#TIFF26: “STUFFED” REVIEW

By Nicholas Porteous

Harry Melling bemoans his meaningless existence as a cheese sandwich assembly line worker, yearning to leave any kind of legacy behind. Meanwhile, Jodie Comer searches for a volunteer body to build her ultimate human taxidermy project. The two cross paths and… Stuffed happens. Did I mention it’s a musical? You could be forgiven for thinking, like I did, that this wild mashup of themes and genre might result in a sleeper cult hit at this year’s fest, but I’m sad to report Stuffed is dead on arrival.

For starters, there’s no engine propelling these characters forward beyond an abstract desire to be memorable and die. That wouldn’t be enough to spark a conventional narrative, and it sure doesn’t motivate a musical. Almost every song in Stuffed is just a melodic delivery device for information we already understand. The lyrics are practical, the observations are obvious, and the laughs are absent. There may be comedy to glean from the central musical subversion–characters singing with grandeur about their empty lives–but this ain’t it.

Stuffed has a polished exterior. The production design is textured, the visuals are sharp, and Melling and Comer do their damndest to bring life to the stagnant screenplay. There’s even some clever choreography, making use of Melling‘s sandwich assembly line. But the obvious metaphor can’t be avoided: beneath its glossy surface, Stuffed is a hollow experience, lifelessly lurching to an empty end. Unless you’re BIG on death and taxidermy, stay away.

Stuffed screens at TIFF ’26:

Fri. Sept 11 at 9:20 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

Sun. Sept 20 at 7:00 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

#TIFF26: DAY ONE SIGHTINGS – SEBASTIAN STAN, JODIE COMER, HARRY MELLING, ZIWE AND MARK VINS

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)

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#TIFF: 2026 DISCOVERY PROGRAMME

TIFF announced today the 2026 Discovery programme presented by Air France, showcasing a selection of emerging global filmmakers. Offering audiences a front-row seat to the future of cinema, this year’s lineup highlights films that pair bold creative risks with fresh perspectives. Continuing the tradition of opening the programme with an audacious genre-bender, following the breakout success of John Early’s TIFF ’25 comedy Maddie’s Secret, is the World Premiere of Stuffed. Directed and co-written by the UK’s Theo Rhys (and expanded from his 2021 short of the same name), this gloriously twisted musical stars Jodie Comer and Harry Melling in the year’s most original, hilarious, and unexpectedly heartfelt romance, where love, death, and taxidermy collide.

Additional highlights from the 2026 Discovery Official Selections are the World Premieres of David Turpin’s Ancestors, a dreamlike 1980s London-set seance exploring the legacy of the AIDS crisis; Drifter, an underdog story marking the directorial debut of Fast & Furious star Sung Kang; Ghasideh Golmakani’s Head to Head, an absurd Iranian satire on state control; Krux, writer-director Ulrike Tony Vahl’s feature length debut, a powerful and stark portrait of moral collapse, societal panic, and the consequences of being on the wrong side of history; Alexandra Pechman’s Magazine, where a young intern gets thrown into the intoxicating power dynamics of a prestigious literary magazine in New York 2011; and Tom Nicoll’s Salvation, a razor-sharp commentary on the seductive promise of online self-improvement culture. Plus, the International Premiere of Voices, a striking Motown-infused 1960s period musical from first-time filmmaker and former NFL player Deantè Gray.

Recognized for identifying the early works of generation-defining visionaries, Discovery has showcased foundational titles including Ildikó Enyedi’s My 20th Century (TIFF ’89), Alfonso Cuarón’s Love in the Time of Hysteria (TIFF ’91), Christopher Nolan’s Following (TIFF ’98), and Lav Diaz’s The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion (TIFF ’98). Recent editions have continued to champion next-gen voices, hosting the World Premieres of Dea Kulumbegashvili’s Beginning (TIFF ’20), Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection (TIFF ’22), and Durga Chew-Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse (TIFF ’24).

The 2026 Discovery Official Selection has been programmed by Jason Anderson, Kelly Boutsalis, Diana Cadavid, Robyn Citizen, Claire Diao, Giovanna Fulvi, June Kim, Peter Kuplowsky, Dorota Lech, and Jason Ryle.

2026 Discovery programme (in alphabetical order)

A Common Story | Anna Foglietta | Italy

International Premiere

Ancestors | David Turpin | Ireland, United Kingdom

World Premiere

Arne Goes to Space | Lars Vega | Sweden

World Premiere

Bedford Park | Stephanie Ahn | USA

International Premiere

Drifter | Sung Kang | USA

World Premiere

Head to Head | Ghasideh Golmakani | Iran, Germany

World Premiere

I Am Mario | Sharon Kleinberg | Mexico

International Premiere

In Waves | Phuong Mai Nguyen | France, Belgium

International Premiere

Krux | Tony Vahl | Germany, Poland

World Premiere

Magazine | Alexandra Pechman | USA

World Premiere

Memories of a Forest | Katharina Rabl | Germany, Austria

International Premiere

Nosotros | Joaquín Ruano | Guatemala, Mexico

World Premiere

Purgatory | Lindsay Lanzillotta | Canada, USA

World Premiere

Salvation | Tom Nicoll | United Kingdom

World Premiere

Seventeen | Justin Ducharme | Canada

World Premiere

Sisters | Ione Hernández | Spain

World Premiere

Strong Son | Ian Bawa | Canada

World Premiere

Stuffed | Theo Rhys | United Kingdom

World Premiere

Discovery opening film

The Daughters of Abraham | Hanaël El Yousfi | France

International Premiere

The Fortunate Isles | Helena Girón, Samuel Delgado | Spain, Greece

World Premiere

Voices | Deantè Gray | USA

International Premiere

We Are Born Good | Leung Chuen Yeung | Hong Kong

World Premiere

What Lies Between Us | Amalie Næsby Fick | Denmark

World Premiere

Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and The Burdens of Excess | Christine Boateng, Hajara Musah Chambas | Ghana

World Premiere

The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 10–20, 2026.