The 10 best films at TIFF ’26
Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as squabbling CIA agents.
Peter Howell
Movie Critic
My Top 10 favourites at the Toronto International Film Festival make for a rogue’s gallery of unique characters, from bantering CIA agents to double-talking sisters to a car-leaping Canuck. Rather than repeat faves from previous fests — including “Fjord,” “Minotaur” and “The Dreamed Adventure” from Cannes and “Josephine” from Sundance — I’ve limited my picks here to films I discovered at TIFF ’26.
I’ve also included speculation on their awards chances, for Oscars and/or Canadian Screen Awards. Expect most of these films to open in theatres (and later on streaming) before the end of the year.
Wild Horse Nine
Laugh while you gasp. A South American revolution, the JFK assassination and assorted CIA skulduggery hardly sound like the makings of a riotous buddy comedy. But Martin McDonagh has built a glorious career wringing chortles from the darkest circumstances and most combative of male pairings, from “In Bruges” to “The Banshees of Inisherin.” It is 1973. A bloody Chilean military coup is brewing, and squabbling CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), longtime pals and habitual agents of mayhem, head to Rapa Nui to see “the giant heads,” a bucket-list wish for Chris. The trip has urgency: Chris is terminally ill and showing signs of cognitive decline. Worse, he has become a gleeful blabbermouth about his part in some of history’s most notorious atrocities, including JFK’s assassination a decade earlier. His plans for a tell-all memoir have put the CIA’s South American chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi), on high alert. It’s top-of-game work from everyone involved, especially Malkovich as the irrepressible Chris, casually voicing the sort of things the rest of us only have nightmares about.
Oscars potential: best picture, director, original screenplay, casting, actor (Malkovich), supporting actor (Rockwell).
FULL STORY: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/tiff/tiff-top-10/article_9f267c44-728f-4c23-9cae-34d8271f35ab.html
