Entertainment

TIFF 2018: Nicole Kidman and Tatiana Maslany crime thriller Destroyer set for Platform program

A crime thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Regina actor Tatiana Maslany will compete for a $25,000 jury prize at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Program features works with high artistic merit and strong directorial vision

Nicole Kidman is seen at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017. The crime thriller Destroyer, starring Kidman, will compete for the $25,000 Platform Prize at this year's edition of TIFF. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

A crime thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Regina actor Tatiana Maslany will compete for a $25,000 jury prize at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Destroyer, directed by Karyn Kusama, will be among 12 feature films screening in the festival's international Platform program.

It stars Kidman as a police detective dealing with the repercussions of a dark undercover assignment from her past.

Other films competing for the prize include Her Smell by Alex Ross Perry, starring Elisabeth Moss, Amber Heard, and Cara Delevingne.

Patricia Clarkson plays a homicide detective in the neo-noir thriller Out of Blue, directed by Carol Morley. (Courtesy of TIFF)

Meanwhile, Patricia Clarkson is among the stars of Out of Blue by Carol Morley, and Jamie Bell stars in Donnybrook by Tim Sutton.

Now in its fourth year, the Platform program features works that have high artistic merit and a strong directorial vision.

Jamie Bell stars in Donnybrook, about a man who enters a brutal bare-knuckles brawl in hopes of winning the cash prize to support his family. (Courtesy of TIFF)

Previous titles that have screened as part of the program include Pablo Larrain's Jackie and Barry Jenkins' Moonlight.

A three-person international jury will announce the winner on the last day of the fest, which runs Sept. 6 to 16.

The rest of this year's Platform program comprises:

  • Angelo directed by Markus Schleinzer.
  • Cities of Last Things directed by Ho Wi Ding.
  • The Good Girls directed by Alejandra Marquez Abella.
  • The Innocent directed by Simon Jaquemet.
  • Jessica Forever directed by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel.
  • Mademoiselle de Joncquières directed by Emmanuel Mouret.
  • The River directed by Emir Baigazin.
  • Rojo directed by Benjamin Naishtat.