Watch these 10 must-see Toronto International Film Festival trailers
As the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off Thursday, fall movie season (and the ensuing awards chatter) is starting to heat up.
The festival is jam-packed with buzzy titles, including world premieres (Halloween, Green Book, If Beale Street Could Talk) and screenings of films already garnering early praise (Roma, First Man, The Front Runner). For much of Hollywood, the ten days of TIFF marks the first chance to see many of these films, while the viewing public will wait for them to roll out over the next few months.
In the meantime, we can enjoy the hot new trailers for some of the most anticipated releases of the festival. Here’s 10 of the must-see trailers from this year’s TIFF line-up:
The Outlaw King
Hollywood Chris alert! Chris Pine re-teams with Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie to tell the story of Scottish hero Robert the Bruce, known as the outlaw king for his efforts to free medieval Scotland from the oppressive English rule. The film has landed the buzzy opening night slot at TIFF, which marks a major win for Netflix as it continues to fight for legitimacy in the Oscar race.
Widows
Steve McQueen follows up his Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave with this high-octane action thriller about four women (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, and Elizabeth Debicki) who unite after the demise of their criminally connected husbands. With a script co-written by McQueen and Sharp Object’s Gillian Flynn, the twisty thriller makes its highly anticipated world premiere at TIFF on Saturday, Sept 8.
Roma
Netflix has a strong showing at this year’s festival, including this entry from Alfonso Cuarón, marking his first film since 2013’s Oscar-winning Gravity. Roma chronicles one year in the life of a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City. The film already made its U.S. debut at last weekend’s Telluride film festival, earning rave reviews, with many critics calling it a “masterpiece.” It first plays TIFF on Monday, Sept. 10.
Beautiful Boy
After becoming the darling of awards season last year, Timothée Chalamet is poised for another exciting fall with his work in Beautiful Boy, making its world premiere in Toronto. Chalamet portrays Nic Sheff, a young man struggling with addiction. He’s matched by Steve Carell, who adds another dramatic role to his repertoire as Nic’s devastated father David. Based on the bestselling pair of memoirs by father and son David and Nic Sheff, the film offers an unflinching, inspiring look at addiction that makes its premiere on Friday, Sept 7.
Green Book
Green Book marks another heralded TIFF world premiere with Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) returning to the awards season conversation as African-American classical pianist Don Shirley. Viggo Mortensen stars opposite him as Shirley’s working-class Italian American chauffeur. The two travel through the segregated 1960s American South with the aid of the Negro Motorist Green Book, which outlined hotels, restaurants, and more establishments that were friendly to black patrons. It premieres Tuesday, Sept. 11 in Toronto.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Perhaps the most-anticipated world premiere of TIFF is Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to best picture winner Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk. Based on a novel from renowned writer James Baldwin, the film follows Tish (KiKi Layne), a young woman fighting to free her falsely accused husband Fonny (Stephan James) from prison before the birth of their child. Regina King also stars as Tish’s mother. Set in 1970s New York, the film is a powerful exploration of love and justice. It premieres Sunday, Sept. 9.
Ben is Back
Julia Roberts returns to awards season fare for the first time in years in this TIFF world premiere about a mother coping with the unexpected return of her son Ben after he comes home from rehab on Christmas Eve. Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird), who can also be seen in Boy Erased and Mid90s at TIFF, co-stars as the titular Ben. The film makes its world premiere Saturday, Sept. 8.
The Front Runner
Jason Reitman draws on Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate for inspiration in this true story of the 1988 Gary Hart presidential campaign and the alleged extramarital affair that derailed it. A look at the relationship between politicians and the press, as political journalism veered into tabloid-esque reporting for the first time, the film premiered at last weekend’s Telluride film festival and looks to continue racking up awards buzz, particularly for leading man Hugh Jackman with a Sept. 7 launch in Toronto.
First Man
Ryan Gosling is Neil Armstrong in this biopic that marks wunderkind director Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to awards darling La La Land. The film has already played Venice and Telluride to rave reviews and looks to continue building its awards buzz with a Sept. 9 TIFF showing. Claire Foy also stars.
Halloween
Michael Myers returns. Toronto is more noted for its awards fodder than it is for commercial genre films, but Halloween is making a comeback with a world premiere at TIFF on Sept. 8. Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the role that first made her a star in this highly anticipated entry in the franchise, which director John Carpenter is calling the best entry in the franchise since the original film.