The Toronto Film Festival kicked off its 50th edition on Thursday, September 4, 2025 with a slew of premieres including the official opening-night film John Candy: I Like Me. It launched 10 days of world premieres, gala presentations and more as the third leg of the fall festival tour (along with Venice and Telluride) that helps set the agenda for awards season.
This year’s TIFF world premieres generating interest include Christy, the Sydney Sweeney-starring boxing biopic; Couture, Alice Winocour’s Paris Fashion Week drama Couture starring Angelina Jolie; Derek Cianfrance’s outlaw drama Roofman starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst; Rian Johnson’s new Knives Out movie Wake Up Dead Man with Daniel Craig back as Benoit Blanc; James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg with Russell Crowe; and Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune with Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves; among many more.
In addition, there are new films in the lineup from the likes of David Mackenzie (Fuze), Steven Soderbergh (The Christophers), Maude Apatow (Poetic License) and Romain Gavras (Sacrifice).
Scroll below to read about Deadline’s reviews out of TIFF 2025 and click on the link to read the full versions. Keep checking back as we add more.
Christy
Image Credit: Black Bear
Section: Special Presentations
Director: David Michôd
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian, Ethan Embry, Jess Gabor, Chad Coleman, Bryan Hibbard, Tony Cavalero, Gilbert Cruz
Deadline’s takeaway: Sydney Sweeney delivers, and then some, putting her all into this sometimes extremely dark tale, and really does show she has the acting chops to pull it off. If only the movie didn’t feel like we have seen this before because Christy Martin’s personal story is worthy of being told to as many people as possible. — PH (Read full review.)
Fuze
Image Credit: Anton
Section: Gala Presentations
Director: David Mackenzie
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington, Saffron Hocking, Elham Ehsas
Deadline’s takeaway: David Mackenzie handles the action so deftly in this exquisitely plotted piece of pulp it’s like watching two movies at the same time — one a blue-wire/red-wire bomb disposal movie and the other a heist movie — and, surprisingly, the two genres work surprisingly well together. — DW (Read full review.)
Saipan
Image Credit: Aidan Monaghan
Section: Centerpiece
Directors: Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Cast: Steve Coogan, Éanna Hardwicke
Deadline’s takeaway: Saipan is not a sports film in the usual sense, although the true-story tale could be described as a battle of wills. Key to this smart and sometimes electrifying Irish comedy-drama’s broader appeal is relative newcomer Éanna Hardwicke, who is simply incredible playing the contradictory but compelling footballer Roy Keane and more than holds his own against Steve Coogan. — DW (Read full review.)
Steve
Image Credit: Robert Viglasky/Netflix
Section: Platform
Director: Tim Mielants
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo, Emily Watson
Deadline’s takeaway: At its heart, Steve, which features strong performances from Cillian Murphy and Tracey Ullman, is a bittersweet celebration of the art of being there for other people in their darkest moments, while acknowledging that it sometimes takes the patience of a saint to do so. — DW (Read full review.)