The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is going all-out in 2022, after two years of mostly virtual screenings with a few important films peppered in. This year, from Sep. 8-18, TIFF will be screening many of the most anticipated films of the year from some of the greatest directors working today. Steven Spielberg, Martin McDonagh, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Park Chan-wook, Lena Dunham, Sam Mendes, Rian Johnson, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Rodrigo Garcia, Darren Aronofsky, Jafar Panahi, Stephen Frears, Ruben Östlund, Sarah Polley, and more will be screening their films this year.

Some of these will be world premieres, some will be North American premieres, and some only Canadian premieres. We want to provide an overview of some of the most exciting and highly-anticipated films at the festival this year, but with such an excess of brilliance at TIFF in September, the selection in this article is limited simply to world premieres of films no festival or audience have seen before. While huge movies like The Whale, the Palme d'Or-winner Triangle of Sadness, and the masterpiece Decision to Leave are all having anticipated screenings, here we look at the greatest or most interesting films making their exclusive world premiere at TIFF 2022, in no particular order.

Alice, Darling

Anna Kendrick in Alice Darling
Lionsgate
Elevation Pictures

The feature film debut from Mary Nighy (whose short films and television work is always interesting) looks like a wonderfully mysterious thriller that will continue Anna Kendrick's success as a multifaceted, immensely magnetic performer. Surrounded by other talented women (including Wunmi Mosaku and Kaniehtiio Horn), Kendrick plays the titular Alice during a road trip with her friends. When a girl goes missing at their destination spot and Alice's secretive boyfriend arrives, things are set to get dark. Alice, Darling looks to be a subtle gem that shouldn't be missed.

Roost

what comes around grace van dien
IFC Films

Though still somewhat shrouded in mystery, writer/director Amy Redford's film Roost seems like a promising domestic drama and a fine addition to American independent cinema. The film concerns the complications between a mother and daughter when the younger girl (Grace Van Dien) falls for a 28-year-old man on the internet (Kyle Gallner).

Redford (daughter of the great Robert Redford) made a splash at Sundance back in 2008 with The Guitar but has been largely absent from the scene since then. Now, hopes are high with The Roost, which seems promising enough that Redford is already working on two more films.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Even though he mastered the mystery genre with the brilliant high school noir Brick, nobody expected Rian Johnson's modern murder mystery Knives Out to become such a wildly massive success. The fascinating filmmaker is capitalizing on his hit by making a quasi-sequel with an equally stacked cast — Daniel Craig, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, and Leslie Odom Jr. all star in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which will follow the stupendous Southern sleuth Detective Benoit Blanc as he travels to Greece for what should be another endlessly entertaining and twisty mystery.

Related: These Movies Reinvented Murder Mysteries for Modern Audiences

Raymond & Ray

Raymond and Ray with Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor
Apple TV+

Ethan Hawke continues this wildly creative and busy period of his life with not just Glass Onion (and Black Phone, and Moon Knight, and The Northman, all released in the last year with breathless succession) but also Raymond & Ray. Hawke stars alongside Ewan McGregor as two half-brothers who attempt to rekindle their filial relationship after attending their father's funeral. The film is written and directed by Rodrigo García, one of the most underrated filmmakers working today; he will likely bring the same ability to flesh out rich emotions in extremely subtle ways that he brought with Last Days in the Desert, Four Good Days, and his work on In Treatment.

The Woman King

One of the most-hyped films of TIFF, The Woman King finds director Gina Prince-Bythewood going all out with an intense historical epic. Unlike most whitewashed historical epics, The Woman King is set in Africa and follows an all-female military group in the Kingdom of Dahomey, nicknamed Dahomey Amazons by Europeans with their typical flair for geographic inaccuracy. Viola Davis leads The Woman King in what appears to be a fierce display of passion; "I’ve never had a role like this before. It’s transformative," she told Vanity Fair. The film looks to be a gorgeously shot, action-packed spectacle of strong women fighting for themselves.

The Lost King

The Lost King
Warner Bros. Pictures
Pathe

On a completely different note with a completely different king, the great and quirky British director Stephen Frears brings his usual light-hearted touch to The Lost King, a quiet dramedy about a hobbyist historian (played by the incomparable Sally Hawkins) and her husband (the great Steve Coogan) who discover the remains of famed King Richard III in a Leicester car park. Based on a remarkable true story that turned a parking garage into a national monument, the movie will likely include some fantasy sequences (or oscillate between 2012 and the 15th century), seeing as Harry Lloyd is set to play Richard III.

Walk Up

The underrated Korean genius Hong Sangsoo will be premiering his new film Walk Up at TIFF this year; it's one of four films the restless director made during the COVID-19 pandemic (if one could even say it's over). With his typically mesmerizing long takes, circuitous dialogue, and scenes which seem to simply trail off into a pleasant nowhere, Walk Up is sure to be another peaceful yet hypnotic film from the master auteur.

Women Talking

Women Talking
Bloomsbury Publishing

The brilliant Sarah Polley (Stories We Tell) assembles an incredible cast of women (herself, Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand, and Jessie Buckley) alongside Ben Whishaw for her new film Women Talking. The movie will follow a group of women in an isolated Mennonite commune who convene to discuss the men in power in their community who have repeatedly drugged and raped them and others, and what must be done. Based on the novel by Miriam Toews (whose All My Puny Sorrows was adapted into a lovely film this year as well), Women Talking looks to be a harrowing, emotionally heavy, important film with powerhouse performances.

Related: Best Movies That Ever Premiered at Tribeca Festival

Wendell & Wild

Wendell and Wild
Netflix

Wendell & Wild will surely be a fun break from some heavier and more arthouse films at TIFF, but is equally anticipated. Directed by Henry Selick (the man behind the stop-motion animation in The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline) and written by him with Jordan Peele, the creators' pedigrees alone are enough to warrant excitement. However, Wendell & Wild will see a welcome return of Key & Peele, with Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key reuniting seven years after their hit sketch comedy to show to voice the titular characters in this phantasmagoric animated horror comedy about two demons trying to break into the Land of the Living.

The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans
Universal Pictures

Steven Spielberg's autobiographical film The Fabelmans is arguably the most anticipated world premier at TIFF. A rare chance to see the hallowed director take on something personal and smaller than his usual big-budget epics, The Fabelmans is a coming-of-age drama that follows Sammy Fabelman for 11 years after World War 2 as he investigates family secrets and grows up in Arizona, discovering his passion for cinema along the way. It's great to see Spielberg make something like this, what seems like a very personal swan song to the director's lengthy and important career. Plus it stars David Lynch, so it's a must-watch.