloom, Domhnall Gleeson)

Full review

Clarissa

A modern reimagining of the Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Chuko Esiri, Arie Esiri; Writer: Chuko Esiri; Stars: Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo, India Ria Amarteifio, Ayo Edebiri, Toheeb Jimoh, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Jude Akuwudike, Kehinde Cardoso, Ogranya, Danny Sapani, Fortune Nwafor, Modesinuola Ogundiwin, Joy Sunday, Chioma Omeruah, Joke Silva)

Closing Night

When an internationally renowned movie star invites her estranged family to the opening night of her Broadway play after decades of silence, old wounds resurface almost as quickly as old habits.

(Country: Australia, Canada; Year: 2026; Director: Cody Fern; Writer: Cody Fern, Devon Bostick; Stars: Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Dianne Wiest, Odessa A'zion, Toby Wallace)

Fjord

Review preview for Fjord

Mungiu’s eye moves between the juggernaut and the barely visible.

Edin Custo · 3.5 out of 5
Mihai and Lisbet Gheorghiu, a devout Romanian Norwegian couple, move from Romania to Norway with their children to be closer to Lisbet’s family. But tension mounts when one of the children arrives at school with bruises.

(Country: Romania, France, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden; Year: 2026; Director: Cristian Mungiu; Writer: Cristian Mungiu; Stars: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Giulia Nahmany, Ingvild Lien, Turid Vatne, Alin Panc, Emilie Hetland, Sofie Vartdal)

Full review

Gentle Monster

Review preview for Gentle Monster

Seydoux takes us into the maelstrom with Lucy, determined and doubtful, angry and grief-stricken, fearful and belligerent all at the same time.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A woman struggles with her feelings after discovering her husband's grim secret.

(Country: France, Finland, Germany, Austria; Year: 2026; Director: Marie Kreutzer; Writer: Marie Kreutzer; Stars: Léa Seydoux, Catherine Deneuve, Jella Haase, Laurence Rupp, Sylvester Groth, Katharina Lorenz, Regina Fritsch, Raphael Nicholas, Anton Rubtsov, Nils Strunk)

Full review

A Good Little Soldier

A successful business executive tasked with promoting employee wellbeing while still meeting performance goals finds herself pushed to breaking point.

(Country: France; Year: 2026; Director: Stéphane Brizé; Writer: Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo, Olivier Gorce; Stars: Alba Rohrwacher, Vincent Lindon, Sharif Andoura, David Talbot)

A Long Winter

Review preview for A Long Winter

Worse than incomplete, Haigh's film lacks a fully developed soul. This is in spite of striking aesthetic moments and sharply written scenes complemented by strong performances from the cast.

Paul Risker · 2.5 out of 5
Returning to his childhood home deep in the mountains, Mike is drawn back into the quiet rituals of family life as the clan prepares for the winter ahead.

(Country: UK, Canada; Year: 2026; Director: Andrew Haigh; Writer: Andrew Haigh; Stars: Fred Hechinger, Caitríona Balfe, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Kit Connor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Furr, Susan Serrao, Anthony Timpano, Geoff Gustafson, Camille Sullivan, Martin Freeman)

Full review

Tender Loving Care

Review preview for Tender Loving Care

Tender Loving Care is all about the little bits of conversation that make the world a bit more comfy for others.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
In contemporary London, social workers Amy and Rosie navigate the stressors and joys of life together, be that work, family or messy dating lives.

(Country: UK, US, Singapore; Year: 2026; Director: Mike Leigh; Writer: Mike Leigh; Stars: Kate O'Flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson)

Full review See: Mike Leigh and the Tender Loving Care cast on humanity and looking out for one another

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

An assassin and father of three, Latif’s life is turned upside down when his wife dies. He struggles to balance his two very different worlds, but when a hit goes south and as forces close in around him, he sets off on a desperate journey to protect his children.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2026; Director: Bassam Tariq; Writer: Bassam Tariq; Stars: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone, Laith Nakli, Adia, Jahleel Kamara, Shakirah DeMesier, James Dormuth, Shawn Jain, Derrick Goodman Jr., Irene Santiago, Ali Alsaleh)