The Toronto International Film Festival announced today the TIFF 2024 selections for the highly regarded Midnight Madness program, which will open with the North American Premiere of Coralie Fargeat’s anticipated horror thriller The Substance, starring Demi Moore.
From the press release: “One of the most beloved programmes of the Festival, this year’s Midnight Madness highlights the wild and the eerie, from body horror to time travel, supernatural comedy to martial arts action, eccentric thrillers to provocative satire, and found footage to horror-themed punk rock. Surrounded by like-minded fans late at night, Midnight Madness filmgoers face the unknown in the company of strangers. A number of TIFF and Midnight Madness alumni are returning this year, including Joseph Kahn (TIFF 2017 People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award winner), Timo Tjahjanto (who last attended in 2016), and Fargeat (whose debut feature premiered at TIFF in 2017).”
Here’s the TIFF 2024 Midnight Madness lineup:
Dead Mail
Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy | USA
Canadian Premiere
Sales Title
Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s acclaimed synth-laden retro-thriller details the sordid sequence of events that lands a blood-stained scrap of mail on the desk of a county post-office’s “dead letter” investigator, and its murderous repercussions.
Dead Talents Society
John Hsu | Taiwan
North American Premiere
A meek and newly dead teen (Gingle Wang) learns from an undead diva (Sandrine Pinna) how to haunt the living, in this bloody and hilarious supernatural comedy from writer-director John Hsu (Detention).
Else
Thibault Emin | France/Belgium
World Premiere
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Thibault Emin’s mesmerizing debut feature intimately depicts a body-horror romance in the wake of a strange epidemic that causes the infected to melt into their surroundings.
Escape from the 21st Century
Yang LI | China
International Premiere
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Three high-schoolers gain the ability to sneeze themselves 20 years into the future in this maximalist martial-arts time-travel caper from writer-director Yang Li (Lee’s Adventure).
Friendship
Andrew DeYoung | USA
World Premiere
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Channelling the cringe comedy of his hit sketch series I Think You Should Leave, Tim Robinson portrays a suburban dad obsessively pursuing camaraderie with his charming neighbor (Paul Rudd).
Ick
Joseph Kahn | USA
World Premiere
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In Joseph Kahn’s breakneck sci-fi/horror satire, a high school science teacher (Brandon Routh) does battle with a parasitic alien entity, as well as the apathy of the small town it has been gradually absorbing.
It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This
Rachel Kempf, Nick Toti | USA
Canadian Premiere
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Indie filmmakers Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf investigate an abandoned duplex with downright evil vibes in this eerie and ecstatic found-footage fright fest.
The Gesuidouz
Kenichi Ugana | Japan
World Premiere
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From rising cult filmmaker Kenichi Ugana, a misfit horror-themed rock band moves to the Japanese countryside to write the greatest punk anthem in the world.
The Shadow Strays
Timo Tjahjanto | Indonesia
World Premiere
From action auteur Timo Tjahjanto (Headshot, TIFF ’16, The Night Comes For Us), a young assassin breaks rank from her clandestine organization to rescue a young boy from gangsters with ultra-violent repercussions.
OPENING FILM
The Substance
Coralie Fargeat | United Kingdom/USA/France
North American Premiere
Demi Moore portrays a fading Hollywood star feuding with the manifestation of her younger self (Margaret Qualley) in this award-winning body-horror satire from writer-director Coralie Fargeat (Revenge).