The 2018 Toronto International Film Festival returns this year with films that look to innovate, challenge, and transcend the medium.

This year's programming lineup points to a continuing trend of big stars taking roles in smaller productions, as names like Alec Baldwin, Lady Gaga, Ryan Gosling and Julia Roberts have films premiering during the festival.

Expect Toronto to become a star-studded wonderland when many of these noteworthy films arrive from September 6 to 16.

The Front Runner

The latest from director Jason Reitman, this film stars Hugh Jackman and Vera Farmiga in a documentary about the life of embroiled Senator Gary Hart and his 1988 presidential campaign that ended in scandal.

If Beale Street Could Talk

Moonlight director Barry Jenkins' latest offering takes place in Harlem, where a woman looks to prove her fiancé is innocent of a crime.

Windows

Director Steve McQueen returns with an ensemble cast of outstanding female actresses (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo) in a story about love, crime and corruption.

Roma

Alfonso Cuarón writes and directs this film, which takes place in Mexico and follows a middle-class family over the course of a year in the early 1970s. 

Wildlife

Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan star in this drama surrounding a young boy who witnesses his parents divorce during a time when such things were unheard of.

Beautiful Boy

The source of recent buzz, Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet play a father and son duo working through the heartbreaking struggle that comes with addiction.

Ben is Back

Julia Roberts stars in another film that looks to further explore family dynamics, as she watches her troubled son return home on Christmas Eve to a difficult familial climate.

A Star is Born

Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, and Dave Chappelle all lend their talents to this remake of the 1976 film that sees a young musician (Gaga) fall in love with a veteran singer (Cooper) whose personal problems plague his career.

Everybody Knows

Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem begin innocently enough, until things go horribly wrong in this psychological thriller by directer Asghar Farhadi.

First Man

Look forward to some Ryan Gosling action as he stars as American astronaut Neil Armstrong in this adventure drama about the first man to set foot on the moon.

Galveston

Ben Foster, Elle Fanning and Lili Reinhart star in this Mélanie Laurent-directed film about a hitman who returns to Galveston, Texas, to plan his revenge.

The Public

Public libraries become a political weapon during a particularly harsh winter in Emilio Estevez's film starring Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Christian Slater.

Life Itself

Another ensemble cast of characters comes out for this Dan Fogelman-led film about generational differences, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Bening, Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde and more.

High Life

Robert Pattinson takes to outer space in this futuristic sci-fi adventure film by director Claire Denis, telling the story of a father and daughter living in the far reaches of the abyss.

Shoplifters

Winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes, Shoplifters will close the festival. This film is Hirokazu Kore-eda's story of small-time criminals who take in a young girl off the street.