TIFF's Midnight Madness unveiled its 2026 lineup on August 6, with ten late-night screenings confirmed for the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, running September 10 to 20 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
The section's standout entry is Anna Biller's The Face of Horror, her first feature since The Love Witch in 2016. Set in 14th-century England, the film follows a cheating widower played by Jonah Hauer-King, haunted by his late wife played by Kristine Froseth, after her death. Bella Heathcote, Ellie Bamber, Leo Suter, and Ben Radcliffe round out the cast. It will make its world premiere at the festival.
Opening the section is Joshua Giuliano's River, a slasher that section curator Peter Kuplowsky called "one of the most suspenseful slashers I've seen in years," according to The Wrap. Closing the run is Duncan Jones' Rogue Trooper, a CGI motion-capture adaptation of the British comic strip created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons.
Two special screenings complete the program. Na Hong-jin's Hope, starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Hoyeon, screens September 9. Obsession, according to The Wrap the highest-grossing festival acquisition of all time, returns September 11.
Six of the ten films are world premieres. Other titles include Eugene Kotlyarenko's Vintage Violence, a yakuza-infused caper about vintage denim; Matthew Rankin's Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney; and Paolo Strippoli's The Spiral. TIFF releases its complete festival schedule on August 11.