– An Incendiary Watch –
by Shirley Li | The Atlantic | September 20, 2025
An existential thriller set in the middle of the Moroccan desert, a whodunit doubling as a crisis of faith, a musical about the founder of the Shaker movement—this year’s Toronto International Film Festival not only screened some of this fall’s biggest movies, but it also offered attendees a rich array of stories to indulge in.
My schedule was so full that when Nomadland director Chloé Zhao guided the audience through a breathing exercise before the premiere of her latest film, Hamnet, I noticed how fast my heart was beating—a result of all the caffeine I’d ingested to stay awake. But the upside of long days spent going from screening to screening means a fresh watchlist for the season. Below are 14 of my favorite movies, most of which will arrive in theaters before the end of the year.
Orwell: 2+2=5 (in theaters October 3)
With his previous documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, the filmmaker Raoul Peck dissected James Baldwin’s works, producing a sobering portrait of anti-Black sentiment in America. His new film, which probes George Orwell’s writings, is just as blistering. Peck uses Orwell’s own words (voiced by the actor Damian Lewis) to illustrate how the author’s vision of a totalitarian future, as articulated in his seminal novel 1984, can be glimpsed around the world. It’s an incendiary watch that presents Orwell’s other works—including his novels, essays, and letters sent to loved ones during his final years—alongside clips from adaptations of his stories and footage of current events. The result makes clear just how prescient the writer was about an emerging political climate.
Read the rest of the original article at The Atlantic