This year’s Toronto International Film Festival will premiere over 300 movies from debut directors and established auteurs like Guillermo del Toro, Chloé Zhao, Park Chan-wook and Claire Denis.

Ahead of the festival, our writers selected the 12 films they’re most excited for—from irreverent comedies to reimagined adaptations (and a surprising number of crime thrillers).

Blue Moon

Texas darling Richard Linklater reunites with long-time collaborator Ethan Hawke to examine the lore behind another fruitful creative partnership: Rodgers and Hammerstein. Blue Moon centers on the opening night of the iconic Oklahoma! musical in 1943 and the forgotten lyricist Lorenz Hart (played by Hawke), the former writing partner of Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott). A backstage story about friendship, fame and the price of being left behind. — Jenni Kaye

The Christophers

Steven Soderbergh’s second film of 2025, following this spring’s Black Bag, brings together Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, James Corden and Baby Reindeer breakout star Jessica Running for a crime comedy set in the upper echelons of the art world. Penned by the writer behind Now You See Me and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Christophers follows Corden and Running as the children of a famous artist (McKellen) who, desperate for money after an estrangement from their father, hire an art forger (Coel) to complete an unfinished series of their father’s paintings. I’m particularly excited to see Coel in her first starring role since the unforgettable I May Destroy You. — Alix Mammina

Dead Man’s Wire

Director Gus Van Sant returns after a 7-year hiatus with this true-crime story depicting an infamous 1977 kidnapping of a bank mortgager. Starring Bill Skarsgård and Dacre Montgomery as the kidnapper and kidnapped, with a supporting cast including Colman Domingo, Cary Elwes, and Al Pacino, Dead Man’s Wire promises to be a taut thriller from a distinctive auteur. — AM

Dust Bunny

Bryan Fuller has spent more than three decades creating some of the most beloved TV shows of our time: from Pushing Daisies and Hannibal to my personal underrated favorite Dead Like Me. In his film debut, Fuller follows Mads Mikkelsen as a hitman hired by a 10-year-old girl to kill off the monster hiding under her bed. With a cast rounded out by Sigourney Weaver, it’s sure to have Fuller’s distinctive mix of whimsy and dread. — AM

Eleanor the Great

Scarlett Johansson made the right decision to cast June Squibb as the lead in her directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, because I will watch anything that actress does. The film follows Eleanor (Squibb) as she relocates to New York City from Florida after the death of her long-time roommate Bessie (Rita Zohar). After sharing Bessie’s Holocaust story as her own at a survivor support group, she catches the attention of a young journalism student and strikes up an unlikely friendship. I can’t wait to cringe and probably cry as the truth is revealed. — JK

Hamlet

The newest film from Oscar-winning director Aneil Karia breathes a whole new life into Shakespeare’s Hamlet with a predominantly non-white cast set in modern-day London’s South Asian community. Riz Ahmed fulfills a long-standing dream to take on the titular role, and by all accounts, gives a captivating performance with a script that keeps Shakespeare’s original text intact. — JK

Hedda

My favorite modern filmmaker, Nia DaCosta, reunites with Tessa Thompson in Hedda, a queer and decadent reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play. Knowing this film will have a limited theatrical release before it hits Prime, I’m excited for the chance to see DaCosta’s lavish and chaotic party unfold on the big screen. — JK

A Private Life

This year’s festival is stacked with comedic thrillers, and French director Rebecca Zlotowski’s latest seems especially intriguing. Jodie Foster plays a psychoanalyst in Paris who begins investigating the death of one of her clients—and takes a spiritual detour after starting hypnotherapy sessions raise questions about her relationship with the client. — AM

Rental Family

Brendan Fraser plays a struggling actor in Japan who is recruited as a surrogate or “token white guy” to fill in at funerals, or even as someone’s father or friend. Rental Family is the latest from Japanese director Hikari, who previously directed Netflix’s Beef, and I can already tell it’s going to make me both laugh and weep. — JK

Roofman

It’s been almost a decade since Derek Cianfrance last directed a movie, and Roofman, which he also co-wrote, will be his first foray into the genres of comedy and biopic. Similar to Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines, Roofman follows a father who turns to robbery as a means of providing for his family—but this time it’s based on the true story of the fugitive Jeffrey Manchester, who escaped from prison after being apprehended and sought refuge in a Toys “R” Us. Starring Channing Tatum as Manchester and Kirsten Dunst as his love interest, the cast also features LaKeith Stanfield, Peter Dinklage and Uzo Aduba. — AM

Sacrifice

With a stacked cast including Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charli XCX and Yung Lean, French director Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice is already one of TIFF’s buzziest world premieres. What has me most excited is Gavras’ high-energy style crashing into a storm of eco-terrorism, political spectacle and Greek myth-tinged sacrifice. — JK

2025 Toronto International Film Festival Preview: Hedda, Blue Moon, Roofman and more