Mike Flanagan’s upcoming TV miniseries based on Stephen King’s “Carrie,” Jesse McKeown’s monster series “Below” and the new season of “Slow Horses” will screen as part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Primetime section, TIFF organizers announced Thursday.
Primetime will present 10 TV series from the U.S, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Brazil and the United Kingdom, with eight of them making their world premieres at TIFF. The lineup presents a hefty dose of horror and suspense, with Flanagan’s Prime Video version of “Carrie” starring Summer H. Howell in the role made famous by Sissy Spacek in Brian De Palma’s 1976 film; McKeown’s Netflix miniseries “Below” starring Josh Hartnett as a Newfoundland fisherman battling a sea creature; Brad Caleb Kane and Michael Lennox’s Peacock series “Crystal Lake” picking up the “Friday the 13th” franchise with Linda Cardellini as the mother of young killer-to-be Jason Voorhees; and the Crave mystery series “YAGA,” about unexplained disappearances and dark magic in a small town.
“Below” will open the section, while “Carrie” will close it in Flanagan’s return to TIFF after winning the festival’s People’s Choice Award for his 2024 film “The Life of Chuck.”
Other programs in Primetime include “American Hostage,” Shawn Ryan’s anthology series based on the 2022 podcast about a man who took his mortgage broker hostage; “Alice,” a French miniseries starring Bérénice Bejo as pioneering filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché; and the sixth season of “Slow Horses,” starring Gary Oldman as rumpled spymaster Jackson Lamb.
Since the Primetime section was introduced in 2015, programs that have screened in the section include “Black Rabbit,” “The Lowdown,” “Disclaimer,” “All the Light We Cannot See,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Colin in Black & White,” “The Deuce,” “The Girlfriend Experience,” “ Black Mirror” and a large number of programs made for international markets.
The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival will run from Sept. 10-20. In addition to Primetime, it has already announced the films in its Galas, Special Presentations, Discovery and Platform sections, and will continue with additional announcements in early August.
Here is the complete lineup for the Primetime program:
“2.6 Seconds: Death in the Outback”| Darren Dale | Australia
World Premiere
“Alice”| Virginie Verrier, Guillaume Lonergan | France, Canada
World Premiere
“American Hostage”| Shawn Ryan, Eileen Myers, Adam Arkin | USA
World Premiere
“Below”| Jesse McKeown | Canada
World Premiere (Opening series)
“Blindspot Berlin”| David Nawrath | Germany
World Premiere
“Carrie”| Mike Flanagan | Canada, USA
World Premiere (Closing series)
“Crystal Lake”| Brad Caleb Kane, Michael Lennox | USA
World Premiere
“Oxygen Masks Will (Not) Drop Automatically”| Marcelo Gomes, Carol Minêm | Brazil
North American Premiere
“Slow Horses”| Will Smith, Adam Randall | United Kingdom, USA
International Premiere
“YAGA”| Kat Sandler, Rachel Talalay, David Frazee | Canada
World Premiere
