The Best Films I Saw At TIFF 2026

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TIFF 2026 Was an Unforgettable Experience…

The 51st Edition of TIFF was full of hits and misses… as is usually the case for any film festival. This was my very first time attending TIFF and while the crowds and theater behavior was a bit of a turn-off… getting to be surrounded by so many movie lovers having cinematic experiences together under one roof, was pretty magical.

I also got to meet up for the first time with fellow critics and YouTubers that I have talked to for years, which was such a treat. Despite all of the discourse you might see online, TIFF at its core, is an incredible opportunity for film lovers to build community and celebrate the medium they are so passionate about.

Without Further Ado, (In Alphabetical Order) Here Were my 7 Favorite Films from TIFF 2026…

Closing Night

Cody Fern’s directorial debut Closing Night is a rapturous mix of juicy melodrama, heavy themes, salacious familial drama and a healthy dose of brutal dark comedy. It’s a film that is so assured, it feels like it comes from one of our greatest auteurs working today… not a first-time feature director. I was riveted by the film’s opening moments and couldn’t unglue my eyes from the screen for the entirety of the runtime.

This has a lot to do with the superb ensemble that includes Sara Paulson, Naomi Watts, Diane Wiest, Toby Wallace and Odessa A’Zion. Closing Night follows a famous actress who invites her estranged family to New York to see her perform on stage. But, when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the entire family’s secrets become exposed.

Club Kid

Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid is a miraculous crowd-pleaser that tore my heart out and had me in stitches. This film follows a gay party promoter in New York named Peter who discovers he has a ten-year-old kid from the one and only time he had sex with a woman. He then must throw away all of the drugs, exit the chaos and man up to become the father that his boy needs. It’s a story that we’ve seen done before, yes. But, never quite like this.

The Debut

Julianne Moore gives an acting masterclass in Jesse Eisenberg’s new film The Debut. The film follows a shy, push-over Housewife who decides to audition for the community play. The disgruntled director takes her under his wing and she tries to give the best performance possible.

The trailers for this suggest that it is a sweet little dramedy, but this is much more of an all-out, zany comedy. And holy crap, does this comedy deliver. There is a scene in The Debut where the audience laughed for nearly three minutes straight and then gave a standing ovation… during the middle of the movie. I have never seen that happen before.

La Bola Negra

Los Javi’s sweeping historical gay epic La Bola Negra completely blew me away and left me in a puddle of tears. It’s the type of old-school Hollywood filmmaking we don’t see anymore, except its queer and from Spain. The themes that the film represents, chronicling the cycle of shame that people in the LGBTQ+ community have experienced across generations, is so beautifully and heartwrenchingly portrayed here.

It makes an already captivating, joyous, hopeful, shocking, intense, romantic, moving, and powerful film… something even more. It’s one of the most important films of our generation. La Bola Negra absolutely deserved its distinction as the #1 People’s Choice Award Winner.

The Liberation

Guy Nattiv’s highly personal, gripping and devastating film was the biggest surprise of the festival. The Liberation follows a woman in the seventies who is recruited by an enigmatic woman into a cult and her daughters infiltrate the group to try and save her. We have seen a lot of “cult films” in the past, but this might be one of the very best on the subject because of its deeply personal ties to its director & co-writer’s life.

The Liberation is about Nattiv’s own grandmother Rita, and the director is at once tender & empathetic to the material, yet at the same time; pulls absolutely no punches when depicting her experiences with this malicious cult. Carrie Coon is also tremendous in this film, giving an Oscar-Worthy performance with so much depth and nuance.

Trash Mountain

Kris Rey’s Trash Mountain was probably the best hidden gem of the fest. This movie was not on my radar at all, but luckily I was able to snatch up last minute tickets… and it absolutely blew me away. The film is co-written by Caleb Hearon who stars as a gay man who comes home to Kansas to clean out his recently-passed father’s home… the caveat being, his father was a hoarder.

This is a genuinely thoughtful, poignant, and hilarious movie that hits all the right sweet spots, while still having a dark, sarcastic edge to it. Trash Mountain will hopefully be the beginning of a bright future for writer & star Caleb Hearon. And I really hope it ends up finding distribution.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

Writer/Director Bassam Tariq showed a lot of promise with his feature debut Mogul Mowgli, so much so that he was initially tasked with taking on Marvel’s new Blade film. Sadly, that flick never came to fruition. But, Tariq and his leading man Mahershala Ali decided to move forward with their own unique action. Their new film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is about a recently widowed father, who is also a hit man and must find breast milk for his infant child.

This film is a beautiful meditation on trusting your higher power and how humanity uses religion as an excuse for violence and hate. It’s also a touching familial drama with lots of funny bits and has a bad-ass leading performance from an actor who never misses. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is a visually-stunning flick that will leave you breathless and genuinely moved.

If You Want To See My Ranking of ALL 31 Movies I Saw at TIFF 2026, Check Out the Video at the Top of the Article.

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