There was a question going into the 2017 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival on how the popular Midnight Madness programme would fare after longtime programmer Colin Geddes stepped down to move on to other endeavors. However, Midnight Madness seems to be under very capable hands with new programmer Peter Kuplowsky and there are some very interesting selections in this year’s line-up.
Standing out in this year’s line-up is The Disaster Artist, James Franco‘s biopic about the making of the cult movie The Room. The screening is considered a World Premiere, even though a work in progress cut of The Disaster Artist previously screened at SXSW. The Midnight Madness opening film this year is the World Premiere of Joseph Kahn’s dark comedy Bodied, about the brutal sport of battle rapping. For the second year in a row, Midnight Madness will close with a Japanese film, with this year’s closing film being the World Premiere of Soîchi Umezawa’s Vampire Clay. Some other notable selections in this year’s Midnight Madness line-up include the prison thriller Brawl in Cell Block 99, the Nicholas Cage starring horror-comedy Mom and Dad, and the very interestingly titled Let the Corpses Tan.
Here is the full Midnight Madness line-up:
Midnight Madness Opening Film.
Bodied Joseph Kahn, USA
World Premiere
Brawl in Cell Block 99 S. Craig Zahler, USA
North American Premiere
The Crescent Seth A. Smith, Canada
World Premiere
The Disaster Artist James Franco, USA
World Premiere
Downrange Ryuhei Kitamura, USA
World Premiere
Great Choice Robin Comisar, USA
Canadian Premiere
Let the Corpses Tan Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, Belgium/France
North American Premiere
Mom and Dad Brian Taylor, USA
World Premiere
Revenge Coralie Fargeat, France
World Premiere
The Ritual David Bruckner, UK
World Premiere
Midnight Madness Closing Film.
Vampire Clay Sôichi Umezawa, Japan
World Premiere