From Naomi Watts facing her husband’s Nazi past to a medieval ghost story and a family comedy starring Seth Rogen, these seven TIFF titles offer plenty of range.
TIFF’s anticipated-movie list runs from historical drama and disability-rights activism to supernatural horror, parenthood and complicated family memories. That range makes these seven titles a useful starting point for Toronto moviegoers deciding what to follow at the festival.
The roundup includes The Housewife, Being Heumann, Club Kid, Babies, The Face of Horror, The Debut and Trash Mountain. Each film arrives with a clear hook, whether it is a major performer, a charged historical subject or a premise that immediately creates conflict.
This is a watchlist, not a screening guide. Dates, times, venues and ticket details were not included, so check official TIFF listings before making plans.
Seven TIFF films with strong starting points
The Housewife
Directed by Ben Shirinian, The Housewife stars Naomi Watts as a woman forced to confront the fact that her husband was a former Nazi. The film places a marriage inside the shadow of a devastating past, giving its central relationship an immediate moral conflict.
Being Heumann
Siân Heder directs this biopic about Judy Heumann, who led a 28-day occupation of a San Francisco federal building to secure civil-rights protection for people with disabilities.
Its focus on organized protest and the fight for legal recognition gives the lineup one of its most directly political stories.
Club Kid
Jordan Firstman directs and stars in Club Kid, about a New York party boy who discovers he has a 10-year-old son. The story begins with a sharp clash between his existing lifestyle and the demands of becoming a parent.
Babies
Thomas Balmès directs this comedy starring Seth Rogen. A happily child-free couple gets an unexpected taste of parenthood when their newly divorced friend and young daughter move in.
The setup turns a change in living arrangements into a story about friendship, responsibility and the lives people imagine for themselves.
The Face of Horror
Anna Biller’s The Face of Horror is a ghost story set in 14th-century England. It follows a cheating husband who is haunted by his wife and carries a vintage The Love Witch feel.
For viewers looking beyond contemporary drama and comedy, this is the clearest horror pick in the group.
The Debut
Jesse Eisenberg writes and directs The Debut, with Julianne Moore playing a bored housewife who finds purpose in community theatre.
The film is described as having an intensity similar to Whiplash, suggesting that its performance story may become increasingly pressurized as its protagonist commits to her new purpose.
Trash Mountain
Kris Rey directs Trash Mountain, with Lilly Wachowski as executive producer. Zooey Deschanel and Caleb Hearon play siblings who return home to sort through their late hoarder father’s belongings.
As they deal with the house, they also confront memories, family and identity. The premise gives the film a personal route into grief and the difficult work of sorting through what someone leaves behind.
A watchlist built on unusual conflicts
What connects these films is the strength of their central situations: a marriage tied to Nazi history, a federal-building occupation, an unexpected child, a haunted wife and a family sorting through a dead parent’s possessions.
That gives Toronto viewers several distinct directions to explore. Being Heumann and The Housewife carry the heaviest historical weight. Club Kid and Babies approach parenthood through comedy, while Trash Mountain centres family memory and identity. The Face of Horror offers the genre detour, and The Debut brings ambition and performance into the mix.
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