Ta Ta to TIFF: The Best Movies and Performances at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival changes for me each year. Some years, I attend with a significant other. Other years, I go alone. There are TIFF years where I just try and see as many movies as possible. There are years where I want to mingle and socialize, promoting the site by hitting all the parties I can. This year? I really did do a mix of both, getting to most of the big films, while still not missing any of the events that writers will talk about until next year. So, despite a lack of sleep, it was overall very fun and successful. Today, I’m recapping the best of the fest.

What you’ll see below is my roundup of everything that struck my fancy at TIFF this year. I’ve separated the sections into my thoughts on the films and performances, as well as a full ranking of the movies, plus final thoughts. If you followed my tweets while I was up in Toronto, little of this will be surprising, but still, it’s all in black and white. Here goes nothing…my summary of my time in Canada for this 2025 version of the festival. Plus, be sure to check out all of our festival coverage here.

The Best Films

Some years, the best of TIFF are films I previously saw at the Telluride Film Festival. This year, that wasn’t the case, partly because I pushed Sentimental Value to Toronto, where it was among my top five of Toronto. The best movie I saw there? Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, followed by Roofman. The only flick to crack the upper echelon that I’d already seen was Eleanor the Great. Still, these titles, plus John Candy: I Like Me, Nouvelle Vague, and The Smashing Machine were the best first watches up at TIFF for me. Throw in Blue Moon, which I’d seen previously, as well as Hamnet (which won this year’s People’s Choice Award), and we’ve got lots to fawn over.

The Best Performances

There was once again lovely acting all around, as there always is, but in terms of performances I saw during TIFF, the ones that stood out most were Ben Foster and Sydney Sweeney in Christy, Zoey Deutch in Nouvelle Vague, Channing Tatum in Roofman, Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value, Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine, as well as Daniel Craig and Josh O’Connor in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Of course, if we include Telluride or early screenings, we also have Blue Moon‘s Ethan Hawke alongside Eleanor the Great‘s June Squibb, plus Jessie Buckley from Hamnet. So, as much as any other year, the acting was very much on point.

TIFF Awards

Best Film: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Runner Up: Eleanor the Great and Roofman)

Best Director: Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value (Runner Up: Derek Cianfrance for Roofman and Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine)

Best Actor: Josh O’Connor for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Runner Up: Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon and Dwayne Johnson for The Smashing Machine)

Best Actress: June Squibb for Eleanor the Great (Runner Up: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet and Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value)

Best Supporting Actor: Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value (Runner Up: Ben Foster for Christy and Dustin Hoffman for Tuner)

Best Supporting Actress: Zoey Deutch for Nouvelle Vague (Runner Up: Emily Blunt for The Smashing Machine and Margaret Qualley for Blue Moon)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Runner Up: Hamnet and The Lost Bus)

Best Original Screenplay: Sentimental Value (Runner Up: Eleanor the Great and Roofman)

Final Thoughts

My fifth time at TIFF wasn’t as diluted by Telluride having so many good movies as in years past, but even when that happens, it just meant others up in Canada got to experience them as well. So, Toronto again provided strong films, fun times, and many memories. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed my coverage from the festival. We’re off to the New York Film Festival next, so stay tuned for that. TIFF is about to turn to NYFF…

Full TIFF Ranking