TIFF 2025: Highly Anticipated Films, Plots, Casts and Release Dates Listed

The Toronto International Film Festival is where cinema thrives, and this year, it’s going to be a star-studded celebration! TIFF 2025 will bring us biopics, twisted comedies, murder mysteries, and more.

Along with stars like Keanu Reeves, Angelina Jolie, and Daniel Craig, we have promising stories that would touch hearts and hold our interest. So, let’s look at the plots, casts, and release dates of some of the most anticipated releases of this year!

1Good Fortune 

Good Fortune is about a well-meaning but somewhat incapable guardian angel whose task is to save people from minor mishaps such as texting and driving. When the angel notices a struggling gig worker, named Arj, the former orchestrates a life swap between the human and his boss.

Things go a bit sideways when Arj begins to enjoy his life a little too much, and the angel ends up being stuck on Earth. Good Fortune stars the breathtaking Keanu Reeves as Gabriel, the guardian angel, Aziz Ansari as Arj, and Seth Rogen as Jeff (the boss).

Good Fortune is set to release in theaters on October 17, 2025 (USA). 

2Christy

There’s been a lot of buzz around the Christy Martin biopic, which follows the boxer’s rise and her impact in a male-dominated sport. The feature will also showcase what Martin had to endure during the harrowing attempted murder by her husband.

Sydney Sweeney is set to embody the boxer, and her first look has already convinced everyone that the actress has fully gone in! The movie’s supporting cast includes Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, and Katy O’Brien. Christy will premiere at TIFF in September 2025, and its theatrical release date hasn’t been announced yet.

3Couture

Couture follows Maxine Walker, an American filmmaker who arrives in Paris for Fashion Week. Her personal life begins to fall into shambles, and she receives a serious medical diagnosis. But then she comes across two other women in the industry who are going through their own challenges in the high-stakes couture world.

Angelina Jolie headlines the movie as Maxine, and the ensemble also includes Louis Garrel, Ella Rumpf, and Garance Marillier. Jolie is also a producer on the film and is collaborating with Alice Winocour, an acclaimed auteur. The movie will premiere at TIFF on September 7, 2025, but there’s no word about its theatrical release yet.

4Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Detective Benoit Blanc returns in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and is about to solve one of the most dangerous cases yet! The story will unfold in a haunting and gothic setting, possibly inside a fully locked room, and the suspects range from law enforcement to doctors and elite figures.

The star-studded cast of Wake Up Dead Man includes Daniel Craig, who’s led all the movies in the franchise, alongside Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, and Josh Brolin, who’s currently enjoying the success of Weapons.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will be available to stream on Netflix from December 12, 2025. 

5The Lost Bus

The Lost Bus is based on true events that occurred during the November 2018 California fires. It revolves around a school bus driver named Kevin McCay, who sets out to rescue 23 children stranded at Ponderosa Elementary School.

Though Kevin knows about the dangers of helping these kids, he still powers through and does his best. Matthew McConaughey stars as Kevin, and the supporting cast includes America Ferrera, Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson, and Danny McCarthy.

The Lost Bus will release in theaters on September 19, 2025, and on Apple TV+ on October 3, 2025.

6Rental Family

Rental Family is a wholesome comedy-drama about a lonely actor who lives in Tokyo. He starts working for a rental family service, where he poses and plays real-life roles in people’s lives. But to his surprise, the actor ends up forming beautiful bonds with his clients. Rental Family stars Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, and Akira Emoto, and is directed by Hikari.

Rental Family will release in theaters on November 21, 2025. 

7Roofman

In Roofman, we follow a US military veteran, Jeffrey, who’s struggling on the financial front. After being caught while robbing a McDonald’s, he is sentenced to prison, but escapes and hides in a different store.

The police stop pursuing him, and he begins to build a connection with Leigh, an employee at the store where he’s hiding. Channing Tatum is cast in the lead, and the movie also includes Game of Thrones‘ Peter Dinklage, as well as LaKeith Stanfield and Ben Mendelsohn.

Roofman will release in theaters on October 10, 2025 (USA).

8Bad apples

Bad Apples is a comedy-thriller adapted from Rasmus Lindgren’s novel De Oönskade. It centers on Maria, who’s a devoted school teacher, but she hits a breaking point due to one student. She locks him up at her house, but the disastrous choice turns out to be great!

The class begins to thrive, and everyone is happy due to the student’s absence. The movie features Saoirse Ronan, Eddie Waller, Jacob Anderson, and more talented actors. Bad Apples will premiere at TIFF in September 2025, and doesn’t have a theatrical release date yet.

9Eleanor the Great

Eleanor the Great is about a quick-witted 94-year-old woman! She leaves Florida after the death of her close friend and moves to New York City to build a new life for herself. She ends up at a Holocaust survivor’s group, but she is not one herself.

Yet, her grief begins to blur the lines between fiction and reality, and she bonds with a college student named Nina. The movie is directed by Scarlett Johansson, who is currently the highest-grossing actor. It features June Squibb as Eleanor, and supporting actors include Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht, Erin Kellyman, and Rita Zohar.

Eleanor the Great will release in theaters on September 26, 2025. 

10California Schemin’

California Schemin’ marks the directorial debut of James McAvoy, and the movie is inspired by an actual Scottish rap duo named Silibil N’ Brains. We follow the journey of Gavin and Billy, who dream of becoming hip-hop superstars, but people do not take them seriously due to their thick accents.

The biopic is about how these two men fake being American for three years, and then end up going on a tour with rap legend Eminem, himself! The cast includes McAvoy alongside Seamus McLean Ross, Amber Anderson, and Samuel Bottomley. California Schemin’s theatrical release hasn’t been announced yet, but it will premiere at TIFF in September 2025.

11Sacrifice 

Sacrifice is an action-adventure comedy, and features a film star who’s desperate for a comeback. He gets abducted at a star-studded charity gala by a radicalist named Joan, who forces him on a journey for a prophecy she believes in, and that demands his sacrifice.

The movie features Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Charli XCX, and more. It’s set to be released at TIFF on September 6, 2025, with no signs of a theatrical release so far.

With a lineup this diverse, it looks like TIFF 2025 will deliver a one-of-a-kind experience for cinephiles. As the premieres roll out, all eyes are set on Toronto because these movies will later become critical darlings, box office hits, or cult classics!

So, which one of these features are you looking forward to watching in theaters?

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