The 2018 return of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is just days away. The festival, which runs from Sept. 7 - 17, 2018, will host an impressive roster of celebrity actors, directors and producers ready to debut their films for eager audience members in Toronto.
To spare you from spending hours scouring the TIFF website, we've curated a list of some of the most noteworthy films in this year's lineup. Take our word for it - money spent on a ticket to any one of these screenings is money well spent.
Director: George Tillman, Jr.
Starring: Amandla Stenberg
Synopsis: "A timely commentary in the Black Lives Matter era, George Tillman, Jr.'s adaptation of the novel by Angie Thomas follows Starr, a promising student and cherished daughter whose life is upended, then galvanized, when a friend is senselessly shot dead by police." - TIFF
Director: Barry Jenkins
Starring: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo
Synopsis: "Director Barry Jenkins’ ambitious follow-up to Moonlight adapts James Baldwin’s poignant novel about a woman fighting to free her falsely accused husband from prison before the birth of their child." - TIFF
Directed by: Bradley Cooper
Starring: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper
Synopsis: "Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut tells the story of a seasoned musician who discovers — and falls in love with — a struggling artist, but, even as her career takes off, he fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons." - TIFF
First Man
Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling
Synopsis: "The Academy Award–winning team of director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling (La La Land) reunites for this biopic on the adventures and life of Neil Armstrong, from his entry into NASA's astronaut program in 1961 to his epoch-making walk on the moon eight years later." - TIFF
Beautiful Boy
Directed by: Felix van Groeningen
Starring: Steve Carrell and Timothee Chamalet
Synopsis: "Based on the bestselling pair of memoirs by father and son David and Nic Sheff, Felix van Groeningen's film chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years." - TIFF
Widows
Directed by: Steve McQueen Starring: Viola Davis, Daniel Kaluuya, Liam Neeson, Jacki Weaver, Colin Farrell, and Michelle Rodriguez
Synopsis: "A heavyweight cast — including Viola Davis, Daniel Kaluuya, Liam Neeson, Jacki Weaver, Colin Farrell, and Michelle Rodriguez — propels Steve McQueen’s white-knuckle thriller (co-written by Gone Girl’s Gillian Flynn) about four women left in a deadly lurch when their criminally connected husbands are all killed." - TIFF
Directed by: Dan Fogelman
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Mandy Patinkin
Synopsis: "Writer, director, and producer Dan Fogelman’s (This Is Us) affecting drama about life, love, and loss, ambitiously set across years and continents, features an impressive ensemble cast, including Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening, Olivia Cooke, Mandy Patinkin, and Antonio Banderas." - TIFF
Directed by: Joel Edgerton
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Lucas Hedges
Synopsis: "The teenaged son of a Baptist pastor is forced into a gay-conversion program by his parents, in actor-director Joel Edgerton’s emotive drama starring Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Lucas Hedges." - TIFF
Directed by: Eva Husson
Starring: Golshifteh Farahani, Emmanuelle Bercot
Synopsis: "Eva Husson (Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)) returns to the Festival with a timely war film about survival and sisterhood centred on the “Girls of the Sun,” a battalion of women fighting to take back their homes from ISIS extremists in Iraqi Kurdistan." - TIFF
Directed by: Keith Behrman
Starring: Josh Wiggins, Maria Bello, Kyle MacLachlan
Synopsis: "In the latest from Canadian director Keith Behrman, Kyle MacLachlan and Maria Bello star as divorced parents whose teenage son (Josh Wiggins) faces seismic personal upheaval after an unexpected incident at a party." - TIFF
Directed by: Jonah Hill
Starring: Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith
Synopsis: "Jonah Hill makes his directorial debut with this coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who finds his scene when he meets an eclectic group of neighbourhood skateboarders." - TIFF
Directed by: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Mayu Matsuoka
Synopsis: "Equal parts incisive social critique and nuanced family portrait, the latest from Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda — winner of this year's Palme d’Or at Cannes — follows a small band of marginalized misfits struggling to make ends meet in a merciless urban environment." - TIFF
Wanna see more of what we're up to? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.