TIFF Drops Full 2025 Schedule: Here Are 16 Must-Watch Films

TIFF’s 50th edition is quickly approaching, and the full lineup of films being screened at this year’s event has been made public. Here are 16 films you won't want to miss. (Courtesy: tiff.net)

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is turning 50 this year, and like any good midlife crisis, it’s going big. Forget the sports car or questionable haircut; TIFF is celebrating half a century of cinema with nearly 300 films, red carpets filled with megastars, and enough world premieres to tire out even the most veteran Letterboxd users.

For five decades, Toronto has been the city where Oscar hopefuls make their first splash, where cult classics are born, and where film lovers lose themselves in back-to-back screenings powered by popcorn, caffeine, and sheer adrenaline. This year’s lineup is especially stacked, from highly anticipated hits like Guillermo del Toro’s gothic spin on Frankenstein, to daring debuts, international gems, and genre-bending experiments that will leave audiences buzzing (and arguing) well past closing night.

But let’s be honest: no one can realistically see 300 films in 10 days. You’d need time travel, cloning, or at least the stamina of a Marvel superhero. That’s where we come in. We’ve done the hard work for you, sifting through TIFF’s sprawling schedule to spotlight 16 must-watch films: a mix of star-studded premieres, bold directorial debuts, and under-the-radar discoveries that promise to define the conversation this festival season.

Whether you’re here for the Hollywood heavyweights, indie darlings, or weird avant-garde films destined to become cult classics, TIFF50 promises a lineup as eclectic as it is electric. Consider this your survival guide to the cinematic overload: the movies that will set social feeds ablaze, ignite critical debates, and maybe even shape the awards season ahead.

So grab your pass, load up on coffee, and prepare to dive headfirst into TIFF’s golden-year spectacle. Here are 16 films you don’t want to miss.

Frankenstein

dir. Guillermo del Toro

One of the season’s most anticipated films, Frankenstein brings together Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Mia Goth, directed by the über talented Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water). A passion project nearly 25 years in the making, the film reimagines Mary Shelley’s classic as a deeply emotional story, portraying the creature (Jacob Elordi) as a sympathetic, emotionally complex figure whose humanity takes center stage. After its festival run, the film will bypass theatres and premiere on Netflix, meaning TIFF offers audiences a rare chance to see it on the big screen.

Amoeba

Dir. Siyou Tan

In Siyou Tan’s debut feature Amoeba, four rebellious teenage girls form a secret gang at an elite Singaporean school, in hopes of resisting a society where even chewing gum and feeding pigeons are banned. As their camcorder-recorded acts of defiance are discovered, the girls navigate friendship, identity, and personal autonomy while confronting haunting mysteries. Set against Singapore’s strict yet multicultural backdrop, the film explores the tension between conformity and self-expression in a sharply observed coming-of-age story.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

dir. Mary Bronstein

After earning Rose Byrne the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at Berlinale and making waves at Sundance, Mary Bronstein’s unflinching psychological drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You lands in TIFF’s Special Presentations. Byrne delivers a career-defining turn as Linda, a mother pushed to the edge by her daughter’s mysterious illness, a missing loved one, and a therapist played against type by Conan O’Brien. Plus A$AP Rocky also adds a quietly magnetic supporting performance. Raw, surreal, and impossible to neatly categorize, the film embraces the chaos of caregiving, arriving in Toronto as one of the year’s boldest and most talked-about dramas.

Poetic License

dir. Maude Apatow

Maude Apatow’s Poetic License is a sharp college comedy about friendship, ambition, and unexpected desire. It follows best friends Ari (Cooper Hoffman), a goofy, self-centred dreamer, and Sam (Andrew Barth Feldman), a straight-laced finance hopeful, whose lives change when they meet Liz (Leslie Mann), an older mother auditing their poetry class. As the trio bonds, complications arise when both young men fall in love with her, testing loyalty and reshaping their paths.

Bad Apples

dir. Jonathan Etzler

Bad Apples gives four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan one of her boldest roles yet as Maria, a primary school teacher whose patience unravels when faced with an impossibly disruptive student. What starts as a wry satire of classroom politics quickly takes a darker turn, as Ronan balances comedy and quiet menace in a performance on the knife’s edge. Directed by Jonatan Etzler in his English-language debut, the film is set to open San Sebastián’s New Directors Competition and signals a daring, unpredictable pivot in Ronan’s career.

Erupcja

Dir. Pete Ohs

American filmmaker Pete Ohs’ Erupcja follows the combustible chemistry between Polish florist Nel (Lena Góra) and British tourist Bethany (Charli XCX) during a brief vacation in Poland, where Bethany breaks away from her boyfriend’s planned itinerary to reconnect with an old friend. Their chaste yet fiery romance unfolds alongside the searching, lovelorn boyfriend Rob (Will Madden), exploring the tension between destiny and serendipity in a story steeped in poetry and intimate human connection. Shot and shaped through Ohs’ improvisational, collaborative process, the film blends volcanic metaphors, dry narration, and magnetic performances into a charming, idiosyncratic postcard of sapphic synchronicity.

Mile End Kicks

dir. Chandle Levach

Set in 2011 Montreal, Mile End Kicks follows 23-year-old writer Grace Pine (Barbie Ferreira) as she leaves home to chase her literary dreams while working as a music critic. Her world turns chaotic when she falls for two lovers from the same rock band, sparking drama and self-discovery. With drunken poetry readings, questionable choices, and an unexpected career twist, TIFF hails the film as a fresh romantic comedy to fall in love with.

Blood Lines

dir. Gail Maurices

Gail Maurice’s second feature film, Blood Lines, is set for its world premiere at this year’s TIFF. The lesbian romance celebrates Métis culture, following the story of two young women who fall in love. The film centers on Beatrice (Dana Solomon) and her budding relationship with Chani (Derica Lafrance), a newcomer searching for her biological family, while also exploring Beatrice’s complicated bond with her mother, who struggles with alcohol dependency.

Charlie Harper

dir. Tom Dean + Mac Eldrige

Tom Dean and Mac Eldridge’s Charlie Harper is a tender romance that traces the evolving relationship between Charlie (Nick Robinson) and Harper (Emilia Jones) across pivotal stages of their lives. From teenage love to bittersweet reunions and a move to New Orleans, the film captures the beauty and fragility of young love. It poses a poignant question to viewers: What do we do with happy memories when they belong to a relationship that is no longer there?

Follies

dir. Eric K. Boulianne

Eric K. Boulianne’s debut feature Follies is a sharp and funny look at a Montreal couple, François (Boulianne) and Julie (Catherine Chabot), who decide to shake up their long-term relationship by opening it up. What begins as a search for excitement quickly spirals into complications as they navigate the realities of non-monogamy. Hailed by TIFF as potentially the year’s funniest film, Follies blends humour with an honest take on love, sex, and commitment.

Retreat

dir. Ted Evans

Coined as the world’s first Deaf thriller, Retreat follows a young Deaf woman from Berlin (Anne Zander) who arrives at an isolated English retreat for people who are hard of hearing, seeking connection and belonging. The story takes a tense turn as the camp’s methods grow increasingly questionable in this immersive, slow-burn psychological drama. Featuring a principal cast and writer-director Ted Evans who are Deaf, the film is made in British Sign Language and offers a rare, fully immersive exploration of Deaf experiences on its own terms.

& Sons

dir. Panlo Trapero

& Sons stars Bill Nighy as Andrew Dyer, an aging literary superstar who hasn’t written or left his house in 20 years, during which he’s lost his wife, had a child with another woman, and grown estranged from his other children. After a friend’s death, he brings all his children together for what he intends to be their first and last family gathering, but a secret about their half-brother surfaces, turning everything upside down. The film is based on David Gilbert’s acclaimed 2013 novel and co-written by Oscar-winning Toronto screenwriter Sarah Polle

100 Sunset

dir. Kunsang Kyirong

Set in a Toronto Parkdale apartment complex, 100 Sunset is a mystery drama full of intrigue, desire, and deceit. The film follows the growing connection between two young Tibetan women, Kunsel, who spies on and steals from her neighbours, and Passang, an enigmatic newcomer with a much older husband. After meeting Passang, Kunsel is pushed out of her voyeuristic comfort zone, offering a detailed look at the intersecting lives within their community.

Blue Heron

dir. Sophy Romvari

In her feature debut Blue Heron, Sophy Romvari explores a family’s growing crisis through a re-creation of childhood joys, blending formal inventiveness with emotional depth. Told from the perspective of youngest daughter Sasha (Eylul Guven), the film captures everyday moments like beach days and garden play while gradually revealing the darker struggles affecting one family member, with later sequences reflecting on the attempt to grapple with this past. Expanding on themes from her acclaimed shorts, Romvari blurs the lines between fiction and documentary, creating a fascinating and moving meditation on grief, memory, and love that cements her as one of Canada’s most exceptional emerging filmmakers.

Couture

dir. Alice Winocour

Anchored by a standout French-speaking performance from Angelina Jolie, Alice Winocour’s Couture follows women from Ukraine, France, and Sudan navigating careers and personal crises in the Parisian fashion world. Jolie plays Maxine, a director whose life unravels after a serious medical diagnosis, intersecting with a veteran makeup artist and a newly discovered model, each facing pivotal choices. Balancing glamour with a critique of how women’s bodies are measured and represented, the film reveals a subtle but powerful rebellion beneath its elegant surface.

Egghead Republic

dir. Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja

Sweden’s Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja deliver a wild mix of sci-fi and satirical bite in The Egghead Republic, following intern Sonja Schmidt (Ella Rae Rappaport) on a gonzo journalistic trip to a joint Soviet-American military base rumoured to harbour irradiated centaurs. Drawing on Arno Schmidt’s 1957 novel and Kågerman’s Vice experience, the film skewers media culture while building a post-nuclear, surreal world. As Sonja and counterculture mogul Dino Davis (Tyler Labine) venture deeper into the radioactive zone, the film balances freaky, dreamlike tension with sharp critique and offbeat humour.