Calling all nocturnal movie lovers: The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled its midnight madness slate, a lineup of often disturbing and always raucous works of cinema.
Director Matt Johnson’s gonzo time-travel caper “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” will open the Midnight Madness section while “Dead Lover,” a zany, macabre horror-comedy from Canadian director Grace Glowicki, will be the closing night film.
Midnight Madness concludes each night of TIFF with 11:59 p.m. screenings at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, where the bold and brave gather at very late hours to “bear witness to the very best and most bizarre in contemporary genre and shock cinema,” according to the festival’s official press release. “Its signature slate of wicked wonders that are sure to delight and disturb.”
This year’s Midnight Madness section will host seven world premieres and one international premiere. Among the world premieres is Ben Wheatley’s “Normal,” a shoot-’em-up thriller that reunites Bob Odenkirk with “Nobody” writer Derek Kolstad and producer Marc Provissiero. Odenkirk plays a substitute sheriff in a small town who responds to a bank robbery and ends up uncovering something far more explosive.
Other offerings on the lineup include Kenji Tanigaki’s frenetic martial arts thriller “The Furious,” Curry Barker’s terrifying horror film “Obsession,” Aleksandar Radivojević’s profane thriller “Karmadonna” and — in what TIFF has described as the “two most berserk alt-comedies to ever play the section” — Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman’s “The Napa Boys” and Todd Rohal’s “Fuck My Son!”
The 50th edition of TIFF will take place from Sept. 4 through 14. The festival’s official opening night film is “John Candy: I Like Me,” a documentary about the late comedian from director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds. Aziz Ansari’s action comedy “Good Fortune,” Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” are among the dozens of other movies that will screen throughout the two-week-long event.
See below for the full Midnight Madness slate:
Dead Lover | Grace Glowicki | Canada | Closing Film
Canadian Premiere
Dust Bunny | Bryan Fuller | USA
World Premiere
Fuck My Son! | Todd Rohal | USA
World Premiere
Junk World | Takahide Hori | Japan
International Premiere
Karmadonna | Aleksandar Radivojević | Serbia
World Premiere
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie | Matt Johnson | Canada | Opening Film
Canadian Premiere
Normal | Ben Wheatley | USA/Canada
World Premiere
Obsession | Curry Barker | USA
World Premiere
The Furious | Kenji Tanigaki | Hong Kong/China
World Premiere
The Napa Boys | Nick Corirossi | USA
World Premiere