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 expect from the starry, prestige-first festival.

Is it best viewed now as a rough-and-ready genre hub or maybe a sales market, where perhaps we can still expect some Oscar contenders to be unveiled.

It can make figuring out what to see and what to avoid a little harder – but here are some films to keep an eye on over the next week or so.

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