15 Best Films From Chris Evans, Angelina Jolie, Michaela Coel

Pack your checkbooks, Hollywood.

As studios and streamers decamp for the Toronto Film Festival, where they will premiere or screen many of the films that they hope will dominate awards season, they’ll also be on the hunt for some compelling movies to round out their slates. On paper, there’s plenty on offer, including new films from leading auteurs like Steven Soderbergh, Mona Fastvold, and Gus Van Sant, as well as star-driven projects featuring the likes of Angelina Jolie, Riz Ahmed, Michaela Coel, and Chris Evans. But plenty of films have arrived at TIFF with impressive pedigree only to be met with a shrug by audiences. Here are 15 films that seem likely to spark the most intense bidding wars.

Hamlet

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Joe Alwyn, Timothy Spall, Art Malik, Sheeba Chadha
Director: Aneil Karia
Sales Agent: WME Independent / CAA Media Finance 
Why Buyers Are Circling: A bold new take on the Bard, with Ahmed playing Shakespeare’s tragic hero as the tortured son of a business mogul. Instead of dreary Danish castles, the action unfolds in boardrooms, mansions and wedding halls in contemporary London and the verse is delivered by a primarily South Asian cast.

You Had To Be There

Director: Nick Davis
Sales Agent: UTA Independent Film Group 
Why Buyers Are Circling: In 1972, a group of aspiring actors got their first big break in the Toronto production of “Godspell.” Not only was the show a smash, it also helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in entertainment. Playing Jesus and his disciples were none other than Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radnor, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, and Victor Garber, with Paul Shaffer serving as musical director. Davis’ film interviews the surviving cast members, many of whom would go on to appear in “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live,” and argues that when not earning standing ovations, they were revolutionizing comedy.

The Christophers

Cast: Michaela Coel, Ian McKellen, Jessica Gunning, James Corden
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Sales Agent: CAA Media Finance 
Why Buyers Are Circling: McKellen is said to be never-better as an aging artist whose children (Corden, Gunning) hire a forger to steal and then complete his unfinished works so they can inherit a bigger nest egg. Soderbergh, the most agile of auteurs, is exploring the dramedy genre after getting his heist on with the well-reviewed spy thriller “Black Bag.”

Easy’s Waltz

Cast: Vince Vaughn, Kate Mara, Shania Twain, Al Pacino
Director: Nic Pizzolatto
Sales Agent: CAA Media Finance/WME Independent/Range
Why Buyers Are Circling: Pizzolatto, one of the industry’s brightest talents before “True Detective” unraveled and the franchise was farmed out to others, will try to recapture his former glory with a look at a fading crooner (Vaughn) who has fumbled his shot at the big time. He gets one more chance to see his name in lights after a former star (Pacino) takes him under his wing. Like the protagonist of his new film, all Pizzolatto needs is another break to remind us of his singular talent.

Driver’s Ed

Cast: Sam Nivola, Sophie Telegadis, Mohana Krishnan, Aidan Laprete, Molly Shannon, Kumail Nanjiani
Director: Bobby Farrelly
Sales Agent: UTA Independent Film Group/AGC Studios
Why Buyers Are Circling: Are raunchy comedies dead? Not for Bobby Farrelly, who helped popularize the genre with hit films like “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber.” His latest is the story of a teenager who steals his driving instructor’s car in order to visit his girlfriend in college. If the gross-out gags are hilarious, a streamer or studio will pounce. Plus, Nivola is white hot after “The White Lotus.”

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Cast: Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Clara Khoury
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Sales Agent: CAA Media Finance/Party Film Sales
Why Buyers Are Circling: After scoring a 22-minute standing ovation at Venice, this true story of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl left stranded after trying to flee Gaza with her family seems destined to score a major distribution deal when it lands in Toronto. It’s a ripped-from-the-headlines drama that should strike a nerve at the festival with its depiction of the human cost of conflict. But will it prove too hot to handle in the current political climate?

Poetic License

Cast: Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Leslie Mann
Director: Maude Apatow
Sales Agent: WME Independent
Why Buyers Are Circling: Apatow, the daughter of Judd Apatow and Mann, makes her feature directorial debut with this story of two college buddies whose friendship is tested after they fall for a married woman who is auditing their poetry class. Early buzz is that Apatow skillfully navigates both the humor and the heartbreak.

Sacrifice

Cast: Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Salma Hayek, Charli XCX, Vincent Cassel
Director: Romain Gavras
Sales Agent: CAA Media Finance
Why Buyers Are Circling: The story of a movie star (Evans) who snaps out of an existential crisis after a radical group led by Taylor-Joy hijacks a glitzy charity function and enlists him to be part of a ritual sacrifice involving a volcano. The premise is gonzo and the cast is top shelf. That’s enough to pique studios’ interest.

Canceled: The Paula Deen Story

Director: Billy Corben
Sales Agent: UTA Independent Film Group
Why Buyers Are Circling: Paula Deen became a household name thanks to her Southern hospitality and artery-clogging cooking (man, did she love butter!). But the culinary empire she built collapsed in 2013 after an employee filed a lawsuit and Deen acknowledged in a deposition that she had used racial slurs. Corben’s film re-examine’s Deen’s life story, as well as the scandal that tarnished her reputation. It should spark lots of debate around the dinner table.

Couture

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Louis Garrel
Director: Alice Winocour
Sales Agent: UTA Independent Film Group/Han Way Films
Why Buyers Are Circling: It’s Angelina Jolie as you’ve never heard her before. The Oscar-winner gives her first performance in French, playing an American director in Paris to capture a fashion event on film. Things don’t go according to plan after she receives some upsetting medical news. The combination of Jolie and haute coutre sounds like a match made in runway heaven.

Bad Apples

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Jacob Anderson, Eddie Waller
Director: Jonatan Etzler
Sales Agent: FilmNation
Why Buyers Are Circling: Saoirse Ronan’s turn as an elementary school teacher navigating a bully in the classroom and an indifferent administration is a satire that has plenty to say about our modern world. In the right hands, the film that is both provocative and accessible could find traction during awards season.

The Testament of Ann Lee

Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Abbott, Thomasin McKenzie
Director: Mona Fastvold
Sales Agent: CAA Media Finance/Charade
Why Buyers Are Circling: Seyfried explores the sect lives of Shakers, in this musical about a religious community that embraced celibacy, which didn’t do wonders for its longevity. The film scored with critics when it debuted at Venice, and Fastvold is on every cinephile’s radar after penning “The Brutalist” with her partner in life and art, Brady Corbet, who co-wrote the script for this one.

Dead Man’s Wire

Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Colman Domingo, Dacre Montgomery, Al Pacino
Director: Gus Van Sant
Sales Agent: WME Independent/Elevated
Why Buyers Are Circling: This true-life hostage drama plays like a spin on “Dog Day Afternoon,” and that’s not just because Pacino’s name is in the credits. It tells the story of a budding entrepreneur (Skarsgård) who ignites a media firestorm after he kidnaps his mortgage broker. The saga seems tailor-made for these mad-as-hell times. Plus, it marks Van Sant’s return to feature filmmaking after a six-year absence. What took you so long?

Tuner

Cast: Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno
Director: Daniel Roher
Sales Agent: WME Independent/UTA Independent Film Group
Why Buyers Are Circling: A film that is both a sensitive drama and thriller, “Tuner” delves into the life of a piano tuner (Woodall) whose auditory superpowers are harnessed for the dark arts of safecracking. With a splashy supporting performances from veterans Hoffman and Reno, “Tuner” marks a convincing pivot for documentarian Roher, whose “Navalny” won the Oscar.

Fuze

Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Sam Worthington, Gugu Mbatha-Raw 
Director: David Mackenzie
Sales Agent: WME Independent/UTA Independent Film Group
Why Buyers Are Circling: One of the more commercial films that’s available. The latest thriller from Mackenzie, an old hand at suspense thanks to films like “Hell or High Water” and “Relay,” revolves around the discovery of a World War II-era bomb in the heart of London and the authorities efforts to protect bystanders from a potential explosion. The cast incudes Taylor-Johnson and James, two of the hottest young actors in the business, both of whom are often mentioned as candidates to fill James Bond’s tuxedo in the next 007 film.