We asked Canadian creatives what they're looking forward to on screen, stage, and in galleries in 2025
Welcome to the only 2025 preview listicle to feature both Mission Impossible and Joyce Wieland
We asked some of our favourite Canadian arts professionals — including artists, directors, curators, and performers of all stripes — what they're most looking forward to watching, seeing, and experiencing in 2025.
Then we took those responses and used a very scientific method — which included asking questions like "Which ones come up repeatedly?" and "Did they give us a good blurb about it? — and distilled those answers into this list.
FILM
Mile End Kicks (Release date TBD)
Set in 2011, which is somehow about to be 14 years in the past, Mile End Kicks is a rom-com set in Montreal's indie music scene and written and directed by I Love Movies' Chandler Levack. It also stars Jay Baruchel, who has literally never put in a bad performance, and Barbie Ferreira (Kat from Euphoria).
"A romantic triangle set during Montreal's indie music heyday? Yes please," says artist Beth Frey. "I definitely feel a sense of nostalgia for that time, and I believe Levack will be the right person to capture that feeling of being young, creative, and perhaps a little lost."
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (May 23)
Look, when we asked Canadian artists what films they were looking forward to in 2025, we were not expecting the eighth instalment in this mega-blockbuster franchise to come up repeatedly. But Canada's arts cognoscenti have spoken and they really, really like Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, apparently.
"Mission: Impossible was the first true action movie I ever watched, probably when I was about 8," says artist Maria Simmons. "Before I wanted to be an artist, I was angling to be a spy. Obviously life went the artist route, but I have a soft spot for Mission Impossible movies."
Director Sonya Ballantyne is excited for Final Reckoning for reasons beyond incredible action sequences and Cruise's steely gaze, pointing out that the film will feature Igloolik, NU based Inuk actress/director/throat singer Lucy Tulugarjuk.
Paying for It (Release TBD)
Sook-Yin Lee's adaptation of ex-partner Chester Brown's graphic novel about the dissolution of their relationship and his subsequent paying for sex looks like it's set to be a fairly big deal, at least by the relative standards of Canadian independent cinema. When it made its festival debut at TIFF, critics loved it, and the trailer shows a movie that manages to be both an intimate confessional and also filled with Toronto-specific references and turn-of-the-millennium retro Easter eggs.
ART SHOWS
Joyce Wieland: Heart On, Montreal Museum of Fine Art (Feb. 8-May 4), Art Gallery of Ontario (June 21 - TBD)
Canadian artist and self-described "cultural activist" Joyce Wieland used art ranging from semi-abstract paintings to film as a way to express her feminist politics throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Twenty-seven years after her death, Wieland is getting the retrospective treatment in Heart On, a show that will appear at both the Montreal Museum of Fine Art and the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2025.
"This important Canadian artist will finally benefit from a major retrospective that will establish her feminist legacy," says curator Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau. "I look forward to experiencing the scope and complexity of her body of work through the exhibition's chronological approach. We are sorely lacking iconic female figures in our artistic awareness of the '60s, '70s, and '80s. It's a must to discover Joyce Wieland."
This Seems Personal, Confederation Centre for the Arts, Charlottetown (Dec. 14, 2024-April 12, 2025)
This group exhibition links personal narratives to larger social and political realities, reminding us that all our individual experiences are part of a larger story.
"Some of my favourite beautiful Nova Scotian artists [will be] showing their work in my home province of PEI including Andrew Quon, Miya Turnbull, and Lux Gow-Habrich," says theatre artist Andrew Collier. "I love it when contemporary, interesting, often queer work gets shown on typically national platforms."
Momenta biennale d'art contemporain, various locations around Montreal (starting Sept. 10, 2025)
Originally founded as a photography festival, Momenta has evolved into a fully multidisciplinary, multi-venue biennale "whose mission is to stimulate meaningful and engaged reflection about society."
"[This] is the must-see art event in Montreal," says curator Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau. "An interdisciplinary biennial with world-class contemporary art and curating. This edition has been appointed to French-based curator Marie-Ann Yemsi. Don't miss the public programs that brings out the public into the city's museums, galleries, and artist-run centers."
THEATRE
Titanique, CAA Theatre, Toronto (until Jan. 12)
Near, far, wherever they are, a lot of people are very stoked about the Canadian production of this musical that imagines what would have happened if Celine Dion had actually been on the Titanic.
"I originally saw this show at the Asylum theater in NYC back in 2022," says designer Michael Madjus. "I'm excited to see how this show has transformed from a small modest show in the basement of an off-broadway NYC theatre to a larger stage production."
"Why wouldn't you be excited to see something all about Celine Dion?!" adds drag queen and Canada's Drag Race winner Priyanka. "Taking all of Celine's music and making it about the Titanic was a smart choice. Also as a queen, it's quite queer-coded, so I am ready for my heart to go on."
GenreFuck, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto (May 14-31)
Not a play in any traditional sense, GenreFuck includes all aspects of the performing arts and consists of four solo works by four different artists presented together.
"This is going to be amazing!" says artist Natalie King. "Augusto Bitter's Reina sounds fascinating, exploring the story behind an anonymous woman on a bag of Harina P.A.N. corn flour. I can't wait to see Julie Phan's Never Walk Alone, using pole dance to dive into themes of alienation and connection. Gabriel Dharmoo's Bijuriya with its mix of drag, song, and sound will be such a treat, and I'm really looking forward to the Canadian premiere of Marikiscrycrycry's Goner, reimagining Black horror aesthetics through dance. It's going to be a night full of powerful and thought-provoking performances, and I can't wait to see how they all connect."
TV
Blade Runner 2099 (Release Date TBD)
If there's one old piece of IP that deserved its reboot, it's Blade Runner. Because we are kind of living in the Blade Runner future. It is getting pretty dystopian out there, and I'm pretty sure there's a replicant who lives in my building.
"Blade Runner is such a classic and I can't wait to see what the new series will add," says gallery director Monica Reyes.
"It's probably our favourite cinema franchise and the people attached to it are very talented and will hopefully take it somewhere good," adds photography team Saty Namvar and Pratha Samyrajah.
Severance, Season 2 (January 17, 2025)
If you somehow missed the first season of Apple TV+'s dystopian, sci-fi, workplace thriller about people who have their personalities cut in half, so their home selves and work selves never interact, drop what you're doing and watch it immediately. If you did see it, and the phrase "The numbers were scary" means something to you, you'll know why Severance Season 2 was popular amongst our survey respondents.
"The first season was a slow burn that ended very dramatically. I've been anticipating the story continuing ever since," says Kristofer Sakamoto-Marshall, director of The New Other Gallery.
"This show likes to paint itself into a corner. It's fun to watch the show try to get out of it," added filmmaker Jeremy Larter.