Toronto International Film Festival 2019
Across the ocean, one of the world's biggest film festivals is setting the tone for the awards season to come. Major movies and hidden gems abound at TIFF 2019
Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
While Londoners might not flock across oceans to catch movies still hot off the edit, the lineup for the annual Toronto International Film Festival still offers a crucial insight into how the landscape will shape up for months to come.
More than Berlin and more than Cannes, Toronto sets the tone for the movies that will go on to monopolise awards season. The film that audiences loved the most last year, Green Book, went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, after all.
Beyond awards prestige, film festivals like TIFF feel like Christmas for movie lovers simply to have a whole crop of hundreds of new movies to look forward to. Here's what we'll be watching come September.
Hustlers
Released in the UK on 13 September
Writer-director Lorene Scafaria turns to lesser-seen corners for her new movie starring Jennifer Lopez, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Lizzo, Cardi B and Constance Wu. Based on the 2015 New York Magazine article 'The Hustlers at Scores', Hustlers gives a voice to the women on stage, the savvy strip club employees who turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.
The Goldfinch
Released in the UK on 27 September
The worldwide bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner is coming to the silver screen, as John Crowley (Brooklyn) directs a star-studded film adaptation of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) leads the cast as Theodore Decker, a young boy who loses his mother to a bombing in an art museum. The film chronicles Theo's life through a world of crime, and also casts Nicole Kidman, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wolfhard and more.
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Premiering in the UK on 2 October at London Film Festival
Armando Ianucci, the brilliant mind behind The Death of Stalin, is bringing his version of a Dickens classic to the big screen in The Personal History of David Copperfield. The film, a period comedy with a fresh ensemble, takes stock of Dickens' classic and gives it a contemporary new look.
Dev Patel (he of Skins and Slumdog Millionaire Fame) will be taking on the eponymous lead role, playing the young aspiring writer navigating a host of eclectic characters he meets in Victorian England. Copperfield's ailing aunt, Betsey Trotwood, will be played by Tilda Swinton. Joining the pair are Ben Whishaw as Uriah Heep, Peter Capaldi as Mr Micawber, Hugh Laurie as Mr Dick, and Gwendoline Christie as Jane Murdstone.
Judy
Released in the UK on 2 October
Renée Zellweger captures the last months of Hollywood starlet Judy Garland, in all her troubles and triumphs, celebrating her love, talent and voice. The film chronicles Garland's time in London in the 1960s, capturing the West End nights that skyrocketed her to fame. Following Zellweger's triumph in Chicago in 2002, it'll be a thrill to welcome her musical talent back to the big screen.
Joker
Released in the UK on 4 October
Batman's arch-nemesis is getting his own standalone film, revealing the untold story of the Joker. Joaquin Phoenix plays the eponymous, enigmatic character as Arthur Fleck, the man behind the mask who began as a failed standup comedian before turning to a more sinister way of living. The first glimpses of the film reveal Phoenix's physical transformation for the role, as his shockingly bony frame brings to mind De Niro's own committed performance as Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver.
The Laundromat
Released in the US on 1 November - UK release date TBC
Meryl Streep. Steven Soderbergh. The Panama Papers. Sold yet? If you enjoyed The Post, The Laundromat could add another layer to dissect the knotty US politics that came to define a century. Streep plays a hapless vacationer who becomes inadvertently involved in the shady dealings of a Panama City law firm. What begins as a misunderstanding (shouldered by Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas) turns into another deep dive into the offshore tax chaos that led, and still leads now, back to the world's most powerful political leaders.
The Report
Released in the UK on 15 November
If you liked the high-stakes investigative drama of The Post or Spotlight, your next most anticipated film of the year could be just around the corner. Adam Driver leads The Report, a searing docudrama retelling an all-in investigation that shaped the US. The film follows a Senate investigation into extreme methods employed by the CIA to interrogate those considered responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Driver plays the lead staffer, opposite Annette Bening's senior Senator tasked with finding out just what had been brushed under the carpet.
Knives Out
Released in the UK on 29 November
Fresh from the success of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, writer/director Rian Johnson is relishing the age-old genre and giving it a new spin with his upcoming whodunit Knives Out. Christopher Plummer plays a tthe wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thombrey, a newly-turned 85-year-old who sees a bitter end in the company of his extended and eccentric family. Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon and Katherine Langford are all fellow Thombreys.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Released in the UK on 6 December
Following the triumphant Can You Ever Forgive Me?, director Marielle Heller returns to tell the story of beloved children's entertainer Fred Rogers, played here by Tom Hanks. The film is based on the process of one journalist tasked with profiling Mr Rogers, namely Tom Junod who went on to write the Esquire article 'Can You Say...Hero?' about his encounter, which, Junod said, changed his life.
Jojo Rabbit
Released in the UK on 3 January 2020
An eyebrow-raising premise needs a simultaneously safe and incredibly audacious pair of hands to pull it off. A WWII-set satire in which the director of the film also plays an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler? It could only be Taika Waititi. Loosely based on Christine Leunens' book Caging Skies, Jojo Rabbit focuses on a 10-year-old boy obsessed with nationalism who must reckon with his loyalties when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their loft. And the only person he can talk to about this is his imaginary friend – Adolf Hitler.
How to Build A Girl
UK release date TBC
Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical bestselling teen finds its big screen counterpart in Beanie Feldstein, the rising star we grew to love this year with Booksmart. Feldstein plays Johanna Morrigan, an ambitious teen who decides to reinvent herself when she moves to London to become a music critic.
Radioactive
UK release date TBC
Another year, another female-led biopic to educate ourselves with. Rosamund Pike, last seen as famed war journalist Marie Colvin in A Private War, here sticks with crucial reality as she takes on the role of Marie Curie. Radioactive bases its story on Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout, a graphic novel by Lauren Redniss unpacking the lives of the crucial chemists that changed the world.
Marriage Story
UK release date TBC
Master of the mumblecore, Noah Baumbach is bringing his newest slice of life to Toronto with Marriage Story. The film stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a couple going through a divorce, hoped to be amicable, with a legal and custody battle in the midst. Laura Dern and Ray Liotta co-star.
More than Berlin and more than Cannes, Toronto sets the tone for the movies that will go on to monopolise awards season. The film that audiences loved the most last year, Green Book, went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, after all.
Beyond awards prestige, film festivals like TIFF feel like Christmas for movie lovers simply to have a whole crop of hundreds of new movies to look forward to. Here's what we'll be watching come September.
Hustlers
Released in the UK on 13 September
Writer-director Lorene Scafaria turns to lesser-seen corners for her new movie starring Jennifer Lopez, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Lizzo, Cardi B and Constance Wu. Based on the 2015 New York Magazine article 'The Hustlers at Scores', Hustlers gives a voice to the women on stage, the savvy strip club employees who turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.
The Goldfinch
Released in the UK on 27 September
The worldwide bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner is coming to the silver screen, as John Crowley (Brooklyn) directs a star-studded film adaptation of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) leads the cast as Theodore Decker, a young boy who loses his mother to a bombing in an art museum. The film chronicles Theo's life through a world of crime, and also casts Nicole Kidman, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wolfhard and more.
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Premiering in the UK on 2 October at London Film Festival
Armando Ianucci, the brilliant mind behind The Death of Stalin, is bringing his version of a Dickens classic to the big screen in The Personal History of David Copperfield. The film, a period comedy with a fresh ensemble, takes stock of Dickens' classic and gives it a contemporary new look.
Dev Patel (he of Skins and Slumdog Millionaire Fame) will be taking on the eponymous lead role, playing the young aspiring writer navigating a host of eclectic characters he meets in Victorian England. Copperfield's ailing aunt, Betsey Trotwood, will be played by Tilda Swinton. Joining the pair are Ben Whishaw as Uriah Heep, Peter Capaldi as Mr Micawber, Hugh Laurie as Mr Dick, and Gwendoline Christie as Jane Murdstone.
Judy
Released in the UK on 2 October
Renée Zellweger captures the last months of Hollywood starlet Judy Garland, in all her troubles and triumphs, celebrating her love, talent and voice. The film chronicles Garland's time in London in the 1960s, capturing the West End nights that skyrocketed her to fame. Following Zellweger's triumph in Chicago in 2002, it'll be a thrill to welcome her musical talent back to the big screen.
Joker
Released in the UK on 4 October
Batman's arch-nemesis is getting his own standalone film, revealing the untold story of the Joker. Joaquin Phoenix plays the eponymous, enigmatic character as Arthur Fleck, the man behind the mask who began as a failed standup comedian before turning to a more sinister way of living. The first glimpses of the film reveal Phoenix's physical transformation for the role, as his shockingly bony frame brings to mind De Niro's own committed performance as Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver.
The Laundromat
Released in the US on 1 November - UK release date TBC
Meryl Streep. Steven Soderbergh. The Panama Papers. Sold yet? If you enjoyed The Post, The Laundromat could add another layer to dissect the knotty US politics that came to define a century. Streep plays a hapless vacationer who becomes inadvertently involved in the shady dealings of a Panama City law firm. What begins as a misunderstanding (shouldered by Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas) turns into another deep dive into the offshore tax chaos that led, and still leads now, back to the world's most powerful political leaders.
The Report
Released in the UK on 15 November
If you liked the high-stakes investigative drama of The Post or Spotlight, your next most anticipated film of the year could be just around the corner. Adam Driver leads The Report, a searing docudrama retelling an all-in investigation that shaped the US. The film follows a Senate investigation into extreme methods employed by the CIA to interrogate those considered responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Driver plays the lead staffer, opposite Annette Bening's senior Senator tasked with finding out just what had been brushed under the carpet.
Knives Out
Released in the UK on 29 November
Fresh from the success of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, writer/director Rian Johnson is relishing the age-old genre and giving it a new spin with his upcoming whodunit Knives Out. Christopher Plummer plays a tthe wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thombrey, a newly-turned 85-year-old who sees a bitter end in the company of his extended and eccentric family. Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon and Katherine Langford are all fellow Thombreys.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Released in the UK on 6 December
Following the triumphant Can You Ever Forgive Me?, director Marielle Heller returns to tell the story of beloved children's entertainer Fred Rogers, played here by Tom Hanks. The film is based on the process of one journalist tasked with profiling Mr Rogers, namely Tom Junod who went on to write the Esquire article 'Can You Say...Hero?' about his encounter, which, Junod said, changed his life.
Jojo Rabbit
Released in the UK on 3 January 2020
An eyebrow-raising premise needs a simultaneously safe and incredibly audacious pair of hands to pull it off. A WWII-set satire in which the director of the film also plays an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler? It could only be Taika Waititi. Loosely based on Christine Leunens' book Caging Skies, Jojo Rabbit focuses on a 10-year-old boy obsessed with nationalism who must reckon with his loyalties when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their loft. And the only person he can talk to about this is his imaginary friend – Adolf Hitler.
How to Build A Girl
UK release date TBC
Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical bestselling teen finds its big screen counterpart in Beanie Feldstein, the rising star we grew to love this year with Booksmart. Feldstein plays Johanna Morrigan, an ambitious teen who decides to reinvent herself when she moves to London to become a music critic.
Radioactive
UK release date TBC
Another year, another female-led biopic to educate ourselves with. Rosamund Pike, last seen as famed war journalist Marie Colvin in A Private War, here sticks with crucial reality as she takes on the role of Marie Curie. Radioactive bases its story on Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout, a graphic novel by Lauren Redniss unpacking the lives of the crucial chemists that changed the world.
Marriage Story
UK release date TBC
Master of the mumblecore, Noah Baumbach is bringing his newest slice of life to Toronto with Marriage Story. The film stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a couple going through a divorce, hoped to be amicable, with a legal and custody battle in the midst. Laura Dern and Ray Liotta co-star.
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| What | Toronto International Film Festival 2019 |
| When |
05 Sep 19 – 15 Sep 19, TIMES VARY |
| Price | £ determined by cinemas |
| Website | Click here for more information |