TIFF 2026 has come and gone, and we at CGMagazine spent all 10 days seeing as many films as we could and hanging out on red carpets to bring you the inside scoop. Between Brendan, Dayna, Ridge and Shak, well over 45 movies were screened, some outstanding, and some not so much. We laughed, Dayna cried…a lot…and now we want to bring you our Best of TIFF 2026.
Our winners this year don’t necessarily match up with this year’s festival winners. La Bola Negra won the TIFF 2026 People’s Choice Awards, with Elsinore taking home the International People’s Choice. For Best Canadian Discovery, Smudge the Blades won with an emotional acceptance, and Best Canadian Feature Film went to Sunburn, passing over Michael Dowse’s The Stunt Driver.
Here is CGMagazine’s Best of TIFF 2026:
Babies
Seen by: Dayna Eileen
Babies was the most successful comedy I have seen this year, though I haven’t checked out The Debut yet, and I hear it is wonderful. Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen play a long-term couple toying with the idea of having children. The film watches them analyze and overanalyze every aspect of their friends’ lives, trying to see what the right call is for them.
Lauren Miller Rogen wrote and directed the film and is known for her choice not to have children. Babies feels like a letter to the world from her and makes some really important statements about the subject. Paired with its message, the movie is downright hilarious and sees Kendrick, Rogen and their ensemble cast at their best. I hope to see more from Miller Rogen in the future.
Elsinore
Seen by: Dayna Eileen
Elsinore was on everyone’s radar at TIFF 2026 as Andrew Scott’s most powerful performance to date. They weren’t wrong. The story follows Ian Charleson, an actor from the 70s and 80s who took the stage as Hamlet at London’s National Theatre. He was unfortunately ill, succumbing to AIDS in 1990. The film documents his last moments as an actor, the AIDS crisis of the 80s, and themes of wanting to really live, rather than just being alive.
Scott is, without a doubt, the only actor who could have pulled this off. Elsinore required someone who could expertly pull off comedy, heartbreak, pain, acting for film and acting for theatre. Though last year’s Hamnet was also about putting on Hamlet, we see much more of it here, and he acted his heart out. The film is also edited to perfection, blending film and theatre into the storytelling. I cannot recommend it enough. Just bring tissues.
Stuffed
Seen by: Dayna Eileen
Stuffed was actually assigned to me at this year’s TIFF, because apparently I give off the impression that I would love musicals about taxidermy. Luckily, they were right, and it turns out I do. Moreover, the film is about so much more than being, well, stuffed. Firstly, the music was excellent. Not only was it well done, but a lot of it was catchy or moving. There was a lot of surprising emotion baked into the numbers, given what they were singing about most of the time.
However, my biggest surprise was from Jodie Comer and Harry Melling. Comer channelled her inner Helena Bonham Carter, mastering the art of the spooky girl. Melling pulled off something akin to John C. Reilly in Chicago to start, but found real meaning in the film and put forward a powerful performance. The twisted subject is a front for something deeper, and the two pull it off so well. It made my Best of TIFF 2026 list, and if you like musicals at all, I highly suggest checking it out.
Evil Genius
Seen by: Brendan Frye
Director Courteney Cox’s Evil Genius was one of the best surprises of TIFF 2026, telling a true crime story so bizarre it feels like fiction. Beginning in medias res with Bill Rothstein (David Harbour) calling the police on his former lover, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (Patricia Arquette), about a body in a freezer, the film only gets more twisted from there, spiralling into bank robbery, conspiracy, and a cast of characters whose arrogance proves to be their undoing.
Harbour and Arquette steal the show, with Harbour refusing to let Rothstein off the hook as a mere stooge and Arquette painting a disturbingly realistic portrait of a cold-blooded manipulator convinced the world owes her everything. Cox balances buffoonish comedy with genuine human depravity, keeping the 94-minute runtime tight and propulsive. While a few sequences and storylines don’t land perfectly, Evil Genius plays like something the Coen Brothers could have made, proof that real life is often stranger than fiction. Fun, twisted, and genuinely fascinating, it’s a must-see for true crime lovers.
Wild Horse Nine
Seen by: Brendan Frye
Martin McDonagh has always excelled at finding the uneasy space between cruelty, comedy, and genuine affection, and Wild Horse Nine may be his sharpest balance of those qualities yet. Set against a deceptively relaxed week-long trip to Easter Island, the film follows veteran CIA operative Chris (John Malkovich) and his younger protégé Lee (Sam Rockwell), two men whose shared history of violence, political interference, and moral compromise steadily emerges beneath their deadpan banter. Their relationship is the film’s centrepiece: strained, deeply dysfunctional, and nevertheless bound by a loyalty neither can easily articulate.
Malkovich is particularly magnetic, bringing absent-minded charm and a weary menace to Chris, while Rockwell gives Lee the right mix of patience, frustration, and affection. McDonagh’s dry, sardonic dialogue makes Wild Horse Nine one of TIFF 2026’s funniest films, but the laughs never dilute its increasingly melancholy heart. Strong turns from Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, and Mariana di Girolamo further deepen the world around the pair. Violent, moving, and wickedly funny, Wild Horse Nine earns its place among the festival’s best by turning a dark story of guilt and friendship into something unexpectedly tender.
Fjord
Seen by: Ridge Harripersad
Cristian Mungiu knows how to draw rifts from his audiences, and Fjord is the perfect example of that. Fjord follows a Romanian-Norwegian conservative couple facing scrutiny after moving to the wife’s progressive remote Norwegian hometown. It is inspired by the true story of the Bodnariu family (renamed Gheorghiu in the film), whose children were forcefully taken from them by the authorities in Norway. Those who have family who emigrated to a place they have never been to will definitely connect with this film. Or for those who have ever felt out of place in a world where cultural norms vary.
Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve commanded riveting performances in this heavily Christian-centric family. The ambiguity of right and wrong parenting became muddier and muddier for their characters, leaving certain situations up to the audience’s interpretations. The standout performance for me from Fjord was Henrikke Lund-Olsen as Noora. The way she commanded the screen was like she was a seasoned actress. I noticed she has not been in much, but she could have fooled me. From the acting to the beautiful cinematography capturing the fjords of Norway, Fjord is one of TIFF 2026’s most controversial yet touching films—holding up a mirror to audiences, questioning what is socially acceptable in our modern times.
Club Kid
Seen by: Ridge Harripersad
Jordan Firstman makes his feature directorial debut with the comedy-drama indie film Club Kid, starring himself, Cara Delevingne and Reggie Absolom, among a wider cast (a quarter or third of whom are well-known queer icons). The story follows washed-up underground party promoter Peter Green, whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is forced to care for Arlo—a 10-year-old son he never knew he had.
Where TIFF 2024 had Anora bringing a modern Pretty Woman tale to the big screen, TIFF 2026 has Club Kid as a modern Big Daddy. This might be a reductive comparison, but ultimately is what it is. Yet, Firstman crafted a more inclusive and well-rounded story—highlighting both the drug dangers and community-driven positives of the queer club scene. In a sea of traumatic storylines presented at TIFF 2026, this was an easy crowd-pleaser for bringing a more positive tone and vibe.
I Play Rocky
Seen by: Ridge Harripersad
Bringing up crowd-pleasers, TIFF 2026 was not ready for I Play Rocky. The film is an electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he was not just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told “no” at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.
Anthony Ippolito was not acting or playing Stallone. He was Stallone. I was lost between the actor and the real actor, not necessarily through looks. You can hate the real Stallone for a myriad of reasons, but Ippolito’s Stallone was honest and charismatic. The strength of this film was both Ippolito and the choice to focus on the drama and comedy behind making a movie in 1970s Hollywood, where studio executives are trying to make the best bang-for-buck films. The culmination of in-character Stallone overcoming every barrier thrown his way forces audiences to get up and cheer, providing bellyaching laughs and allowing audiences to shed happy tears.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Seen by: Shakyl Lambert
The first film I’ve watched twice at a film festival. Bessam Tariq’s Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother takes the “hitman with a code” concept and gives a unique texture that’s unlike anything I’ve seen in the genre. It’s a film that tackles so much, from the contradictions within one’s faith to the struggle of maintaining a family in the wake of a tragic loss, but it weaves through each of its major themes beautifully via Mahershala Ali’s tremendous performance.
It’s a rare film that presents Islam in a more casual light than nearly any American film has done, a refreshing change of pace from the standard villainized portrayal. It’s a much more patient (and funnier) film than you’d expect, but its bursts of action are so good, it made me even more angry about the MCU’s failed Blade attempt than I already was. It’s my favourite film of the festival and it’s one that comes out extremely soon, so you won’t have to wait long to see it.
The Debut
Seen by: Shakyl Lambert
My interest in musical theatre is generally non-existent. By that measure, I was not prepared for The Debut to blow me away the way it did. Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy/drama about a put-upon housewife joining a community musical theater troupe starts off feeling like a comedic riff on Whiplash, as Julianne Moore clashes with Paul Giamatti’s demanding director. But then the movie suddenly changes gears and becomes a hilarious takedown on method actors.
As funny as the film is, I was so taken by the film’s journey of self-discovery and that’s courtesy of the incredibly transformative performances of both Moore and Giamatti. Combined with Eisenberg’s strong writing and direction (which includes the great original songs), it’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that works so well, there was an applause break in our press screening. That never happens. Although I’m still shocked it didn’t place in the top 3 for the TIFF People’s Choice Award, it was a shoe-in for our Best of TIFF lineup.
Furies
Seen by: Shakyl Lambert
Thirdly, I want to spotlight a hidden gem I almost entirely missed out on, and that’s the George Clooney-produced Lebanese heist flick Furies. Set amidst Lebanon’s economic collapse from 2019, government corruption has made it so citizens are unable to access their own money. As a result, sisters Dalia and Maro plan to rob their local bank overnight in order to afford the latter’s cancer treatment.
It’s a very effective thriller that even when it goes through standard heist film tropes, they’re bolstered by its unique cultural setting, righteous anger towards corruption and great chemistry between leads Maria Nakouzi and Rym Mroue. It’s a film I hope gets some sort of major distribution in North America, and it’s one definitely worth putting on your radar.
Kick On
Seen by: Shakyl Lambert
As a bonus, It wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t add a Midnight Madness entry to our Best of TIFF 2026 lineup. Admittedly, I’ll be the first to admit this year’s selections were mostly lackluster, (especially compared to last year’s triple-whammy of NTBTSTM, Obsession, and The Furious). However, the best of this year’s lineup has to go to Nick Kozakis’ relentless Aussie siege thriller Kick On. The premise is simple: a quartet of friends want to score some drugs to continue their night of partying, so they meet with the coked-out son of a Russian mobster in his high-rise apartment.
Things go to hell in a hurry when paranoia over a stolen stack of cash leads to a dead body and far too many witnesses to let any of them leave. Very reminiscent of another great Midnight Madness film in Green Room, Kick On is a very mean, very brutal thrill ride that never lets its foot off the gas for a second, with a very likeable cast getting put through the ringer, and some enjoyably gross practical effects to show for it. I had a blast.
