Actor-director Jesse Eisenberg’s film about the cutthroat world of New Jersey community theatre will open the Vancouver International Film Festival. “The Debut,” which stars Julianne Moore as a suburban housewife and Paul Giamatti as a bullish director, will screen in Vancouver on Oct. 1. VIFF announced its lineup on Wednesday, including a slate of Canadian premieres for hotly anticipated upcoming films. They include “Wicker,” a romance about a fisherwoman, played by Olivia Coleman, who orders a basket weaver to make an Alexander Skarsgard-shaped husband for her; “Behemoth,” starring Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, and Will Arnett; and “Nowhere to Lay My Eyes,” the latest from beloved South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo. The festival will close with Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” about two CIA agents stationed on Easter Island in the early 1970s, just before the Chilean coup. VIFF runs from Oct. 1 to 11. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2026. Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press
