Film festivals have a habit of turning red carpets into confession booths. Celebrities strut, critics sharpen knives, and somewhere between velvet ropes and overpriced lattes, cinema pretends it still rules culture. Toronto International Film Festival’s 50th birthday was no exception. The cameras flashed, Ryan Reynolds cracked his usual wisecracks, the speeches flowed, and then came the real twist: the opening film had a star whose presence could outshine even the living.

Because while Reynolds cracked jokes, the Toronto International Film Festival reminded everyone that laughter sometimes comes with a shadow trailing behind it.

Ryan Reynolds may have stolen the spotlight in his maple-leaf tee and jokes about narrating his life story in real time, but the real emotional punch of Toronto International Film Festival’s 50th opening night belonged to John Candy. The late comedy legend, celebrated in Colin Hanks’ Ryan Reynolds–produced documentary John Candy: I Like Me, came alive through archival footage, heartfelt stories, and Cynthia Erivo’s devastating new rendition of 'Every Time You Go Away.' The documentary was a love letter disguised as a premiere.

John Candy, who passed in 1994, emerged as the festival’s quiet star, his warmth echoing through laughter, tears, and even Ryan Reynolds’ suit covered in his image. The documentary’s title, pulled from Candy’s immortal line in Planes, Trains & Automobiles, hit even harder when paired with the reality that audiences never got enough of him in life. Even as Reynolds kept the room laughing, the resonance that remained proved that some stories outlive their storytellers.

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And just as Toronto International Film Festival mourned a legend, another star was already using the festival spotlight to reinvent her entire career.

John Candy’s legacy left audiences teary-eyed at the Toronto International Film Festival’s opening, but Sydney Sweeney was already setting timelines ablaze with the unveiling of her Christy Martin biopic. Vanity Fair dropped the first images, one gritty in boxing gloves, another casual and uncanny in resemblance to Martin, and instantly X erupted. Fans gushed about her transformation, praising how seamlessly she embodied the ’90s trailblazer who shattered ceilings in women’s boxing, while skeptics questioned whether the film could deliver a knockout.

Yet, despite the online split, Sydney Sweeney’s Toronto International Film Festival moment felt seismic. This role marked not just a performance but a reclamation arc after her American Eagle uproar and a deliberate pivot toward weightier projects. In the end, Toronto International Film Festival became a double feature: Sweeney fighting for reinvention, and Ryan Reynolds honoring John Candy with a tribute that echoed far beyond the screen.

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