This year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is set to pack a punch with Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, The Boy and the Heron, kicking off the festival on a vibrant note while other highly-anticipated titles including the Nicolas Cage-led Dream Scenario will celebrate their world debuts. While these films and others may be causing a lot of buzz at the event, it’s the yearly Midnight Madness lineup that audiences have really been waiting to find out more about. This year, the wild event will consist of 10 titles, with 7 celebrating their world premieres. Jumping right into it, here’s what attendees can expect.
Returning for the second year to its dazzling new home at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Midnight Madness features a handful of thrilling features and one very special musical, the Larry Charles-helmed Dicks: The Musical, which will be celebrating its world premiere. Stretching from India to South Korea, Serbia to Argentina, and all points in between, titles making their way onto the screen will include the highly-anticipated world premiere of Moritz Mohr’s Boy Kills World, Mladen Đorđević’s Working Class Goes to Hell, Harmony Korine’s AGGRO DR1FT, Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s Hell of a Summer, Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Kill, Weston Razooli’s Riddle of Fire, Jason Yu’s Sleep, Meshal Aljaser’s NAGA and Demián Rugna’s When Evil Lurks.
In a statement released alongside the fan-favorite event’s line-up, Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF International Programmer, promised viewers that “sides will be split – both figuratively and literally (on screen)” as many of the features make their way into a cinematic setting for the first time. He goes on to add that through NAGA and Working Class Goes to Hell, both Saudi Arabia and Serbia will respectively be making their festival debuts. “This year’s madness infectiously ignites with 11 o’clock numbers that go all the way to midnight courtesy of Larry Charles’ bonkers and bawdy Dicks: The Musical,” he says, adding, “A menagerie of tastes will be sated, so bottoms up!”
A History of Midnight Madness
Considered to be the place for underground and aspiring cult films, Midnight Madness has long been the jumping-off point for some of the most beloved movies in the history of cinema. Last year saw titles like The Blackening, Sisu, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story celebrate their world premieres while Pearl first slashed onto screens in North America. Before this, favorites like Seven Psychopaths, Tusk, Halloween (2018) and What We Do in the Shadows graced festival audiences.
Check out a trailer for Dicks: The Musical below and stay tuned to find out what film takes home the coveted Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award.