10 movies to see at TIFF

The Toronto International Film Festival starts on September 10, and while we’re getting ready for some celebrity sightings, we’re also excited to see some amazing movies. There’s a wonderful mix of independent, Canadian, and Hollywood films this year, and we’ve picked ten you absolutely cannot miss.

1. Remember
Canadian auteur Atom Egoyen’s latest film is a taught thriller centered on Zev (Christopher Plummer), a nursing home resident enacting a revenge plot 70 years in the making. Although Egoyen’s last few films underwhelmed, the Hitchcockian plotting and all-star cast make this a must-see.

2. I Saw the Light
Tom Hiddleston stars as beloved country singer Hank Williams in this new biopic. Much like Walk The Line before it, Light promises some impressive renditions of country classics, as well as an unflinching look at the drugs, women, and heartbreak behind the music.

3. Truth
Focusing on the incident that ended Dan Rather’s relationship with 60 Minutes, Truth follows the anchor (Robert Redford) and his producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) as they investigate rumours that President George W. Bush got a post with the Air National Guard to avoid being deployed to Vietnam.

4. 45 Years
In his first film since Weekend, British darling Andrew Haigh focuses on the relationship of a couple about to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay give nuanced performances, showing how dense and complicated a marriage can be, and how old memories can impact the present.

5. The Dressmaker
Kate Winslet stars as Tilly Dunnage, an haute couture dressmaker who returns to the small Australian town she was once exiled from. Dunnage starts some drama as she begins outfitting ladies in her Parisian designs, falls for a local footballer, and seeks to punish those who wronged her as a child. Based on the bestselling book by Rosalie Ham, this movie is sure to be a fun, and scintillating, watch.

6. The Man Who Knew Infinity
Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel star in this period drama about Srinivasa Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician who revolutionized the field in the early 20th century. While the acting is supposed to be exquisite, the real success of the film is how it makes Ramanujan’s contributions to mathematics understandable to us non-geniuses.

7. The Meddler
This somewhat dramatic comedy is sure to be full of laughs and cringe-inducing moments. Recently widowed Marnie (Susan Surandon) is a loving mother and compulsive meddler. When her daughter (Rose Byrne) tries to establish some boundaries after a breakup, Marnie is forced to find someone else–or several someone elses–to smother.

8. The Program
Stephen Frears’ new film tackles one of the biggest sports controversies in recent years: Lance Armstrong being charged with doping. The film follows Armstrong’s meteoric rise to fame and the years-long attempt of one journalist to prove he was cheating. Frears is a masterful storyteller, and leads Ben Foster and Chris O’Dowd are sure to turn in some riveting performances.

9. Spotlight
Another ripped-from-the-headlines drama, Spotlight follows the investigative reporting team that exposed the Catholic Church’s cover-up of widespread child molestation in Massachusetts. The star-studded cast and gripping story are sure to make this a contender for Oscars’ gold.

10. Trumbo
A cast of award-winners fill out this period drama about one of Hollywood’s most famous screenwriters. Once one of the highest paid writers of his time, Dalton Trumbo became an outcast when he, along with many other artists, was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. This harrowing biopic follows Trumbo as he refuses to stop writing, insisting on selling his scripts under false names instead. Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston stars, proving that he can succeed on the big screen as well as the small.