TIFF Midnight Madness 2026 Includes ‘Hope’, ‘Obsession’ Replay

Last year, the TIFF Midnight Madness section made a big splash on the map with Focus Features’ mega $15M acquisition of Curry Barker’s Obsession which turned into the most successful film festival pick-up at the B.O. with close to half billion at the B.O., and this year the film festival is bringing back the pic for a reprise on Friday, Sept. 11.

Barker and Obsession star Inde Navarette are sitting down for a Dialogues discussion at the John Bassett Theatre.

In addition, this year’s TIFF Midnight Madness is doing a special screening of the Neon Cannes Korean sci-fi title, Hope, on Sept. 9, that Na-Hong jin directed movie already a massive hit in its home country with more than $32M at the box office.

This year’s Midnight Madness counts ten 10 late-night screenings at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, each starting at 11:59 pm comprised of not just horror but also absurdist alt-comedies and gonzo documentaries. Of the ten, there’s six world premieres across ten countries of production.

The section is curated by Peter Kuplowsky.

Here’s this year’s line-up:

Anchors Aweigh | Matt Barats | USA
International Premiere

Arrested Memory | SABU | Taiwan, Japan
North American Premiere

HALF | Samjad | India
World Premiere

Kick On | Nick Kozakis | Australia
World Premiere

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney | Matthew Rankin | Canada
World Premiere

River | Joshua Giuliano | USA
World Premiere

Midnight Madness Opening Night Film

Rogue Trooper | Duncan Jones | United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Midnight Madness Closing Night Film

The Face of Horror | Anna Biller | United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Spiral | Paolo Strippoli | Italy, France, Belgium
International Premiere

Vintage Violence | Eugene Kotlyarenko | USA, Japan
World Premiere