TIFF ’26: What to See at This Year’s Fest, Sept. 13
By Liz Braun, Thom Ernst, Karen Gordon, Kim Hughes, John Kirk, Chris Knight, Liam Lacey, Bonnie Laufer, Alice Shih and Jim Slotek
It’s day four of the Toronto International Film Festival, and the tireless team at Original-Cin continues filing capsule reviews of what’s screening both to guide festivalgoers on good choices at TIFF ’26 and to plant seeds for openings that will happen throughout the fall and winter. Happy screening and thanks for reading.
A scene from Elephants in the Fog.
Closing Night (Special Presentations)
Sun, Sept. 13, 2:45 pm, Scotiabank 2.
Starring Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, and Diane Wiest, Closing Night is an awards-season tragicomedy that feels tailored to show off the range of its estimable cast. Paulson is, predictably, commanding as movie star Sandra Vale, who invites her estranged family to watch her Broadway performance in Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children — and abruptly discovers she has early onset dementia. Neurotic sister April (Watts) and their sharp-tongued mom (Wiest) are joined by Sandra’s innocent nephew Theo (Toby Wallace) and his feisty partner Lucy (Odessa A’Zion). The family goes into a collective spiral, revealing lots of feelings and the secret that tore the sisters apart 30 years before. Debut director and co-writer Cody Fern does a decent job of capturing the tension of cluttered minds in claustrophobic interiors and, on a performance level, the film works, if you can ignore the contrivance of the script. LL
Club Kid (Special Presentations)
Sun, Sept. 13, 9 pm TIFF Lightbox 2; Fri, Sept. 18, 9:30 pm, VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre; Sat, Sept. 19, 5:15 pm, Scotiabank 1.
Writer-director Jordan Firstman’s feature debut is a modest but genuinely affecting triumph, an unlikely blend of weepy sentimentality and unvarnished voyeurism into New York’s underground club scene. Firstman stars as Peter, a drug-fueled — and drug-dealing — party host whose nightly shenanigans with fellow hedonists bring lots of sex but steal productive years. Into this mess lands Arlo, Peter’s heretofore unknown biological son, the result of a long-forgotten one-off. Arlo triggers in Peter a sense of purpose, but Peter’s past indiscretions threaten to topple their budding union. An eclectic cast of outcasts bring colour, humour, and compassion to the narrative, but the film soars on Firstman’s doe-eyed, tender-hearted Peter and Briton Reggie Absolom as his precocious, nonjudgmental son. KH
Elephants in the Fog (Centrepiece)
Sun, Sept. 13, 6:30 pm, Scotiabank 14; Tue, Sept. 15, 11:30 am, Scotiabank 8; Sat, Sept. 19, 5 pm, Scotiabank 13.
Deep in the lush forests of Nepal where elephants roam, there are communities of third-gender inhabitants with their own rules and rituals. New members must take a vow of chastity and join a family. The head of these families is the “Mother” who must serve the best interests of her “Daughters.” Our protagonist is a mother who has fallen in love with a local man and is planning to leave her daughters behind, upsetting them deeply. One of them rebels and vanishes into the forest. Fearing the worst for her, Mother takes the matter in her own hands, but the truth is harder to face. This Cannes 2026 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner illustrates an untouched region of Nepal revealing new challenges both geographically and emotionally. AS
Julián (Centrepiece)
Sun, Sept. 13, 11:30 am, Scotiabank 2; Sat, Sept. 19, 12:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2.
Taken from Jessica Love’s kids’ book Julián is a Mermaid, Louise Bagnall’s animated take on a “different” boy living in a world (almost) without judgment is loaded with life lessons smothered in love and patience. Sent to live with his Dominican grandmother in Brooklyn while his father is away, young Julián shows no interest in his dad’s baseball card collection, or pickup street basketball. But his world lights up when he meets a trio of girls experimenting with costumes for an upcoming Mermaid Parade. Suddenly, he has friends, and a newfound fascination with glitter. The (near) universal and sometimes resigned acceptance of Julián’s epiphany may sometimes seem from another planet, but it’s a sweet and colourful one. JS
Long Long Night (Centrepiece)
Sun, Sept. 13, 9:35 pm, Scotiabank 8; Fri, Sept. 18, 11:30 am, Scotiabank 5.
Beautifully crafted but a little too long (go figure with that title), Long Long Night uses computer-generated animation to tell the story of a penguin and a last-of-his-kind rhino who escape from an African zoo and go looking for the ocean. Madagascar it ain’t — more along the lines of 2024’s animated Oscar winner Flow, although the comparison made me wish this one had also chosen to go dialogue-free. (Talking animals immediately craft a different vibe than silent ones.) There are incredible visual moments, like a crocodile attack and the rhino’s adoptive elephant family, but also a bit too much scatological humour. CK
Our Loves (Centrepiece)
Sun, Sept. 13, 2:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2; Tue, Sept. 15, 11 am, TIFF Lightbox 2; Sat, Sept. 19, 9:30 am, TIFF Lightbox 2.
Avi Nesher’s Our Loves is a deeply emotional, though not political, ensemble drama that explores personal identity, human connection, and resilience. The film centres around everyday Israelis navigating intense personal grievances in southern Israel: a young observant woman suddenly dumped by her fiancé, a retired cop demanding his son take his side in a bitter divorce, and a community officer attempting to hide her same-sex relationship from her conservative mother. Life takes a huge turn when catastrophe strikes on October 7, forcing this group to look at life through a different lens struggling for empathy, community, and survival. The film focuses on the internal struggles of the characters and how they deal with such intense tragedy, making the story relatable and very human. BL
Read our (dare we say fantastic?) interview with Our Loves director Avi Nesher
Purgatory (Discovery)
Sun, Sept. 13, 6:35 pm, Scotiabank 7.
Teenage angst, never a dull moment. Even more extreme when your parents are separating, your faith is questioned, and the only thing you can think of is trying to get your mom and dad back together. Purgatory is a delightful film that introduces us to breakout star Ruby McGurrin, who shines as Beatrice, a precocious 13-year-old who questions everything she values when her mom leaves the family home to “find herself.” Standout performances come from Abby Elliot as the mom, J.K. Simmons as the ever-patient priest who endures Beatrice’s endless confessionals, and the always fantastic Mary Walsh as a strict Catholic schoolteacher. BL
A scene from Turtle Island Rap.
Turtle Island Rap (TIFF Docs)
Sun, Sept. 13, 6:20 pm, Scotiabank 4; Tue, Sept. 15, 6:35 pm, Scotiabank 7.
Rap has proved a flexible megaphone for marginalized voices and personal storytelling around the world, including North American Indigenous youth. Alexandra Lazarowich’s documentary follows three such aspiring performers. There’s alternative producer and rapper Wiidaaseh, originally from Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island who lives in Toronto, has a day job as a cook, and wears a mask while performing to cover for his shyness. A$h Da Hunter, a young woman of Yavapai-Apachi background near Phoenix, sells burritos on the road with her manager-mother while trying to repair her relationship with her estranged father, who is fresh out of jail. The third performer, Travis Thompson, who is Navajo though raised in suburban Seattle (hometown of Macklemore and Sir Mix-A-Lot, who make brief appearances) is the most successful of the group, making the transition from a major label to working as an independent artist. The film hops back and forth between these likeable, candid personalities, marking both their successes and personal obstacles over an undefined period. The three are connected by the broad themes of cultural pride, dedication to craft and resilience, but more attention to their individual lyrics and messages would be welcome. LL
Whatcha Want (Special Presentations)
Sun, Sept. 13, 9:30 pm, Scotiabank 14.
Another charming dramedy from veteran Chinese Canadian auteur Mina Shum on a women’s issue: To be or not to be a trophy wife, that is the question. Many businessmen leave their wives in Canada to go back to work in Asia. These women are sometimes referred to as astronaut wives, as their husbands are hardly ever present. Our protagonist Yin (Isabella Wei) who was raised in Hong Kong and who loved to dance before she married BT (Hugh Tran) finds out her husband is having an affair during a Zoom meeting. She wants a divorce, but her best friend (Ming-na Wen) weighs the pros and cons and asks her to reconsider her options. Isabella Wei proves to be a rising star. AS