This TIFF Horror Gem Could Be One of the Genre’s Next Big Hits

Published Sep 21, 2026, 1:47 PM EDT Summary Collider's Perri Nemiroff chats with the team behind River at TIFF 2026. River debuts a brutal new masked slasher, starring scream queens Jessica Rothe and Jane Levy. Sibling chemistry and brutal physical sequences drive the tense, night-long survival thriller. Giuliano's confident horror voice shines at TIFF; Levy also teases her comedy series Sunset P.I.. At this year’s Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the program’s genre selections was first-time feature writer-director Joshua Giuliano’s slasher River. This directorial debut went on to become one of the festival's biggest acquisitions, selling to Universal and Blumhouse for over $10 million. The movie stars two beloved scream queens, Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) and Jane Levy (Evil Dead), and a newcomer to the horror scene, Max Mattern (Cape Fear), and introduces a brand-new masked killer to the sub-genre game with Prey’s Dane DiLiegro. In River, three siblings are set adrift, not-so-merrily, along a river after their motorboat stalls. This embittered trio was already at their wit’s end having to reunite to scatter their late father’s ashes, and now, as they’re stranded on this rural river, a faceless stranger ominously watches them from shore. To survive the night, this family will have to come together to escape this stalker’s grisly intentions. At the Collider Media Studio, presented by Campari and The Cayman Islands, Perri Nemiroff chats with Giuliano, Levy, Rothe, and Mattern about River and Giuliano’s new voice in the horror sphere. They discuss building their chemistry on set, the physical sequences in the film, and Giuliano and DiLiegro talk about designing the mask and developing a new slasher’s physicality. Rothe and Levy also discuss their contributions to the genre, plus Levy teases her upcoming comedy series, Sunset P.I., opposite Jake Johnson. On returning to horror and continuing to reign supreme as scream queens, Rothe and Levy share with Nemiroff what about River made it the next special project they were looking for. Rothe explains what she's looking for when stepping into a role, and how River exceeds all her expectations: "That's an excellent question. I love making movies, and I love this genre, particularly, because I feel like I learn so much about myself on every single project that I do. I'm always drawn to try to find projects that both scare me and excite me and challenge me, and this one, this character in particular, is very, very close to a lot of truths about myself. She is also an eldest daughter. She also moved away from home to kind of pursue her dreams — she harbors some guilt about that. I became really interested in the exploration of that childhood that comes roaring back when you come home, like how you instantly turn into a 10-year-old version of yourself when you're back with your family, and it's so infuriating, but also so comforting, but also so confusing, and that's where a lot of the drama between the siblings comes from. I guess the horror movies I've done before really led me to know that you lead with the grounded truth, and when you come into something with grounded truth and with really strong relationships and incredible characters with arcs, that's when the true horror can really bubble to the surface, because you have to care about these characters in order for us to care if they live or die. And so I think maybe that's what I brought in. That was a very windy answer to it. But I'm also just so grateful because I had truly the best playmates in the entire world. I mean, Max is such a delight and a joy, Dane is absolutely terrifying, and Jane, I mean, goddess incarnate and so fierce — I want to be her when I grow up. And Josh just brought so much fearlessness and ingenuity to this process. Every single day something really unexpected would go wrong, and he was able to pivot, and that's something that I learned over the process of making movies — to be adaptable — and he brought that in from day one. So, I can't gush about that enough." Levy also shares why she joined River, and has some thrilling news for horror fans: "I was excited about Josh. Nick Antosca is a friend of mine, and he had sent me the script. He was very excited about Josh, and he sent me Josh's shorts, and that was the most intriguing thing to me was a new filmmaker. I saw the movie last night for my first time, and I was blown away. I was like, ‘Oh, wow, we just saw a new voice.’ It's a slasher, and in some ways it's kind of straightforward, but I had never seen anything quite like that. It was so beautiful. I haven't been able to fully put my words together, but it's so exciting to be a part of a new creative expression, especially of a genre that I love so much. It blew me away, and it way exceeded my expectations." Check out the full conversation in the video above, with time codes provided below. 00:35 - What Is River About? 01:08 - Joshua Giuliano Reveals the Biggest Change From the First Draft to the Finished Film 01:36 - Giuliano Reflects on the 7-Year Journey to Making His Feature Directorial Debut 03:02 - Jessica Rothe on How Her Past Horror Films Informed Her Role 05:34 - Jane Levy Shares Her Excitement on Discovering a New Filmmaking Voice in Giuliano 06:54 - Max Mattern Discusses Finding His Place Alongside Horror Scream Queens 07:55 - The Cast Exude the Sibling Energy They Built on Set 09:11 - Giuliano and Dane DiLiegro Discuss Designing the Masked Man and Developing His Physicality 11:26 - Rothe and DiLiegro Reveal How Trust and Physical Challenges Shaped Their Performances 13:17 - Levy Talks About Her Excitement for the Upcoming Comedy Series Sunset PI. River does not yet have a release date. Check back with Collider for updates! Release Date September 10, 2026 Runtime 92 minutes Director Joshua Giuliano Writers Joshua Giuliano Producers Steven Schneider, Alex Hedlund, Nick Antosca