Move over, Oprah and Uma! Hamnet and Hamlet are the new to-may-to/to-mah-to on the film beat. They’re also bound to be the most frequently confused titles at the Toronto International Film Festival since someone with a sense of humour programmed Truth and Youth at the Winter Garden/Elgin at the same time at TIFF ’15. It was chaos with two of the festival’s buzziest queues side by side!
In anticipation of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival kicking off next week for its 50th edition, and the battle royal of Single Ticket Day quickly approaching, That Shelf asked its writers to share their picks for the three films atop their TIFF watch lists. Knives will be out, machines will be smashed, and hams will be both ‘net and ‘let! – Pat Mullen
Emma Badame
Hamnet
Programme: Galas
I’m a sucker for all things Shakespeare, be it a new adaptation of one of his works or, like Hamnet, a look at the playwright himself. Primarily, when it explores his relationship with his wife and family—a side we know less about, even if much of it is supposition. Add a pedigree cast like Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley, and then Chloé Zhao behind the camera, and it shoots to the top of my must-see TIFF list.
Mārama
Programme: Discovery
I’m as much a sucker for Gothic drama as I am for the Shakespearean kind. This film from New Zealand is set to explore colonial trauma amid a backdrop of stuffy Victorian restrictions, and it fits perfectly into the category of the former. It seems it might be in the vein of Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, the striking Jane Eyre prequel that explores similar themes, and given that Mārama co-stars Toby Stephens—my personal favourite of the many on-screen Mr. Rochesters—it seems it could be a real hidden gem perfectly calibrated for me.
Blue Moon
Programme: Centrepiece
One of two Richard Linklater films at TIFF this year, this drama-cum-biopic explores the career of songwriter Lorenz Hart on the opening night of Oklahoma!, a new musical by his former colleague Richard Rodgers and Rodgers’ new writing partner, Oscar Hammerstein III. In the face of the second duo’s success, Hart can often become a footnote in musical history. Still, he’s well worth the bio treatment, especially by such a great team: Hart is played by Ethan Hawke and Rodgers by Andrew Scott in a performance that won a prize at Berlin. This one is likely to please fans of Broadway past and festivals present alike.
Ethan Dayton
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Programme: Special Presentations
There isn’t a genre that I love more than a whodunit/murder mystery, and Rian Johnson has been brilliantly representing the field since the first Knives Out film premiered at TIFF in 2019. Even in the midst of the pandemic, he delivered Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which also premiered at TIFF. Now, he’s bringing the whole thing home with Wake Up Dead Man. This third entry appears to be darker in tone than the previous two instalments and more in line with a classic Agatha Christie novel, and it’s easily my most anticipated movie of the festival. There’s also something extremely rare about a film trilogy that has all three of its world premieres at TIFF!
Eternity
Programme: Galas
Only a handful of actresses have me in the palm of their hand in the sense that I will see any project they put out, and Elizabeth Olsen is one of them. Similar to the Knives Out franchise, Olsen has had three films premiere at TIFF within a very short period of time. Her Netflix drama His Three Daughters premiered in 2023 and her gripping sci-fi film The Assessment premiered at the festival last year. David Freyne’s latest film, Eternity, marks the third installment in the Olsen/TIFF trilogy. It follows a woman who dies and must choose between spending eternity with her husband (Miles Teller) or her first love (Callum Turner), who died young. Needless to say, this is one love triangle I can’t wait to see unfold.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Programme: Special Presentations
I have been eager to see Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You ever since it premiered this past January at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. The premise seems like everything I wanted out of last year’s TIFF premiere Nightbitch, as this film follows a mother who feels like her world is crashing down around her as she tries to navigate her daughter’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist. The film stars Rose Byrne in the leading role, and audiences who’ve seen the film unsurprisingly praised her performance, which I’m looking forward to seeing, along with Conan O’Brien (aka the GOAT) as her nutty therapist.
Sarah Gopaul
Carolina Caroline
Programme: Centrepiece
A Bonnie and Clyde-esqe outlaw romance set to a country music soundtrack has such potential for cinematic lyricism. Running from the police puts a lot of pressure on a young relationship, which should allow stars Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner to explore the many phases of new love within a compressed timeline. As emotions run high, Caroline’s commitment to her newfound criminal lifestyle may not be the only thing to run thin.
Hamlet
Programme: Centrepiece
Every Shakespeare adaptation conveys distinct interpretations and performances, making no presentation identical. In this version, Riz Ahmed plays the title character in modern-day London’s South Asian community. But in spite of the contemporary setting, the film preserves the Bard’s original text. Merging the two worlds will be a challenge, but one we’ve seen succeed before.
Orphan
Programme: Centrepiece
Oscar-winning director László Nemes’ third feature, after Son of Saul and Sunset, promises another solemn and harrowing tale of survival. Reuniting with his writing partner and cinematographer, this story is set in the wake of the Hungarian Revolution. Violence often begets deeply personal secrets, which will undoubtedly affect the mother-son relationship at the film’s heart. Nemes’ attentive approach makes the darkest subject matters approachable without overwhelming audiences, so it will be interesting to see his take on the family drama.
Honourable mentions: Adulthood, Dust Bunny, Frankenstein, The Furious, Karmadonna, Normal, Still Single, and A Useful Ghost.
Pat Mullen
Technically I’m most excited by the possibility that Martin Short will attend You Had to Be There, which means Meryl Streep could be in town!
Hamnet
Programme: Galas
File under “obvious,” but Hamnet checks all the boxes that I look for in a movie aside from “starring Meryl Streep.” That said, this dramatic interpretation of the domestic life in the Shakespeare household reportedly features a juggernaut performance that could do for Jessie Buckley what Sophie’s Choice did for Meryl. This one features Buckley as Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, who finds herself torn between sparing the life of her son or her little girl when the bubonic plague comes knocking at their door. Spoiler alter: the result inspired Hamlet. But how director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) brings the terrific book by Maggie O’Farrell to life could be one of the festival’s biggest thrills, especially if she gets real-life Elizabethan actors to round out the cast.
Levers
Programme: Wavelengths
We collectively slept on Rayne Vermette’s Ste. Anne at TIFF 2021, which was perhaps an inevitability when the online edition and the mental strain of COVID-19 lockdowns didn’t exactly make a Wavelengths title a first choice. But anyone who caught the film—I watched it at the last second after it won Best Canadian Feature—was treated to one of the most exciting voices in Canadian cinema with Vermette’s artful hybrid portrait of Métis life. Vermette, who has lensed many films as a cinematographer, is proving herself one of the most distinctive eyes in Canadian film. Her new film Levers, shot on 16mm, observes a community on a day of darkness. I can’t wait to see what she does here after harnessing light so beautifully in films including Hot Docs’ best Canadian film winner Agatha’s Almanac.
Couture
Programme: Special Presentations
Following in the footsteps of Kristin Scott Thomas’s career-best performance in I’ve Loved You So Long and Jodie Foster’s truffle wench from A Very Long Engagement (and this year’s A Private Life), Angelina Jolie makes a stab at acting in French in this drama set in the Parisian fashion scene. Jolie plays a filmmaker turning her eye on the garment industry as director Alice Winocour (TIFF 2022’s Paris Memories) considers the global interconnectedness of the threads in a world where haute couture and fast fashion live side by side. This year’s festival marks a quick return for Jolie after her directorial effort Without Blood didn’t find the audience it deserved last year.
Honourable mentions: The Captive, Blue Heron, Hen, Silent Friend, Train Dreams. I also love getting a head start on Best International Feature submissions and hope to see Eagles of the Republic (Sweden), The Love that Remains (Iceland), Palestine 36 (Palestine), Sentimental Value (Norway), The Sound of Falling (Germany), A Useful Ghost (Thailand), and The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia), which have been announced as submissions so far.
Shawn Peer
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Programme: Special Presentations
After the first film premiered at TIFF 2019, it’s always exciting to see a new Knives Out movie from Rian Johnson. Similar to its predecessors, including TIFF ’22’s Glass Onion, it features a stacked cast, including Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Cailee Spaeny, and a returning Daniel Craig, just to name a few. A classic whodunit is always a breath of fresh air, especially amidst the endless sea of serious dramas that tend to dominate TIFF.
Frankenstein
Programme: Special Presentations
Despite being based a classic story that seems to have been adapted countless times, Guillermo del Toro still finds a way to get people, myself included, incredibly excited for Frankenstein. Even from the few photos and footage released so far, there’s no doubt that this will be one of best-looking films of the year, fully embracing the dark environments and tones for which the story is famous. As if that weren’t enough, this is Oscar Isaac’s first live-action role in years!
The Smashing Machine
Programme: Special Presentations
With every passing year, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has struggled to be taken seriously as an actor, often staring in soulless action movies and earning a reputation as a performer with limited emotional range. But with The Smashing Machine, he is taking a big swing. Premiering at multiple festivals, scheduled for a fall release date, produced by A24 and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Benny Safdie, this could be Johnson’s best, and perhaps only, real shot at Oscar recognition.
Also excited for: Sentimental Value, Hamnet, Ballad of a Small Player, Hedda, It Was Just an Accident, The Secret Agent, The Choral
Shane Slater
Hamnet
Programme: Galas
After a divisive foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao returns to her more grounded roots with Hamnet, a period piece that contemplates the heartbreak afflicting William Shakespeare and his Agnes following the death of their 11-year old son. Starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley in the lead roles, the film promises stunning performances from this talented pair. And if the trailer is any indication, we’ll also be treated to the exquisite visuals and poetic soulfulness that have become Zhao’s trademarks.
Eternity
Programme: Galas
Unlike its more highbrow counterparts on the festival circuit, TIFF is known for including more populist choices in its lineup. If you’re seeking a palate cleanser alongside the heavier arthouse fare, David Freyne’s Eternity offers an intriguing prospect. Its fantasy premise posits an afterlife where the newly departed are given the choice of where to spend eternity, and who to spend it with. For Elizabeth Olsen, this decision comes with a fascinating dilemma – should she pick her husband or her first love?
My Father’s Shadow
Programme:Centrepiece
While the awards contenders will surely take the spotlight, no TIFF schedule is truly complete without venturing off the beaten path to sample new cinematic voices. One such option is My Father’s Shadow, which earned Akinola Davies Jr. a special mention for the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Set during the 1993 Nigerian presidential election, it follows the always watchable Sope Dirisu as a father attempting to reconnect with his estranged sons.
Courtney Small
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Programme: Special Presentations
I know this is going to be a hot title with many TIFF attendees, but I simply love the Knives Out franchise. Having been fortunate enough to have seen the previous two films at the festival, it is only fitting that I keep up the tradition. Aside from knowing the title, I am avoiding the synopsis as I want to sit back and watch Benoit Blanc lead me through another entertaining mystery.
Steal Away
Programme: Special Presentations
Clement Virgo (Brother) is one of my favourite directors, so if he has a new film out, it will immediately jump to my must-see list. Reuniting with actress Lauren Lee Smith, the star of his criminally underrated 2005 film Lie with Me, Virgo’s latest work follows an unlikely friendship between a sheltered teen from a wealthy family and an asylum seeker. Blending fairy tale with reality, it sounds like Virgo has another memorable work on his hands.
The Furious
Programme: Midnight Madness
My days of watching films at midnight might be over, but I still love watching titles in the Midnight Madness programme via the second screening. The Furious sounds like the type of fist to face action that is right up my alley. While the premise gives 2008 Taken vibes, you just know that this Hong Kong action flick is going to have some sensational fight sequences.
Alex Southey
Roofman
Programme: Galas
Ever since the moody, generation-jumping The Place Beyond the Pines, audiences follow writer-director Derek Cianfrance wherever he wants to go. It just so happens they seem to have made the same deal with Kirsten Dunst after Marie Antoinette. That they, together with Channing Tatum, have come up with a true crime thriller comedy feels like a sub-genre dream come true. It is certainly going to cause a lot of chatter.
You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…
Programme: Special Presentations
The 1972 Toronto run of Godspell has long been treated with delicate reverence by Canadian culture lovers, seeing as it placed some of the nation’s greatest 20th century comics (Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin) in the same place at the same time (Toronto, centre of the universe). Now it gets a documentary and the chance at a wider audience. Its poetic this will be the biggest run for their version of Godspell.
Ballad of a Small Player
Programme: Special Presentations
Like Cianfrance and Dunst, Colin Farrell, for the last two decades, has prioritized interesting projects rather than vapid if popular ones. He keeps this up in Small Player by portraying a travelling gambler.
Rachel West
Ballad of a Small Player
Programme: Special Presentations
Director Edward Berger delivered the best film of 2024 with Conclave and his All Quiet on the Western Front was among the best films of the year in 2022. Odds are his psychological gambling thriller Ballad of a Small Player will be among this year’s best. Colin Farrell stars as a high-stakes gambler whose luck may have run out in Macau as a private investigator (Tilda Swinton) and his past catches up with him. Based on the book by Laurence Osborne (The Forgiven).
The Last Viking
Programme:Centrepiece
Danish writer and director Anders Thomas Jensen can do no wrong in my book. He’s written the screenplays for the best Danish films in the past three decades (The Promised Land, After the Wedding, Open Hearts) as well as directed some of the weirdest (Men & Chicken, The Green Butchers, Adam’s Apples). And yes, all of them star Mads Mikkelsen, as does his latest outrageous dark comedy The Last Viking. Weird, zany, and highly memorable, you can count on Jensen to deliver both laughs and empathy for his on-screen outcasts.
Whitetail
Programme: Centrepiece
A slow-burning Irish thriller? Sign me up. A formidable forest ranger (Natasha O’Keefe) takes on poachers and dangers that lurk outside the woods as past traumas and family drama reveal themselves in Dutch director Nanouk Leopold’s film.
