TIFF is always a little overwhelming. Hundreds of films, packed schedules, impossible choices, and that familiar feeling that there’s something brilliant playing across town while you’re sitting in another theatre. With TIFF 2026 heading into its final weekend, there’s still time to chase down something special before the festival closes on September 20.

This year’s lineup has plenty of big names, but some of the most exciting films are the ones taking unexpected turns. From surreal comedy to theatrical horror and time-bending stories, here are four films worth putting on your final-weekend radar.

When Reality Gets Weird

Chris Rock’s Misty Green turns Hollywood itself into the nightmare. Rosalind Eleazar plays a former television star fighting her way back into an industry that has already decided she is yesterday’s news. The result is a biting look at fame, ego, race, and the brutal desire to remain visible. There’s still a Saturday, September 19 screening at TIFF Lightbox, making this one a particularly timely pick.

For something even more unexpected, South African filmmaker Jenna Cato Bass brings Future Tense to TIFF. Set against a climate-threatened Cape Town, the film sends a couple back to 1647, before colonization, turning time travel into a story about identity, history, guilt, and the possibility of rewriting the past. Its final TIFF screening is Saturday night, September 19.

One More for the Road

That’s the wonderful thing about a festival like TIFF: even when the end is approaching, there are still discoveries waiting around the corner. A film you almost skipped can become the one you’re talking about on the way home.

So, if you’re in Toronto this weekend, leave a little room in the schedule for something unexpected. TIFF 2026 may be wrapping up, but the films it sends into the world are only getting started.