Official Pretenders film premieres at Toronto
The official Pretenders documentary has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, titled Pretenders, is directed by Joss Crowley and centres on singer Chrissie Hynde and her band the Pretenders, according to Variety.
Toronto is the launch. Posts on Hynde’s official accounts dated 13 September 2026 described the screening as the world premiere and said Hynde would attend the festival for the occasion. The Toronto International Film Festival lists Pretenders in its programme, where it is described as chronicling the evolution of one of rock’s most singular icons, according to TIFF.
Hynde and Crowley discussed the making of the film with Variety in connection with its Toronto bow, according to Variety. Hynde initially did not want to appear on camera for the documentary.
The film traces a long road to London. Hynde was born in 1951 and raised in Akron, Ohio. She attended Kent State University and was close to one of the four students killed there by the National Guard on 4 May 1970. She moved to London in the early 1970s in her early 20s.
In London she worked as a pop-music critic for New Musical Express. She tried to join the Slits. She attempted to work with Mick Jones before he formed the Clash. She tried to join the Damned. She then joined a band called the Moors Murders, whose members performed in masks.
The Pretenders formed in London in 1978. Bass player Pete Farndon joined forces with Hynde to form her band, with James Honeyman-Scott on lead guitar. The story moves fast from there.
The documentary is built around archival footage and a lengthy interview with Hynde. A demo heard in the film of Hynde singing “Precious” dates to 1976.
For newcomers, this means the starting point is simple. Hynde is the founder of the Pretenders. The film follows her from Ohio to London clubs to fronting her own band, using old film and tape alongside her own account.
