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The 10 Best Movies From the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival

A sneak peek at the hottest films of the season, including ‘Debut’ with Julianne Moore, ‘Wild Horse Nine’ with John Malkovich and ‘Elsinore’ with Olivia Colman

6-minute read

Thelma Adams,

AARP

Published September 25, 2026

an animated gif cycling through still images from films at the 2026 toronto international film festival

Standout films from TIFF 2026 include 'Fjord,' 'Tender Loving Care,' 'Wild Horse Nine' and 'The Debut'

Courtesy TIFF (4)

The beauty of the Toronto International Film Festival, now in its 51st year, is that it opens a window to the best films we’ll be talking about now until awards season, including Movies for Grownups Awards and the Oscars. Here’s cause for applause: Filmmakers over 50 like Martin McDonagh, 56, Mike Leigh, 83, and Werner Herzog, 84, are still growing as artists, making movies that are entertaining, thought-provoking and relevant. And they’re among my top 10 from this year’s festival. Mark your calendars for these standouts coming to theaters this fall and winter — and check back for scheduling updates.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fjord (NR, release date Oct. 9)**

Cultures clash when a devout Christian family — father Mihai (an unrecognizably somber Sebastian Stan), mother Lisbet (ethereal Oscar nominee Renate Reinsve) and their five kids — move from Romania to progressive Norway. Soon after their warm welcome, their beliefs and behaviors clash with the locals. When the daughter shows up at school one day with a bruised face, Child Welfare Services targets the newcomers for domestic abuse, splitting apart the family and raising provocative moral questions about the nanny state and individual freedom that will spark discussions long after the movie is over.

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**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wild Horse Nine (R, in theaters Nov. 6)**

Nobody writes dialogue like Martin McDonagh. The British-Irish playwright, screenwriter and director outdoes himself pairing the divine John Malkovich, 72, and Sam Rockwell, 57, as CIA agents who travel to Easter Island on a dangerous final mission. It’s sharp, absurdly hilarious and a gift to lovers of McDonagh’s 2008 classic, In Bruges.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Elsinore (NR, in theaters Nov. 20)**

Heartbreaking and exhilarating, this taut drama puts the true story of Scottish Chariots of Fire actor Ian Charleson center stage. Andrew Scott (50 on Oct. 21) plays Charleson, who contracted AIDS in the 1980s and whose dying wish was to play Hamlet at the National Theatre. The story squeezes new juice out of the Shakespeare play (which was the subject of last year’s best picture Oscar winner, Hamnet), especially the final, hard truth of “to be or not to be.” Olivia Colman, 52, gives strong support as Charleson’s doctor, whose desire for him to live as long as possible conflicts with his desire to spend his remaining days strenuously treading the boards in the role of a lifetime.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Josephine (R, release date Nov. 20)**

When writer-director Beth de Araújo was a child, she witnessed a rape at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The traumatic experience inspired this riveting family drama, which flips the script of Law and Order: SVU to focus on the lasting impact of an 8-year-old witness’s trauma. Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan play the parents, but the center of gravity is child actor Mason Reeves’s authenticity and presence. The film raises the question: Can a parent ever entirely protect a daughter from a society steeped in violence against women?

**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tender Loving Care (R, in theaters Dec. 4)**

Transcendent. You’ll laugh and cry through this British drama, which finds journeyman writer-director Mike Leigh, 83, at his empathetic peak. Social worker besties Rosie (Alice Bailey Johnson) and Amy (Widow’s Bay Emmy winner Kate O’Flynn) represent a kind of occupational sandwich generation: They shift between the challenges of helping their poor, abused clients and supporting each other through hardship as dementia robs joy from the marriage of Amy’s parents (Marion Bailey, 75, and Paul Jesson, 80). Leigh can be grim (as can this subject matter), but this expansive, humane film is full of heart.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Debut (R, in theaters Dec. 11)**

Jesse Eisenberg’s sweet and sassy follow-up to the bittersweet A Real Pain is a love song to the power of community theater — and a rousing crowd-pleaser. A New Jersey housewife on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Mona (a full-bore Julianne Moore, 65) meets curmudgeonly director Jerry (Paul Giamatti, 59) when she tries out for his latest musical production, and the experience is life-changing for them both. Jazz hands and heart eyes all around on this one.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Long Winter (NR, release date Jan. 2027)**

When Mike (rising star Fred Hechinger) arrives to visit his parents at their remote mountain home, the cabin-feverish dysfunction of the couple — beautifully played by The Bear’s Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe — hijacks the young man’s emotional life. These chilly scenes of winter blast clean the stark truths of an American family in crisis and expose its secrets.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Tehran, Under the Skin (NR, release date TBA)**

Documentaries have the power to open up foreign worlds, and this one from director Afsaneh Salari is a real eye-opener. In Iran in 2025, women are plastic-surgery mad, paying high fees for nose jobs and body sculpting. This film explores how women, confined to the burka and limited in their personal choices, use (or misuse) plastic surgery to find beauty and obtain some control over their own bodies.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bucking Fastard (NR, release date TBA)**

Werner Herzog, 84, contemporary cinema’s wizard of weird, puts his writer-director spin on the true story of Freda and Greta Chaplin, English twins conjoined at the hip. In Herzog’s loosely based version, sisters Kate and Rooney Mara play the pair, who speak in sync and go off the rails together when their lover (Orlando Bloom) dumps them to marry another. Both Maras have serious acting chops — Kate may be best known for her breakout role as Zoey on House of Cards; Rooney received a best actress Oscar nomination for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo — and it’s a joy to watch them in this wild, tightly confined collaboration.

**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Woman Unknown (NR, release date TBA)**

Fresh off winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, this intense Danish period drama centers on a housekeeper (Mathilde Arcel, also named best actress at Venice) who’s about to marry her wealthy employer and rise from the servant class. But following World War II, as local mobs take to the streets to shave and strip women accused of sleeping with the enemy. Inhumanity during wartime breeds inhumanity in the aftermath in this moving, quietly told drama of trauma and survival.

About Movies for Grownups

AARP’s advocacy work includes fighting ageism in Hollywood and encouraging the entertainment industry to tap into the unique perspectives and talents that actors, writers and producers who are 50 or older bring to their work. AARP’s annual Movies for Grownups Awards, telecast on PBS, celebrates the achievements of the 50-plus community in film and television. This year’s honorees included best actress Laura Dern, 59 (Is This Thing On?), and best actor George Clooney, 64 (Jay Kelly).

Thelma M. Adams, the former film critic for Us Weekly and the New York Post, is a novelist who writes on film for AARP, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

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