by Tim Gordon
Get ready to scream, laugh, and gasp your way into the early hours. Midnight Madness is back, and TIFF 2025 is going full throttle. This year’s lineup of genre gems is one of the most electric in recent memory, boasting seven World Premieres, a pair of insane Canadian bookends, and enough freaky, funny, and flat-out furious moments to satisfy the Festival’s most rabid late-night crowd.
Once again hosted at the (possibly haunted) Royal Alexandra Theatre, Midnight Madness is the heart of TIFF’s after-hours programming, a place where blood runs, genre rules, and fans cheer every kill, twist, and outrageous moment like it’s the Super Bowl of the strange. And this year? It’s one for the books.
Opening Film: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Matt Johnson | Canada | Canadian Premiere
The Festival kicks off with a homegrown, fourth-wall-shattering time-travel caper based on the cult Viceland series. Already a SXSW Midnighter Audience Award winner, Nirvanna is a love letter to Toronto that’s as anarchic as it is heartfelt, and a perfect tone-setter for TIFF’s wildest slate.
Closing Film: Dead Lover
Grace Glowicki | Canada | Canadian Premiere
Grace Glowicki’s deranged, darkly hilarious horror-comedy has haunted midnight sections across the globe. Now it makes its final stand on home turf, closing out Midnight Madness with a bang, and possibly a blood-splattered bouquet.
World Premieres Stealing the Night
- Dust Bunny – Bryan Fuller (USA)
The Hannibal and Pushing Daisies creator makes his feature directorial debut with a twisted tale of childhood fears and monster-lurking whimsy. - Normal – Ben Wheatley (USA/Canada)
The Free Fire and Kill List filmmaker returns to the Madness with another kinetic, bullet-riddled thriller that promises stylized chaos and satirical bite. - The Furious – Kenji Tanigaki (Hong Kong/China)
A martial arts epic built for Midnight mayhem, Tanigaki unleashes a high-octane brawler starring fighters from The Raid, Chocolate, and Everything Everywhere All at Once. Expect bones to break and minds to melt. - Obsession – Curry Barker (USA)
A psychological terror trip from a bold new voice. Keep your guard up; this one gets under your skin and refuses to let go. - Karmadonna – Aleksandar Radivojević (Serbia)
Described as a “profane thriller,” this is your new Eastern European nightmare, stylish, scathing, and completely unhinged. - The Napa Boys – Nick Corirossi (USA)
One of the most berserk alt-comedies to ever grace TIFF, Corirossi delivers a deranged satire that throws prestige cinema into a blender. - Fuck My Son! – Todd Rohal (USA)
You read that title right. Rohal (The Catechism Cataclysm) returns with what might be the most bonkers entry in TIFF history, a vulgar fever dream that dares you to look away.
International Premiere
- JUNK WORLD – Takahide Hori (Japan)
A stunning, stop-motion sci-fi fantasia from the creator of Junk Head, this one promises a dystopian vision like no other, equal parts grotesque, beautiful, and brilliant.
The Madness Lives On
Curated by TIFF’s genre guru Peter Kuplowsky, the 2025 Midnight Madness slate proves once again why this programme is a vital pulse point of the Festival, an arena for discovery, daring, and pure cinematic chaos. From martial arts mayhem to experimental animation, twisted comedies, and everything in between, it’s a celebration of the bizarre in all its glory.
TIFF 2025 runs September 4–14. Don’t sleep on Midnight Madness, because let’s face it, you weren’t going to sleep anyway.
