The 13 films we can't wait to see at TIFF 2022

The Toronto International Film Festival is gearing up for a major return to form after two years of editions that were relatively muted due to the pandemic. And with roughly 200 feature films screening during the September 8–18 event, it might all seem a little overwhelming to those hoping to partake.

• Check out all our TIFF 2022 coverage

What are you most excited to see? Here are a few films that we're particularly looking forward to, in case it might inspire your own TIFF schedule.

Brother

A few years ago, one of my good friends gifted me with David Chariandy's book I've Been Meaning to Tell You. I read it in one day while on vacation, each chapter punctuated by the sound of the ocean. His personable writer's voice, conflicts, struggles and insights were so clear and eerily familiar that there were many points in that book when it felt like I was reading back pages of my own memoir.

Chariandy has teamed up with auteur Clement Virgo to bring another one of his books, Brother, to the big screen. The story revolves around two brothers growing up in a housing complex in Scarborough and was defended by Lisa Ray in Canada Reads 2019. As a Scarborough native myself, I'm interested in seeing how this film will translate Chariandy's intimate style of writing to tell the story of the place where I grew up, while also shining a light on the love and vulnerability of the two Black brothers at the heart of this story. — Lucius Dechausay, senior producer

Chevalier

As an art history nerd who loves a period piece, Chevalier is at the top of my TIFF list. The film is inspired by the true story of 18th century violinist and composer Joseph Bologne, also known as Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a Black artist we ought to know more about. Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves, Cyrano) stars as Chevalier, and the film follows his story as he strives to become the leader of the Paris Opera but is faced with many obstacles — including one Marie Antoinette (played by Lucy Boynton). 

There's no trailer out yet — just one striking production still — but this film has so much to get excited about. It's the first feature written by Stefani Robinson, the award-winning writer of the series Atlanta and What We Do in the Shadows , and it's directed by Stephen Williams, a CFC alumnus whose first feature, Soul Survivor, debuted at TIFF in 1995 and who has since directed series including Westworld, Watchmen and Ray Donovan (to name just a few credits from his extensive IMDb page). Lastly, a movie about a great musician needs to have a great soundtrack: enter Kris Bowers, the composer behind the Bridgerton soundtracks. Bring on the costumes and intrigue! — Mercedes Grundy, producer

The Eternal Daughter

I've been fascinated ever since it was announced in January 2021 that director Joanna Hogg and actress Tilda Swinton had shot a "secret film" during the initial COVID-19 lockdowns. That interest only heightened when the film was described by TIFF as "a haunting mystery" that stars Swinton "in a mesmerizing performance" that is "one of the greatest feats of her career" (considering her career is an endless parade of great feats).

• Once upon a time in the Scottish Highlands: How a pilgrimage with Tilda Swinton changed my life forever

Which I suppose is exactly what we should expect from this collaborative relationship, which began way back in 1986 when the Swinton starred in Hogg's thesis film at the U.K.'s National Film and Television School and continued with the extraordinary The Souvenir films (released in 2019 and 2021 and co-starring Swinton opposite her literal eternal daughter, Honor Swinton Byrne). One can only imagine what they came up with this ghost story shot quietly during a terrifying time in the world. Thankfully, we won't have to imagine much longer. — Peter Knegt, producer

The Fabelmans

A new movie from Steven Spielberg is enough to generate some major attention, but The Fabelmans is being tipped as the buzziest title at the festival — the most personal project of Spielberg's career, and his first-ever TIFF world premiere. A character called Sammy Fabelman (newcomer Gabriel LaBelle) stands in for the teenage Spielberg in this autobiographical coming-of-age story set in 1950s Arizona. Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen co-star as his mom and "Uncle" Benny (Take This Waltz mini-reunion!), with Paul Dano playing his dad. — Leah Collins, senior writer

The Menu

I'm not going to pass on the chance to have dinner with Nicolas Hoult, Anna Taylor-Joy (and the rest of this extremely stacked cast). The location: Hawthorne Island, a haute-cuisine haven where Ralph Fiennes is the (possibly evil?) celebrity chef. As for the night's special: eat the rich.

That might be a literal suggestion. I don't know for sure; I've only seen the trailer. But the horror of dropping $1,250 on a single plate is a mere appetizer to an evening of terror. Written by Mark Mylod, this one's a satire of foodie culture and excess. HBO's Succession is among the filmmaker's many credits — and that's a show that knows a thing about torturing dinner guests. (Boar on the floor!) — Leah Collins, senior writer

Something You Said Last Night

Here's your chance to get in on the ground floor of a rising star in Canadian filmmaking. Luis De Filippis made a splash at Sundance with her 2017 short film "For Nonna Anna," a tender coming-of-age tale that resists clichés about being trans and Italian-Canadian. Now De Filippis is on to her debut feature, premiering in the Discovery program at TIFF. Something You Said Last Night is billed as a buoyant family vacation movie, with a current of tension crackling just beneath the surface. De Filippis has proven she's got a knack for authentic family stories, and I can't wait to see what she does with her debut feature. — Vanessa Greco, producer

Susie Searches 

Thriller-comedy is a tough hybrid genre to pull off. For every brilliantly unhinged Promising Young Woman or Nobody, there's an overly long-feeling and kind of confusing I Care a Lot or Suburbicon. But I have absolute faith in Susie Searches, the story of an awkward college student who uses the story of a popular missing classmate  as fodder for the podcast that will launch her to fame and fortune. — Chris Dart, producer

Triangle of Sadness

No one does social satire quite like Ruben Östlund. The Swedish director's breakout 2014 hit Force Majeure posed tough questions about masculinity, while his 2017 dramedy The Square riffed on the idea of what we owe each other. Östlund himself has talked about how he's fascinated by human behaviour, especially in times of crisis. So I'm eager to see what he does with his latest film Triangle of Sadness, a satire on the mega-rich and influencers who leverage "appearance as capital". The film marks Östlund's English-language debut, and won the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It's certainly on the top of my TIFF must-watch list. — Vanessa Greco, producer

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

First of all, let's just open with the fact that a decade-old Funny or Die video is now a full-length feature film. That's just fantastic to think about. But more importantly, if you were a socially awkward, terminally uncool, moderately annoying child at some point between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, there's a strong chance that Weird Al Yankovic had a tremendous influence on your sense of humour. Yankovic's song parodies, and his frankly underrated originals, have stood the test of time. "Your Horoscope for Today" is one of the few third-wave ska songs that still hits as hard as it did in the late '90s, and if you don't find "My Bologna" funny, you're just not a person I want to know.

Yankovic is an icon in the entertainment industry on the level of Cher, and absolutely deserves to have his story told in the appropriate way: one that is hilarious and nonsensical and has almost no relationship with facts. Daniel Radcliffe looks like he's having a blast in the trailer, while Evan Rachel Wood is playing a version of Madonna that's turned up to 11 and had the knob yanked off. Honestly, just cancel the rest of the festival because this is the only movie that matters, probably. — Chris Dart, producer

Wendell & Wild

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have gotten the band back together to make a stop-motion animated dark comedy about... two demon brothers who need a disaffected teen to bring them into the land of the living. Directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) from a screenplay by Key and Peele (who also voice the brothers), I have seen exactly one minute of this movie so far and I am already incredibly invested. It looks visually stunning, I want to know more about that creepy teddy bear... and Key and Peele don't really ever miss. — Chris Dart, producer

The Whale

Brenaissance? Fras-urgence? Whatever goofy term you want to slap on it, Brendan Fraser is making a comeback, and his performance in The Whale — the latest from director Darren Aronofsky (Mother!, Black Swan) — has already earned the Canadian actor a TIFF Tribute Award. It's a relatively new honour (the awards were launched in 2019), but a win has already become synonymous with award-season gold, what with so many past recipients having gone on to score Oscar nominations and even a few wins (hello, Joaquin Phoenix and Jessica Chastain).

As for the story, it's an adaptation of the 2012 play by Samuel D. Hunter (who also wrote the screenplay). Fraser stars as Charlie, a 600-pound writing instructor living in an increasingly perilous state of seclusion while attempting to reconnect with his estranged teen daughter (Strangers Things' Sadie Sink). Further details are scant, but as Fraser told Unilad last year: "It's gonna be like something you haven't seen before." — Leah Collins, senior writer

The Woman King

I read a lot as a kid, and comic books and superheroes were my core obsession. But despite the breadth of series, there was never much choice on those inked pages for Black protagonists or powerful women to root for. So it's no surprise that while combing through the descriptions in TIFF's lineup, The Woman King — which on paper sounded like a natural extension of Black Panther's Wakanda universe — leapt off the page, attacking all of my sensibilities like a lioness stalking its weakest prey.

As I queued up the trailer, it starts with a voiceover that could easily define almost any superhero film: "An evil is coming that threatens our kingdom."  As if that wasn't already enough for the 10 year old boy in me to hand my money directly to the screen, the epic twist in this plot, is that the main character isn't a superhero at all – she's real.  Inspired by the true story of the Agojie – a squad of female warriors from the African kingdom of Dahomey created at a time when most of the boys and men were enslaved in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade – the film expands on this largely untold tale.

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film is anchored by Viola Davis, whose ferocity feels comfortably at home in the sculpted body and commanding attitude of her character Nanisca.  An incredible cast including John Boyega and TIFF rising star Thuso Mbedu also support it. I cannot wait to see this historical story get its Marvel treatment on the big screen. — Lucius Dechausay, senior producer

Women Talking

It's been nearly a decade since the glory that is Sarah Polley finished blowing us all away with her first trio of directorial efforts: her deeply accomplished, Oscar-nominated debut Away From Her (2007); the vastly underrated, melancholic ode to Toronto summers Take This Waltz (2011); and the truly mind-blowing feat of non-fiction filmmaking Stories We Tell (2012).

If these were the only films she'd end up offering us as a director, we could still only call ourselves incredibly fortunate. But how much luckier are we now that Polley is returning to the big screen this year with her adaptation of Miriam Toews' extraordinary 2018 novel Women Talking — and luckier still that she's bringing a cast that includes Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy and Ben Whishaw along for the ride? Following a group of women living in a religious colony who are struggling to overcome an epidemic of abuse, Women Talking is sure to have everyone talking about how Polley is one of the greatest filmmakers this country has ever produced. — Peter Knegt, producer

This year's Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8–18. Buy tickets here.