The 51st Toronto International Film Festival officially opened on Thursday, September 10, and day one didn’t waste any time rolling out the red carpets. Between a star-studded opening gala, a taxidermy musical, a historical thriller, a Palme d’Or winner, and a soccer legend’s documentary debut, here’s everything that went down.

Being Heumann Opens the Festival

TIFF’s official opening-night honors went to Being Heumann, Siân Heder’s drama about disability rights activist Judy Heumann, starring Ruth Madeley in the title role alongside Mark Ruffalo as U.S. health secretary Joseph Califano. The red carpet kicked off around 6 p.m. at David Pecaut Square ahead of the film’s world premiere celebration at Roy Thomson Hall — the traditional ceremonial centerpiece of TIFF’s opening night.

Jodie Comer and Harry Melling Bring Stuffed to Life

Jodie Comer and Harry Melling walked the carpet for Stuffed, the darkly funny musical romance that opened TIFF’s Discovery program at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Comer plays a taxidermist determined to preserve a human specimen, while Melling plays the lonely man who volunteers for the job after his death — an odd premise that turns, somehow, into a love story.

Naomi Watts Premieres The Housewife

Naomi Watts brought her new historical thriller The Housewife to its world premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Watts stars alongside Luke Evans, Tye Sheridan, and Michael Imperioli in the story of a New York Times journalist investigating a suspected former Nazi officer living in Queens — an investigation complicated when she becomes involved with the man’s wife.

Sebastian Stan Unveils Fjord

One of the night’s most talked-about premieres belonged to Fjord, Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner, which screened at the Princess of Wales Theatre with Sebastian Stan on hand. Stan, nearly unrecognizable in his transformation for the role, stars alongside Renate Reinsve as part of a Romanian-Norwegian family whose parenting comes under scrutiny after relocating to a small Norwegian community. A private premiere party followed at RBC House.

Megan Rapinoe Opens TIFF Docs

Soccer icon Megan Rapinoe was on hand at TIFF Lightbox for the premiere of Rapinoe, Rebeca Huntt’s documentary opening this year’s TIFF Docs program. The film follows the two-time World Cup champion through the final stretch of her career, including her last World Cup, and looks at the public battles that made her one of the most recognizable figures in women’s sports. Rapinoe was among TIFF’s confirmed festival guests and made her way through the crowd on King Street alongside the rest of the day’s arrivals.

Gary Oldman Takes the TIFF Stage

Ahead of the evening’s premieres, Sir Gary Oldman appeared at the John W. H. Bassett Theatre inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for a TIFF Visionaries conversation — part of the inaugural TIFF: The Market programming making its debut this year.

Midnight Madness and the Street Takeover

Once the carpets wrapped, TIFF’s Midnight Madness program kicked off at 11:59 p.m. at the Royal Alexandra Theatre with the world premiere of Joshua Giuliano’s horror film River, launching 10 nights of genre programming. Meanwhile, King Street West was closed to traffic as Festival Street took over downtown, and the free Rogers Red Carpet experience opened in Yorkville with performances from LeWolf & Friends and a Kid Koala DJ set.

TIFF 2026 runs through September 20 across Toronto, with hundreds more premieres, red carpets, and industry events still to come.