| Welcome to a special daily edition of the Envelope at TIFF, a newsletter collecting the latest developments out of Canada's annual film showcase. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. |
| The 50th Toronto International Film Festival has begun. We're firing up the L.A. Times video and photo studio (expect our first interviews and galleries tomorrow), diving into the buzziest movies and putting together a daily taste of TIFF for you over the next four days. |
The day's buzziest premieres |
'Good Boy' |
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| Anson Boon, right, in the movie "Good Boy." (TIFF) |
| Baby-faced 25-year-old actor Anson Boon already has the resume of a British bad boy: He played the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten for Danny Boyle ("Pistol") and a gangster's rebellious grandson for Guy Ritchie ("MobLand"). |
| Today, I'm curious to see Boon as the lead of "Good Boy," where his latest ruffian gets kidnapped by two rich, placid strangers, Andrea Riseborough and Stephen Graham, who train him to behave. |
| The bizarro thriller's attention-grabbing photo (above) is of Boon cozying up for a movie night with a bowl of popcorn in his lap and manacles around his wrists, ankles and neck. |
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| Sounds kinky (and hopefully, it is) but "Good Boy" director Jan Komasa's last film, 2019's "Corpus Christi," scored an Oscar nomination for international feature film, and the cinematographer Michał Dymek dazzled audiences with his stunning footage of an on-the-lam donkey in 2022's "Eo." |
| As the strange couple's taming techniques include fresh vegetables and a taser, we'll find out which one proves more powerful — the carrot or the stick. — Amy Nicholson |
'Christy' |
| Among the most anticipated world premieres of the festival is "Christy," which just announced a November release date looking for a possible slingshot into the still-forming awards race. |
| A biopic of female boxing star Christy Martin, the movie is directed and co-written by David Michôd. It stars Sydney Sweeney (also among the film's producers), who has faced her own recent tribulations and controversies. |
| Though the film has some of the same scrappy spirit as "I, Tonya," it also at times conjures the darker and more unsettling energy of something like "Star 80." Ben Foster gives a disturbing turn as Martin's abusive, manipulative manager and husband, as Christy is not allowed to live authentically to herself as a lesbian. |
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| But the spotlight is always firmly on Sweeney, who here finds a role that aligns with her own drive and determination, fighting her way to the top. — Mark Olsen |
'Sirât' |
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| An image from the movie "Sirât," directed by Oliver Laxe. (Festival de Cannes) |
| Quietly, Oliver Laxe's Cannes stunner — a winner of four prizes — has made its way from fest to fest, accruing fans who are knocked out by its dance-party-at-the-end-of-the-world vibes. (Were someone keeping track of the critics who have it at the top of their lists of 2025 favorites, it would be sizable.) |
| It's a hard movie to put into language; the director prefers images and hypnotic EDM beats. We'll have a special interview with Laxe coming to you tomorrow. — Joshua Rothkopf |
Five reasons why TIFF still matters |
| Heading into the festival, Mark Olsen spoke to several TIFF programmers and movie directors about what Toronto means as it celebrates its golden anniversary — still looking dewy but facing the headwinds of fierce curatorial competition from the likes of Venice, Telluride and New York's annual festivals. |
| Undeniably, there are advantages to being in Toronto: enthusiastic film-savvy crowds that you'll find nowhere else (valuable test audiences for release and awards strategists); a well-managed blend of red carpets and press-friendly events; and TIFF's signature blend of cherry-picked selections from the year's prior fests plus several new world premieres. |
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| You can read Mark's five reasons why the festival still matters here. |
