TIFF 2016: Free Fire, starring Oscar winner Brie Larson, to Headline Midnight Madness

Erik Anderson August 9, 2016

**TIFF 2016: Free Fire, Dog Eat Dog and Blair Witch Hit Midnight Madness**

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TORONTO — Run for cover and grab your loved ones, Midnight Madness just unleashed its terrorific lineup for the 41st Toronto International Film Festival®. From high-octane crime films, gruesome visceral horrors, to a creepy, hair-raising documentary, and nerve-wrenching thrillers, this year’s slate will whet all appetites and leave audiences shocked, thrilled and checking under their beds before turning out the lights. Midnight Madness is generously sponsored by Cineplex Entertainment.

This year Midnight Madness welcomes back several alumni including Adam Wingard and Ben Wheatley; and exciting newcomers and heavy hitters André Øvredal, Greg McLean, Colm McCarthy, directing duo Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto (The Mo Brothers), Kōji Shiraishi and Julia Ducournau; and for the first time at Midnight — Paul Schrader and Morgan Spurlock.

“Midnight Madness is the destination for those who love to sink their teeth into excessive, unrelenting, weird and wild films,” said Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “And this year we have the perfect fix for adrenaline junkies and blood thirsty fiends. Audiences can pick their poison from Paul Schrader’s frenzied crime caper starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe, Iko Uwais as an ultimate killing machine, the ruthlessly violent The Belko Experiment, late night autopsies, insatiable cannibalism served Frenchstyle, a zombie dystopian thriller, and the long-awaited return of Blair Witch. Midnight Madness has you covered!”

Bloody fights for survival bookend Midnight Madness — opening with Ben Wheatley’s hotly anticipated Free Fire, starring Brie Larson, Armie Hammer and Cillian Murphy, and closing with the ultimate showdown between J-horror icons from The Ring and The Grudge in Sadako vs. Kayako.

The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18, 2016.

Films screening as part of the Midnight Madness programme include:

The Autopsy of Jane Doe André Øvredal, USA World Premiere
Tommy Tilden and his son Austin run a family-owned morgue and when the Sheriff brings in their next case — a ‘Jane Doe’ — it seems like an open-and-shut case. But as the autopsy proceeds, Tommy and Austin are left reeling as each layer of their inspection brings frightening new revelations and an unnatural force takes hold of the crematorium. Starring Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox.

The Belko Experiment Greg McLean, USA World Premiere
On what appears to be a normal day at Belko Industries, Belko employees are horrified when they find out that they’ve become guinea pigs in a company-wide experiment which will lead them to either kill their fellow employees or be murdered themselves. The experiment is masterminded by a mysterious voice which is controlling the loud speaker and instructing the employees to slaughter
each other by any means necessary.

Blair Witch Adam Wingard, USA World Premiere
A group of college students venture into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of James’ sister who many believe is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch. At first the group is hopeful, especially when a pair of locals offer to act as guides through the dark and winding woods; but as the endless night wears on, the group is visited by a
menacing presence. Slowly, they begin to realize the legend is all too real and more sinister than they could have imagined.

Dog Eat Dog Paul Schrader, USA North American Premiere
Dog Eat Dog is a gritty contemporary crime thriller about a trio of ex-cons, deep in the underbelly of Cleveland, who are hired for a kidnapping. When the botched abduction goes awry and gets completely out of control, the cons find themselves on the run, vowing to stay out of prison at all costs. Starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe.

Midnight Madness Opening Night Film
Free Fire Ben Wheatley, United Kingdom World Premiere
Justine has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen and a gang led by Vernon and Ord who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues. Starring Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley, Sharlto Copley, and Armie Hammer.

The Girl With All the Gifts Colm McCarthy, United Kingdom North American Premiere
A heart-stopping original Sci-fi thriller, about hope, humanity and a young girl who wants to save the world. Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Mike Carey. Starring Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine, Glenn Close, and Sennia Nanua.

Headshot Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto, Indonesia World Premiere
The indomitable Iko Uwais (The Raid) stars in this fast and furious actioner as an amnesiac whose mysterious past as a killing machine comes to the fore when he takes on the henchmen of a vengeful drug lord.

Rats Morgan Spurlock, USA World Premiere
Inspired by Robert Sullivan’s New York Times bestselling book, Rats is a horror documentary that plunges into the darkest depths to expose human kind’s most insidious parasite. Thriving in every corner of the globe, rats are harbingers of disease, death, and psychological trauma. In this film, exterminators, farmers, scientists, and even chefs bring us face-to-face with this complicated
creature.

Raw (Grave) Julia Ducournau, France/Belgium International Premiere
Everyone in Justine’s family is a vet. And a vegetarian. At 16, she’s a brilliant and promising student. When she starts at veterinary school, she enters a decadent, merciless and dangerously seductive world. During the first week of hazing rituals, desperate to fit in whatever the cost, she strays from her family principles when she eats raw meat for the first time. Justine will soon face the terrible
and unexpected consequences of her actions as her true self begins to emerge…

Midnight Madness Closing Night Film
Sadako vs. Kayako Kōji Shiraishi, Japan International Premiere
After viewing a legendary cursed videotape, Natsumi discovers she has only two days before she will be killed by the demonic entity known as Sadako. The only solution: pitting the demon Sadako against Kayako, an accursed spirit possessing a haunted house where everyone who enters disappears.

About TIFF
TIFF is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world, through film. An international leader in film culture, TIFF projects include the annual Toronto International Film Festival in September; TIFF Bell Lightbox, which features five cinemas, major exhibitions, and learning and entertainment facilities; and innovative national distribution program Film Circuit. The organization generates an annual economic impact of $189 million CAD. TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by contributors including Founding Sponsor Bell, the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation and RBC. For more information, visit tiff.net.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.