A new psychological horror movie from Iranian-Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (Half Moon, Turtles Can Fly) is heading to the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Titled Trees Are Watching, the film stars Eva Green (Penny Dreadful, Nocebo) and will have its world premiere on September 18. The official trailer is now online.
TIFF describes Ghobadi’s venture into horror as a combination of surreal sequences and phantasmagorical imagery that at times develops into full-blown Grand Guignol spectacle. One sequence is also compared by the festival to the American Final Destination franchise.
At the center of Trees Are Watching is Darya (Eva Green), a writer fascinated by the spiritual significance of trees. She returns to her hometown of Mardin with her deaf daughter and moves into the former home of twin sisters she knew during her childhood. Surrounded by an area devastated by deforestation, Darya soon finds herself haunted by a malevolent presence that takes the seemingly harmless form of a wooden chair.
As the disturbing visitations continue, memories of the twin sisters begin to resurface, along with the story of a mysterious witch, gradually affecting Darya’s sanity. The story combines psychological horror and elements of witchcraft with ecological themes linked to trees and deforestation.
Alongside Eva Green, the cast includes Murat Yildirim, Lucas Akoskin, Zeynep Çamci, Eren Demir, and Ozlem Tas.
The trailer:
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