Benedict Cumberbatch isn't the only U.K. actor with multiple films lined up for the Toronto Film Festival this year. Daniel Radcliffe will also be featured in more than one movie screening at TIFF, one of which is the anticipated adaptation of Joe Hill's dark mystery Horns, which will make its world premiere at the festival. The other film is John Krokidas' drama Kill Your Darlings, in which Radcliffe plays poet Allen Ginsberg.
Kill Your Darlings is described as a dynamic portrait of the early days of the Beat generation, and has Radcliffe's Ginsberg teamed with Ben Foster's William S. Burrough as the two get involved with the murder of Burroughs' childhood friend. The film is set up in the Gala Presentation program at TIFF. That program's described is "Movie stars. Red carpet premiers. Major audience interest." Given the cast of the film, it sounds like Darlings will fit right in under that category. And murder appears to be a common thread between Darlings and Horns, the latter of which has secured itself a spot in TIFF's Vanguard category, for films that are "provocative, sexy… possibly dangerous."
Directed by Alexandre Aja and based on Joe HIll's novel, Horns stars Radcliffe as Ig Perrish, a guy who wakes up after a drinking binge a year after his girlfriend (Juno Temple) was brutally murdered only to discover he's grown a set of horns. In the book, Ig's been living with the grief of Merrin's death and the frustration of not only not knowing who killed her, but being the chief suspect of the murder in some people's eyes. And now he can add a set of horns to his problems. The horns that have sprouted from Ig's head give him the ability to draw some of the darkest confessions from people's minds, which puts Ig into some truly bizarre and disturbing situations. But there's a benefit to such a gift, and Ig eventually sets out to use this mysterious power to uncover the truth about Merrin's death. If the film manages to capture the dark, suspenseful and surprisingly emotional tone of the story as Hill did with his novel, we're in for something great with this film. Fingers crossed.
It's great to see Radcliffe featured in two movies at Toronto this year, but news that Horns is TIFF-bound is particularly exciting. While Darlings made its grand premiere at Sundance earlier this year, we haven't seen so much as a trailer for Horns yet. October 11 is a rumored release date that's been circulating for Horns, but Red Granite Pictures' website has 2014 currently listed, with no actual specified date. I'd rather believe the October date, but the realist in me thinks those of us who aren't getting to Toronto this fall will be waiting even longer for Horns, which wrapped production last December.
The TIFF schedule is set to be announced August 20.
