The Most Anticipated Movies from the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival Lineup
It may still be July, but summer is rapidly coming to an end. Come Labor Day weekend, the race for the 2024 Oscars will really heat up as fall festivals start screening films in the hunt for an Academy Award. Venice and Telluride kick off the race, but come September, all eyes will be on Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the biggest in the world.
TIFF (Sept. 7-17) will showcase over 200 new movies during its two-week run. From big budget studio fare to tiny indie documentaries, some will be among the best of the year. In 2022, The Woman King, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion, The Menu and The Banshees of Inisherin all played TIFF. So what will the hits of 2023 be? Glad you asked.
TIFF has begun slowly revealing their lineup, with nearly 100 films already announced, but many more, including some potential high profile late additions will be added in the coming weeks. We've scoured the 2023 TIFF lineup and pulled out the biggest and buzziest films. Here are some of the movies to watch.
Most anticipated films from TIFF 2023
Anatomy of a Fall
Few movies are coming into TIFF with a higher pedigree than Anatomy of a Fall, which took home the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The French legal thriller from Justine Triet follows a woman who is attempting to prove her innocence in court after being accused of murdering her husband. The only witness: her blind son.
The Boy and the Heron
This Japanese animated film from acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki will open the 2023 festival. Miyazaki is the mind behind beloved classics like Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, but he hasn't released a feature film since 2013, so anticipation is high.
Dumb Money
You may remember a time back in 2021 when GameStop was in the news for its stock market drama. Well now that whole ordeal is getting the Big Short treatment with an all-star cast that includes Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley and Seth Rogan. Should the SAG strike end by September, this will certainly be one of the starriest premieres.
Hate to Love: Nickleback
Everyone hates the rock band Nickleback, and it would appear that the band has figured that out. This new music documentary profiles the band from their meteoric rise in the 2000s through the turn in the 2010s when they became one of pop culture's most despised bands. It's bound to be a fascinating watch.
Hitman
Richard Linklater's directorial resumé includes hits like Dazed and Confused, Boyhood and the Before trilogy, but his last few movies haven't quite taken off. This year, he's back at TIFF looking for a hit with an action-comedy about a police officer who has gone undercover as a hitman. The police officer/hitman is played by Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell, who also helped write the screenplay.
Related: The Best Movies of 2023 (So Far)
The Holdovers
The Oscar-nominated director of Sideways, The Descendants and Nebraska, Alexander Payne returns to TIFF this year with another dramedy. In this one, Paul Giamatti plays a crotchety teacher who is forced to supervise the students at his boarding school who can't return home for the holidays. Giamatti doesn't get nearly enough lead roles, so I'm ready to watch him shine.
Monster
Another of the shining stars of Cannes, Monster is returning to the film circuit at TIFF. The Japanese drama is from Hirokazu Kore-eda, the director behind the Oscar-nominated Shoplifters. The movie follows a mother who demands answers from her son's school when he starts behaving oddly.
North Star
You may remember Kristen Scott Thomas as the lauded actress from Four Weddings and a Funeral and The English Patient, but she's now trying her hand at directing. In her directorial debut, she pulls double duty playing the mother of three vastly different daughters played by Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller and Emily Beecham.
Next Goal Wins
The last time Taika Waititi came to TIFF, he ended up winning an Oscar for Jojo Rabbit. Now he's back and looking to repeat the feat with Next Goal Wins, a sports comedy based on the true story of a Dutch-American soccer coach who is tasked with helping the American Samoa soccer team go from horrible to great. It should be heartwarming and full of wit.
Nyad
One of this year's most anticipated biopics tells the story of Diana Nyad, a professional long-distance swimmer. Annette Bening stars in the title role that could finally lead to Oscars gold. (She has four nominations but no wins.) Jodie Foster and Rhys Ifans star in supporting roles.
Pain Hustlers
Netflix has become a TIFF staple over the last few years and this year they're coming in strong with a buzzy crime drama from David Yates (who directed many of the Harry Potter films). Starring Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Andy Garcia and Catherine O'Hara, the film follows a woman who takes a job at a pharmaceutical startup only to get caught up in a crime ring. Emily Blunt is a tremendous actor and extremely funny, so we can't wait to see what she'll do with this.
Poolman
We don't know a ton about this heist comedy, but it's the directorial debut of Chris Pine, who also wrote the script and stars in the film. It will be exciting to see what Pine can do behind the camera. He's joined onscreen by Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ariana DeBose.
Related: Academy Award Contenders from 2023 That You Can Already Watch
Rustin
Another of this year's biopics stars Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin, a gay civil rights attorney. This Netflix film from longtime director George C. Wolfe and produced by Barack and Michelle Obama has a lot of buzz already with whispers of a Best Actor run for Domingo. Chris Rock also stars.
Sorry/Not Sorry
This documentary tells the story of the five women who accused Louis C. K. of sexual misconduct in 2017. (The comedian was not charged with any crime.) He's currently on a massive standup tour and surprisingly won a Grammy in 2022. Expect controversy around this documentary—one way or another.
Zone of Interest
Zone of Interest is loosely based on a novel of the same name by Martin Amis. The film from Jonathan Glazer received rave reviews coming out of Cannes in how it delicately handles Holocaust subject matter by focusing Rudolf Hoss, the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp and his family who live right outside of the genocidal facility.
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