The TIFF51 Experience: Day One | Trusting My First Instinct

By Ross

The first film of TIFF always feels like a little leap of faith. I know the names, I know the descriptions, I know which filmmakers have already caught my attention, yet none of that quite prepares me for the moment when I must leave for the movie theatre. This year, that feeling arrives immediately, with two films competing for that first introduction to TIFF51, both speaking to different parts of my cinematic sensibility and both tempting me with the promise of something I have not experienced before. I can only choose one, which makes the choice itself part of the first day’s story. So here we go, the festival has begun, and I have to trust my instincts.

Coward

Lukas Dhont – NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE – Belgium, France, Netherlands | 2026 | 125m | French, Dutch

Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s poignant third feature celebrates a love that blooms amid the hardships and horrors of the First World War.

The opening scenes of Lukas Dhont’s extraordinary third feature introduce an array of newly minted Belgian soldiers in 1916. Like so many young men of the era, they initially approach the front lines not with a feeling of trepidation but a spirit of excitement and freshly forged camaraderie. Of course, the characters of Coward soon wake up to the First World War’s many horrors. Yet, traces of that brighter energy still persist in the uncommonly poignant love story at the film’s centre.

Among those new arrivals in the trenches is Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia), a taciturn farmboy who’s mostly content to blend into the background of his troop. That makes him very different from Francis (Valentin Campagne), the son of a tailor and the enthusiastic lead performer in the ad hoc revues that the most theatrically inclined soldiers stage for their comrades as a welcome distraction. The spark of attraction between the two men leads to another means of escaping the misery and tragedy that surrounds them.

Macchia and Campagne were the very deserving recipients of Best Actor honours from the jury when the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Coward also marks a triumph for Dhont, who makes the shift to the much larger scale of a period drama without losing the sense of intimacy, specificity, and humanity that distinguished his Camera d’Or winner Girl (TIFF 2018) and Close (2022), which followed its own Cannes success with an Academy Award nomination. The grace, beauty, and tenderness that the director captures here all make Coward a film to be treasured. – JASON ANDERSON

Tender Loving Care

Mike Leigh – CANADIAN PREMIERE – United Kingdom | 2026 | 107m | English

Seven-time Academy Award nominee Mike Leigh returns with an uplifting story of family and how to deal with grief, featuring remarkably emotional performances from Kate O’Flynn and Alice Bailey Johnson.

Academy Award-nominated writer-director and Palme d’Or and BAFTA winner Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner, TIFF ’14; Hard Truths, TIFF ’24) returns to the Festival with another astute portrait of ordinary lives, examining the complexities of aging, family, and learning to embrace life’s inevitable changes. Amy (Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay) is a devoted social service worker who puts her heart and soul into her job to care for those in need. At home, however, she finds herself confronting new challenges as her beloved father begins to have issues, and she and her mother must begin to make peace with their new reality. Through it all, Amy finds comfort, perspective, and plenty of laughter through sips of wine with her lifelong friend Rosie (Alice Bailey Johnson), whose warmth and wit become a vital anchor as both women navigate the shifting rhythms of approaching middle age.

Few artists understand the emotional texture of everyday life quite like Leigh. Renowned for his singular collaborative process with actors, he once again elicits performances of remarkable honesty from his talented ensemble, capturing the quiet moments, awkward conversations, and small acts of kindness that define our relationships. O’Flynn and Bailey Johnson give compellingly authentic performances, creating an enduring friendship that feels lived-in and familiar. Poignant without ever becoming sentimental — and unflinchingly real without becoming grim — Leigh’s latest is a gently uplifting celebration of resilience, compassion, and the people we surround ourselves with. In the hands of the incomparable filmmaker, Tender Loving Care is another masterclass in finding the extraordinary within the ordinary. – JASON RYLE

That is the strange little ritual of a first day at TIFF. Before I have seen a single frame, I am already trying to imagine what might move me, surprise me, unsettle me, or stay with me long after the credits roll. One film will become my first memory of TIFF51, while the other will have to wait for another opportunity. But that anticipation is part of the experience. I came to the festival looking for films I could not have encountered anywhere else in quite the same way, and this morning, the search begins with a choice, and the hope that I have chosen the right door to open.

It’s 7am, and Day One of TIFF is about to begin. I still haven’t decided whether “Coward” or “Tender Loving Care” gets to be my first film of the festival, and I reserve the right to change my mind somewhere between my front door and the press line. Because this is TIFF, even the length of the line could have a vote. I’m heading to the theatre now, with my choice still hanging in the balance. Check back later to find out which film I chose, and whether the first gamble of TIFF51 paid off.