Want to verify that the State of the Genre Union is strong? Then you’ll definitely want to grab a ticket for any (or all) of this year’s Midnight Madness titles during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Once again Peter Kuplowsky, who has been leading the Midnight Madness program since 2017, has pulled together a diverse slate of horror, action, and comedy that has something for every type of genre aficionado. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for us as we all prepare to gather at the witching hour for 10 rocking nights from September 4-14, 2025.
BBP: For MM newbies, which film(s) this year would be the best entry point that shows what MM is all about?
PK: These past few years, I’ve been ensuring that the Opening Night film delivers a quintessential Midnight movie experience, and that is very much the case with NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE. Though a spin-off of Matt Johnson’s cult television series, the uninitiated will find it very easy to join the film’s hysterical and anarchic wavelength. It pays endearing homage to a number of popular movies, and makes a number of Toronto-specific jokes, so this home-town screening is going to be especially raucous. The enthusiasm and infectious laughter in the room is gonna levitate the place. I imagine some of the audience will be fans of the show who have never been to Midnight before, and I am hopeful that the experience will bring them back the next night and the next.
BBP: On the flipside: Which film(s) are going to blow away the veterans who’ve been showing up at every screening for the last 20+ years?
PK: Veterans of the section should be well aware of how Midnight Madness has championed some of the most influential martial arts films of the past thirty years, from ONG BAK and CHOCOLATE to SPL and THE RAID. Therefore, they should appreciate how this year’s martial arts entry THE FURIOUS represents a kind of culmination of 21st century pan-Asian martial arts talent. Directed by Kenji Tanigaki, who was responsible for the genre-defining choreography of SPL and FLASHPOINT, the film further features a reunion from THE RAID with Joe Taslim once again squaring off against Yayan Ruhian. CHOCOLATE’s JeeJa Yanin also makes an ass-kicking cameo as well. On a story level, the film is certainly not re-inventing the wheel, but even the most stalwart Midnighter will be hard pressed NOT to be impressed when the action escalates into a five-way throwdown that is right up there with classic martial arts rumbles like Sammo Hung’s DRAGONS FOREVER.
BBP: MM films always start with a strong opening scene. Was there a film you saw this year that you knew within the first 15 minutes that it would strike a chord with the MM audience?
PK: It’s hard to beat the death-defying stunt that opens NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE, but let me call attention to the section’s Serbian film KARMADONNA. From writer/director Aleksandar Radivojević (who co-wrote the notorious exploitation film A SERBIAN FILM), the film wastes no time establishing an irresistible high-concept premise worthy of Larry Cohen: a pregnant woman receives a phone call from God who asks her to kill or lose her unborn child. The first few minutes are shot with all the dynamism of a Sam Raimi spook-a-blast.
It is also worth mentioning another directorial debut, DUST BUNNY, from prolific television showrunner Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Hannibal). What makes its entire first act quite unique is that there is barely any dialogue, with the story largely expressed through creative choreography and composition. It’s marvelous, arresting and culminates in a spectacular firework laden set-piece.
BBP: What’s this year’s dark horse MM title? The one that nobody is going to see coming and everyone will be talking about the next morning.
PK: Anyone paying attention to contemporary online sketch comedy and viral horror shorts will have Curry Barker’s debut OBSESSION on their radar, but even then, I think people are gonna be knocked out by the film. Though it assumes the shape of a traditional “be careful what you wish for” parable, its excellent performances make for an especially harrowing experience. Not only will everyone be talking about it, but everyone will be talking about where Curry will go next. Like BARBARIAN or IT FOLLOWS before it, this is the arrival of a major voice in American horror.
I also know THE NAPA BOYS was on no one’s bingo cards. Co-created by veteran comedy writers Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman, the film is a bizarre spoof of Hollywood franchise filmmaking, but applied to a film that you’d never imagine getting franchised: Alexander Payne’s SIDEWAYS. It’s a comedy very much in the tradition of WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER – just infectiously silly as it abandons all conventional causality in pursuit of surreal absurdism and gag after gag. I think last year’s screening of FRIENDSHIP demonstrated how hungry audiences are for big-screen comedies, and with the recent success of THE NAKED GUN, I can see THE NAPA BOYS really connecting with audiences that prefer their Midnights to be as irreverent as possible. The cast is a mix of great alt-comedy personalities, including Paul Rust, Mike Mitchell, Riki Lindhome and David Wain, and it gets so surgically niche with its references that I’ve been describing it as “your favourite comedians new favourite comedy” because it deploys some of its jokes with Andy Kaufman-esque levels of comic anarchy.
BBP: Is there anything else outside of MM that you’d recommend checking out?
PK: There’s plenty of titles outside of the section that might as well be bonus Midnight titles. Notably: EGGHEAD REPUBLIC, a gonzo sci-fi satire from Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja. Their last film ANIARA (which played TIFF in 2018) is one of my favourite contemporary sci-fi films, and while their new film assumes a comedic register, it’s another remarkably innovative adaptation that is unpredictable and scathing in its critique of familiar counter-culture grifting. Definitely one of the gems of the festival, and was nearly included in the Midnight section, until we decided to platform the filmmakers in the DISCOVERY section.
Also, for those looking for more horror titles, do not miss Nadia Latif’s THE MAN IN MY BASEMENT. Its horror is not hyperbolic (there’s a reason that it’s not at Midnight), rather it’s quiet and simmering, but nonetheless really provocative. Stellar performances from Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe.
Frankly, there are a few films we haven’t even announced yet that should definitely be on the radar of Midnight fans, so be sure to pour over every programme note when the schedule goes live.
Find information about the Festival, including schedule and ticket information at TIFF.net ! The Festival runs from September 4-14, 2025 and you can find coverage right here at Biff Bam Pop!
