From Japan’s sushi culture to its legendary car culture, both are built on craft, passion and community. 

From September 10–20, 2026, Sushi Yūgen is proud to welcome a piece of Sung Kang’s new film DRIFTER to downtown Toronto during TIFF. @driftermovie

Meet Lola, the iconic red Toyota AE86 featured in the film, a car deeply connected to Japanese car culture and the legendary AE86 made famous around the world through Initial D.

But DRIFTER is about much more than cars and drifting. Sung Kang @sungkangsta describes the film as a love letter to the car community, a story about feeling lonely and invisible, and finding hope, purpose and belonging through the people who share your passion.

That message means a lot to Sushi Yūgen.

Food may be their craft, but what gives a restaurant meaning is the community that gathers around it, the guests, chefs, creators and friends who support one another and help turn dreams into something real.

They also are hosting a special giveaway in support of the Film! Details below:

Learn more and reserve now at Sushi Yugen‘s website.

By Nicholas Porteous

Clarissa takes the premise of Mrs. Dalloway and moves the action to Nigeria, where our lead plans a reunion of meaningful players from her past. As day turns to evening, the ensemble reflects on their youth, regrets, and (very occasionally) fond memories. This mountain of history culminates in a party where every glance is worth a thousand words.

Clarissa is an extended character study and tone poem. Though it offers volumes of plot and interwoven flashbacks, the movie is really a framework to explore the elder cast’s melancholic state of mind in their adulthoods. It’s a bit stagnant by design, and although it’s a long film, like a good reunion with an old friend, it never overstays its welcome.

The formidable ensemble includes Sophie Okonedo as present-day Clarissa, David Oyelowo as her not-quite-lover Peter, and Niki Amuka-Bird as rabble-rouser Sally. Their young counterparts–India Ria Amarteifio, Toheeb Jimoh, and Ayo Edebiri–absolutely light up the screen, building an unspeakable tension in their past. I’m not sure if you’re ready for Edebiri in particular. I certainly wasn’t. It’s her best performance since her breakout in The Bear, and a true outlier from the meek, comic characters she typically plays. Here, she brings a sharp, mischievous and seductive energy to every scene. She cannot be pinned down, and it’s impossible to predict what she’ll say next. Edebiri’s transformation is a wonderful surprise–and her performance alone makes Clarissa worth checking out–but in a richly textured world of pain and intimate personal reflection, it’s one reason among many.

Clarissa screens at TIFF ’26:

Fri. Sept 11 at 2:45 PM at The Princess of Wales Theatre

Sat. Sept 12 at 12:00 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

tiff ’26 officially has begun! Here are some sightings from the day, including:

•Jodie Comer at tiff for Stuffed

•Harry Melling at tiff for Stuffed

•Ziwe and Mark Vins at Variety and YouTube Creator Premieres

•Sebastian Stan at tiff with Fjord (Photos by Ryan Emberley, at RBC House)

Meet the Cat in the Hat you don’t know! In the wonderfully whimsical tradition of Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat comes to the big screen in his animated theatrical feature film debut, an all-new, epic adventure with an edge, where mischief, magic and mayhem reign supreme. Doing what he does best, the Cat—voiced by Bill Hader—spreads joy to kids in his hilarious, signature and singularly irreverent way, transporting them and audiences on a fantastical journey through a world they’ve never seen before.

In the film, our hero takes on his toughest assignment yet for the I.I.I.I. (Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, LLC): to cheer Gabby and Sebastian, a pair of siblings struggling with their move to a new town. Known for taking things too far, this could be this agent of chaos’s last chance to prove himself…or lose his magical hat!

Starring alongside Hader are Xochitl Gomez, Matt Berry, Quinta Brunson, and Paula Pell, and featuring Tiago Martinez, Giancarlo Esposito, America Ferrera, Bowen Yang, and Tituss Burgess.

The Cat in the Hat is directed by Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni from their own screenplay, story by Caroline Williams, and produced by Daniela Mazzucato.

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation’s first full-length feature film, The Cat in the Hat, comes to theatres and IMAX® across North America on November 6, 2026, and internationally beginning 4 November 2026. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

#TheCatInTheHat

Rogers just announced via @Rogers on Instagram an exciting fan opportunity to win tickets to the world premiere of Always Lalisa. See details below.

The location will be announced at 8 a.m. ET

Rogers Always Lalisa Ticket Giveaway:

•Rogers is giving away 80 pairs of tickets to the world premiere of Always Lalisa
•Tickets will be given away on a first-come first-served basis to Rogers customers
•To score tickets, fans are asked to come dressed in their favourite K-Pop inspired look, whether it’s a concert t-shirt, merchandise, lightsticks, or their own K-Pop style
•Location will be revealed tomorrow morning via @Rogers Instagram

Rogers™/MC

A brand new trailer for “Whalefall,” the epic and emotional survival thriller based on the acclaimed novel about one young man’s encounter with a massive sperm whale, is available now to view and share. 20th Century Studios and Imagine Entertainment’s “Whalefall” opens exclusively in theatres October 16, 2026.

“Whalefall,” which is directed by Brian Duffield and features a screenplay by Brian Duffield & Daniel Kraus based on the book by Daniel Kraus by the same name, stars Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, Emily Rudd. The producers are Brian Grazer, p.g.a., Brian Duffield, p.g.a., Jeb Brody, Allan Mandelbaum, p.g.a., with Doug Merrifield, Richard Abate, Will Rowbotham serving as executive producers. Following the death of his father (Josh Brolin), Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams) goes diving off the central Coast of California in search of his remains, but is swallowed by a massive sperm whale. While trapped inside its belly with only one hour of oxygen left, Jay comes to realize that the hard-earned lessons his father imparted may be the key to his escape.

By Amanda Gilmore

In the Heart of the South follows Yura Ivalu (Anna Lambe), the latest darling of the Toronto art world, whose virtual reality piece about the Residential School System has skyrocketed her to fame. Her popularity has led to the opportunity to develop a film. She decides to write a feature about a traumatic moment in her youth when she and her friend Sesi (Zorga Qaunaq) were lost in the Arctic. But when Sesi mysteriously re-enters Yura’s life, Yura’s polished demeanour in this polite society begins to show cracks.

Nyla Innuksuk’s latest catapults its audience into the Toronto art scene that’s often stuffed with white buyers collecting pieces of art as a form of performative allyship. We watch as Yura listens to white collectors speak about how moved they are by her work. She’s always composed and appreciative. However, when Sesi arrives, we begin to realize that Yura might not be exactly who she appears.

Sesi is the opposite of Yura. She questions nearly every person in Yura’s world and doesn’t shy away from stating uncomfortable truths. That’s precisely why so many people in the art world find her refreshing. She isn’t playing into the privileged’s game that many have before. In doing so, Yura, who’s played that game for years, sees Sesi as a threat to replace or expose her and take away all she has accomplished.

Innuksuk and co-writer Ryan Cavan have crafted a thrilling feature about the decisions we make and the tales we tell, both good and bad, to advance in our careers. Lambe and Qaunaq give outstanding performances as women confronting their past and realizing the frailty of human perception.

In the Heart of the South screens at TIFF ’26:

Thurs. Sept 10 @ 9 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Sat. Sept 12 @ 9:15 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

Fri. Sept 18 @ 9 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

Award-winning animation studio LAIKA is bringing the world of its new fantasy adventure WILDWOOD to Toronto with WILDWOOD: Inside the Performance, opening September 10 during the Toronto International Film Festival. The new installation will explore the artistry, innovation and extraordinary scale behind the studio’s latest stop-motion film.

Running through September 19 at Portland Square Gallery, the installation reveals how LAIKA transforms an actor’s voice and physical performance into a handcrafted portrayal on screen.

Original puppets created for the film will be showcased alongside insights from the animators who bring them to life. Special displays will reveal the intricate engineering behind LAIKA’s puppets and facial animation, while footage and other behind-the-scenes content offer a closer look at the artistry and technology that brought WILDWOOD to the screen.

Directed and produced by Travis Knight, WILDWOOD follows headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), who ventures into the Impassable Wilderness—an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon—after her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows. Joined by her classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), Prue is drawn into a conflict that threatens the future of the forest itself.

From Oscar®-nominated and BAFTA®-winning LAIKA, WILDWOOD is a sweeping adventure about love, sacrifice and the magic that reveals itself when we dare to look beyond the familiar. The film arrives exclusively in theatres October 23.

WILDWOOD: INSIDE THE PERFORMANCE
September 10-19 | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. daily
Portland Square Gallery | 600 King St W, Toronto
FREE and open to the public

IN THE HEART OF THE SOUTH
World Premiere: September 10, 2026
TIFF Lightbox. Today we get a new Clip!

Directed by Nyla Innuksuk
Starring Anna Lambe, Zorga Qaunaq

Yura (Anna Lambe), an ambitious Inuk multi-media artist, starts to spirals out of control when an estranged childhood friend Sesi (Zorga Qaunaq) resurfaces, forcing Yura to confront the trauma she’s built her career on—and the identity she’s constructed to escape it.

Today we get a new Trailer for tiff ’26 selection, THE UNKNOWN.

Directed by: Arthur Harari

Starring: Léa Seydoux, Niels Schneider, Victoire Du Bois, Radu Jude

David Zimmerman, almost 40, is a photographer but no one knows it. When friends drag him to a wild party, he spots a woman in the crowd and can’t take his eyes off her, he follows her… A few hours later, David wakes up : he’s in the body of the unknown woman.