From Chris Rock to Helen Mirren: 10 films to look out for at the Toronto film festival 2026

This year’s festival offers an unusual Patricia Highsmith thriller, an adaptation of a hit stage show, a harrowing prison drama and a new way into the Rocky franchise Defining Toronto’s place within the fall festival season has become a little harder in recent years.

As fewer studios and film-makers want to brave the risks that come attached to premiering on such a stage (last year’s best picture winner One Battle After Another skipped festivals entirely and went straight to cinema), those that do tend to prefer Venice , Telluride and, especially this year, New York. Last year’s biggest Toronto breakout was Obsession , a micro-budget, up-for-sale horror that played as part of the midnight madness strand, and while that film is now being pushed as an awards contender, it’s not what crowds and pundits typically…