The Toronto International Film Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the crop of new movies it’s presenting is truly worthy of such an occasion. The lineup is both incredible and diverse, ranging from indie darling Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet adaptation to Rian Johnson’s highly anticipated Wake Up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and all manner of тιтles and talent in between.

Veteran directors abound, but one of the more fascinating films premiering at TIFF is actually Brian Cox’s feature directorial debut, Glenrothan. Cox has already left an indelible mark through his prolific acting career, most notably as the disillusioned patriarch in the wildly popular Succession, but audiences have yet to see how his creative vision is translated through the other end of the camera lens. See below for a first taste of what that vision looks like.

A Closer Look At Glenrothan Before Its TIFF 2025 Premiere

While Glenrothan is not comparable to Succession in plot, fans of the HBO series will recognize the theme of generational family feuding. Furthermore, Cox has enlisted several legendary film veterans to join him as part of the cast — including Alan Cumming, who has both decades worth of award-worthy filmography behind him as well as the current crown jewel of reality television, The Traitors. Cumming plays Donal, who returns to the Scottish Highlands after more than 30 years living in the United States.

Donal and his brother Sandy (played by Cox himself) had an intense row on the day of their mother’s funeral, and the former hopes that time will help heal those familial wounds. Glenrothan also stars Trainspotting‘s Shirley Henderson, who can be seen in the image above, and Barbie‘s Alexandra Shipp, who appears alongside Cumming in the image below.

David Ashton (who appeared in The Last King of Scotland) and Jeff Murphy wrote the screenplay, which explores family ties against the backdrop of Scottish whiskey. The project itself was co-developed by Lionsgate and the London-based studio Nevision, and it will be distributed internationally by Protagonist Pictures and in the UK by Lionsgate UK.