The Toronto International Film Festival has announced that "Onwards and Sideways," starring Laura Linney and Rhys Ifans, will hold its world premiere at the 2026 event as a Gala Presentation. The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively released new stills from the film, which follows two strangers whose lives intersect after they are both diagnosed with Parkinson's disease on the same morning. The project is notable for tackling a serious health condition through what its makers describe as an "emotional and surprisingly funny" story of friendship, humour and resilience.

Directed by John Madden and written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who also co-hosts the Parkinson's podcast "Movers and Shakers," the film stars Ifans as school deputy head Tony Evans and Linney as musician and single mother Emma Dretzin, alongside Monica Dolan and Rory Kinnear. It is produced by Hilltop Screen for John Gore Studios and the BBC, with Kaleidoscope Film Distribution handling worldwide sales and CAA Media Finance co-repping in North America. Following its Toronto premiere, the film will get a cinema release in the UK and US, distributed theatrically in the UK by Icon Film Distribution, before airing on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.