Another entry in this year’s Midnight Madness slate, Congolese filmmaker Jean Luc Herbulot’s Saloum is a confident genre mashup. Part Spaghetti Western, part crime thriller, part folk horror, the film packs a potent cocktail of tones within its brisk 84-minute runtime. With tinges of Robert Rodriguez and John Carpenter, coupled with a crackling performance from Yann Gael, Saloum is a lean, breakneck journey into the terrifying unknown and the wildest surprise at TIFF this year. Minor spoilers ahead…

With its nonsensical story, unlikeable characters, and tawdry effects, Shadow in the Cloud is a flight better off grounded. Chloë Grace Moretz does her best to anchor this installment of TIFF’s Midnight Madness, but it’s mostly a weightless and messy endeavor that squanders its potential. Minor spoilers ahead…

One of only three titles in TIFF’s Midnight Madness slate this year, Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s Violation is a haunting and disturbing deconstruction of the rape-revenge genre. Exacting to watch and remarkably complex, the film eschews formula and withholds catharsis to chilling effect, delivering a horror experience that is as harrowing as it is challenging. Minor spoilers ahead…