The fall film festival season may still be kicking right along, but, with the conclusion of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival this past weekend, the film landscape for this season (and beyond) has come into clearer focus.
Big questions, however, remain: What films is everyone going to be talking about in one, two, six months? Who won big and might see even more awards glory come their way soon? Who was there? And how can film fans who couldn’t make it north for the lauded festival see the films we’re all buzzing about? We’ve got you covered, as we run through some of our favorite reviews, stories, and interviews from this year’s TIFF.
Which Film Won the People’s Choice Award?
If you’re at all familiar with TIFF and its main award — the TIFF People’s Choice Award — you’re probably well aware of its vaunted status as an Oscar harbinger. The highest honor at TIFF is voted on by audiences, and their taste tends to hold major sway: 12 of the last 14 People’s Choice Award winners went on to receive Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and four of them (“The King’s Speech,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Green Book,” and “Nomadland”) actually won the award.
This year, Mike Flanagan’s Tom Hiddleston-starring dramedy “The Life of Chuck” walked away with the prize (Sean Baker’s “Anora,” an IW favorite, was first runner-up, while Jacques Audiard’s crime musical “Emilia Pérez” was second runner-up). So, is it an Oscar contender? Let our Anne Thompson explain. While winning the prize is a major coup, the film, based on a Stephen King novella, has some other hurdles on its road to Oscar glory, like getting a distributor.
Which Films Premiered at the Festival?
Smack in the middle of the very busy fall festival season, TIFF tends to program a mix of both brand-new and previously-seen features — not just movies that bowed at Telluride and Venice, only days before TIFF unfolds, but even a number of favorites from Cannes, way back in May. But, with a stacked lineup, including over 100 films, plenty of TIFF premieres are also world premieres film fans got to see for the first time at the fest.
Some of those notable titles include David Gordon Green’s opener “Nutcrackers” and Rebel Wilson’s closer “The Deb.” Other world premieres at this year’s TIFF included Ron Howard’s star-packed “Eden,” Gia Coppola’s Pamela Anderson-starring “The Last Showgirl,” John Crowley’s relationship drama “We Live in Time,” R.J. Cutler and David Furnish’s documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late,” Chris Sanders’ animated gem “The Wild Robot,” William Goldenberg’s sports drama “Unstoppable,” Rachel Morrison’s passion project “The Fire Inside,” Andrew DeYoung’s hilarious “Friendship,” and Mike Leigh’s searing “Hard Truths.”
(You can check out reviews for those films — and more! — right here.)
How Can I See These TIFF Films?
Many of this year’s films arrived at TIFF with distribution in hand, while a few others (like opener “Nutcrackers”) were picked up after their premieres. Our still-updating guide to fall festival buys is a great place to start to see who owns what and when they play to release it to eager cinephiles.
Which Filmmakers and Stars Attended TIFF?
In short: a lot of them. Of the year’s fall festivals, TIFF tends to host the most star-packed red carpets and premieres (though it’s hard to beat the drama of arriving at a Venice premiere by boat), and 2024 was no exception.
Both before and at the festival, IndieWire spoke with a number of our favorite talents about their new projects, including David Gordon Green for his first interview on “Nutcrackers,” Jason Reitman on his “SNL” dramedy “Saturday Night,” “Nightbitch” filmmaker Marielle Heller, Sean Baker and Mikey Madison on their raucous Palme d’Or winner “Anora,” documentarian Thom Zimny on his Bruce Springsteen-centric “Road Diary,” Embeth Davidtz on directing “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,” Jacques Audiard on his audacious musical “Emilia Perez,” Paul Anka (!!) on his new documentary, Kate Hudson talking her campy role in “Shell,” the cast of “The Luckiest Man in America,” and David Mackenzie and stars Riz Ahmed and Lily James on their very entertaining thriller “Relay.”
On the red carpet side of things, IndieWire got some face time with everyone from Luca Guadagnino and Amy Adams to Nicholas Hoult and Sean Baker, and many more. Take a look at all of our red carpet coverage, right here.
And, for a special bonus, “Elton John” filmmaker R.J. Cutler joined Anne Thompson and Kate Erbland (that’s me!) for a live taping of our “Screen Talk” podcast, which you can watch right here.
When Is Next Year’s TIFF?
While official dates have not yet been announced for the 2025 edition of TIFF — the 50th edition of the fest, no less — it’s safe to assume Toronto’s premiere film event will maintain its usual spot on the calendar: go ahead and block off Thursday, September 4, 2025 through Sunday, September 14, 2025. See you there.
