TIFF Day 1 recap: Ben Stiller, Tragically Hip, Demi Moore, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom kick off star-studded festival

The first day of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was a star-studded start. Canadian music legends The Tragically Hip premiered their new docuseries, while Ben Stiller, Demi Moore and Orlando Bloom all walked their respective red carpets.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was also in attendance to kick off the festival. He thanked TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey for "elevating" Canadian film and putting it "on the international map."

"It's been a challenging few years everywhere around the world, but especially for festivals," Trudeau said. "How we tell our stories about ourselves, how we learn through other people's stories, how we share both the particularity of our own stories and the universality of their experience makes Canada an incredibly effective place to make movies."

He added that the Canadian government is happy to support TIFF with $23 million over three years.

Protesters interrupt 'The Nutcrackers' opening screening

Ben Stiller's film Nutcrackers made its world premiere in Toronto, with Stiller in attendance along with the film's director David Gordon Green.

Stiller plays a Chicago real estate developer who has always put work before starting a family of his own. But things change when his sister and her husband are in an awful accident, leaving their four kids, who have been raised on a farm in Ohio, with Michael. At least until a family services worker, played by Linda Cardellini, can find them another home.

"This movie truly is this weird, organic thing that just bubbled up from David's mind and when I read it and he told me how he wanted to make it, and what he wanted to do, it just seemed so crazy and strange, and probably not necessarily right," Stiller told the crowd on Thursday night. "It's so from the heart. It's so organic."

"It's probably like the best experience I've ever had making a movie."

As the screening was set to begin, there was an interruption from protesters in the audience.

At The Princess of Wales Theatre, the protesters chanted "RBC funds genocide," calling for TIFF to cut its ties with the bank, as the crowd began booing. The demonstrators were escorted out within minutes.

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'The Cut'

Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry were on the red carpet for Bloom's film The Cut, also starring Caitríona Balfe and John Turturro, directed by Sean Ellis.

Bloom's character is The Boxer, who runs a gym with his wife, played by Balfe, after an injury took him out of boxing 10 years ago. But it looks like The Boxing is making a comeback, after a promoter decides to put him up as a contender, but that means The Boxer has to get back in fighting shape, with training Boz (Turturro).

'The Substance'

Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley were in Toronto for the North American premiere of Coralie Fargeat's film The Substance, part of the TIFF Midnight Madness programming.

Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, an award-winning actor turned TV aerobics star who's essentially being "aged out" of her profession. TV executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) believes she's too old for Hollywood. That's when Elisabeth is faced with an opportunity, a black market procedure that will create a young version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley.

This is Moore at her best, in a thrilling, exciting and emotional performance. Fargeat tells a story about the toxic and impossible beauty standards women are expected to live up to, and the stigma around aging, in a way that feel so uniquely creative. Just because we're talking about women and feminist topics doesn't mean a film can't be deeply entrench in the horror genre. Fargeat takes big swings visually, at times scenes are just plain gross, and it's that commitment to pushing the boundaries of bizarre that makes The Substance such an intoxicating film to watch.

"My first thought, besides it being an incredible script, was that this would either be something extraordinary or it would be an absolute disaster," Moore told the audience in the early hours of Friday morning.

"It was also just such a unique way and so out of the box delving into this subject matter. Mainly because it was really exploring the internalized way of violence that we have against ourselves and bringing it out into a physical manifestation to really be able to look at what we do, with the harsh way that we criticize ourselves."

'The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal'

TIFF began with the world premiere of the docuseries The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, directed by Mike Downie. The four-part series, which will be on Prime Video Sept. 20, is an intimate look at the origins of The Tragically Hip, from their humbled beginnings in Kingston, Ont., to being arguably the most beloved band in Canada, and the lead up to the death of frontman Gord Downie, after he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2015.

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal isn't just a celebration of the band's accomplishments and friendship, but it also reflects how important they have been to Canadians, with Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau featured in the series, talking about how much The Tragically Hip mean to them.

Band members Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair were at the premiere at The Royal Alexandra Theatre, which was followed by a public sing-along led by Choir!Choir!Choir! that evening.