Check out the trailer for the upcoming A24 film The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody and directed by Brady Corbet, a historical drama already positioned as a major awards contender.
This video presents an in‑depth look at the 10 best movies featured at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival – essential dramas, comedies and documentaries that should be on every film lover’s must‑watch list.
More festival gems are on the way from Venice, Sundance, New York and BFI London, so stay tuned to Cinema Awards Archive for the next wave of discoveries.
The Brutalist is a 2024 epic historical drama directed and produced by Brady Corbet, co‑written with Mona Fastvold, and released by A24. It follows László Tóth, a Hungarian‑born Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the United States, struggling to realise the American Dream until a wealthy client radically changes his life.
The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2024, where Corbet won the Silver Lion for Best Director, and it went on to critical acclaim, including selection as one of the American Film Institute’s top 10 films of 2024. It later screened at TIFF 2024 and the New York Film Festival.
Awards & accolades: multiple Venice prizes (including Silver Lion), Golden Globe recognition, AFI Top 10 Film of 2024, and further honours at New York critics and U.S. festivals have cemented The Brutalist as one of the defining prestige titles of awards season.
Cloud (Japanese title: Kuraudo) is a 2024 psychological thriller written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and starring Masaki Suda. It continues Kurosawa’s tradition of blending genre tension with eerie, slow‑burn mood.
In addition to its TIFF berth, the film premiered out of competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 30, 2024, and has been selected across multiple major festivals, including Busan (Gala Presentation) and the Mumbai Film Festival’s World Cinema section.
Japan chose Cloud as its official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards, marking it as one of the country’s key prestige titles of the year.
Mati Diop’s 2024 documentary Dahomey offers a dramatised account of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern‑day Benin) that were held in a French museum and then repatriated. The film examines both the journey of the artefacts and the response of the Beninese public to their return.
It had its world premiere in the main competition at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear, and later screened widely, including Sydney, Toronto, Atlantic, Busan, BFI London, New York and Tokyo.
Dahomey was selected as Senegal’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards and was named among the National Board of Review’s top five documentaries of 2024, confirming its status as one of the year’s essential non‑fiction films.
Flow (Latvian: Straume) is a 2024 animated fantasy adventure from Gints Zilbalodis, co‑written with Matīss Kaža, notable for containing no dialogue and relying entirely on imagery and sound design. It follows a cat and other animals trying to survive in a flooded, post‑apocalyptic world as water levels rise.
After premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Flow received widespread acclaim and a remarkable slate of awards, including Best Animated Film from the European Film Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review.
At Annecy, it won multiple prizes—including the Jury Award, Audience Award and Best Original Music for a Feature Film—cementing its reputation as one of the standout animated films of the year.
Hard Truths is a 2024 drama written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Marianne Jean‑Baptiste, Michele Austin and David Webber. The film centres on a depressed woman in London and her complicated relationship with her more upbeat sister, continuing Leigh’s intimate, character-driven approach.
It premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and later opened in the United States in December 2024 before a UK release in early 2025, drawing strong critical praise for its performances and emotional nuance.
Jean‑Baptiste’s work has been especially celebrated, contributing to the film’s inclusion in the National Board of Review’s top 10 independent films of 2024 and earning her acting honours at Denver and from regional critics’ groups.
Directed by Justin Kurzel and written by Zach Baylin, The Order is a 2024 crime thriller based on Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s non‑fiction book The Silent Brotherhood. It follows an FBI agent tracking a violent white supremacist group known as “The Order” operating in the United States in the 1980s.
The film had its world premiere in competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2024, before screening at Toronto, positioning it as one of the key prestige thrillers of the season.
Nightbitch is a 2024 American black comedy with elements of body horror, written and directed by Marielle Heller and adapted from Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel. Amy Adams stars as a former artist turned exhausted stay‑at‑home mother who begins to suspect she is transforming into a dog at night.
The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7 and was released theatrically in the U.S. by Searchlight Pictures in December 2024. Adams received multiple festival tributes, including a Tribute Performer Award at TIFF and an acting honour at Mill Valley.
Luca Guadagnino’s Queer is a 2024 period romantic drama adapted from William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novella, with a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes. Set in 1950s Mexico City, it follows an alienated American expat (Daniel Craig) who becomes infatuated with a younger man played by Drew Starkey.
The film premiered in competition at Venice on September 3, 2024, later screened as a Spotlight Gala selection at the 62nd New York Film Festival, and was released in the U.S. by A24 in November (limited) and December (wide). It was named one of the National Board of Review’s top ten films of 2024, with Craig winning their Best Actor award.
Craig has also received Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nominations for his performance, underscoring Queer’s awards relevance.
Triumph is a 2024 Bulgarian‑Greek black comedy directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, the final film in their loose trilogy after The Lesson and Glory. Set in the chaotic 1990s after the fall of communism, it follows a task force of army officers and self‑styled psychics sent to dig for an alien artefact in a small village, hoping to “make Bulgaria great again.”
The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and was later chosen as Bulgaria’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards, confirming it as a standout dark comedy on the festival circuit.
Vermiglio is a 2024 Italian drama written and directed by Maura Delpero. Set in 1944 in a remote Alpine village, it follows a deserter who hides with the local schoolteacher’s family and falls in love with her eldest daughter, altering the course of all their lives.
The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and additional honours, and it was later selected as Italy’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards before making its North American premiere at TIFF 2024.
Awards for director Maura Delpero, lead actress Martina Scrinzi and cinematographer Kristian De Martiis across Venice and Chicago further underlined Vermiglio’s critical success.
These ten titles represent some of the very best from the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, from awards juggernauts like The Brutalist and Queer to acclaimed international discoveries such as Dahomey, Flow and Triumph.
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