Cynthia Erivo Debuts Legal Drama Prima Facie at Toronto
Toronto audiences are the first to see Cynthia Erivo in Prima Facie, which held its first screening on Sunday, Sept. 13 at Roy Thompson Hall, Deadline reported.
The film is part of the 51st Toronto Film Festival. Festival organisers describe it as a searing legal drama, TIFF said.
It is directed by Susanna White and written by Suzie Miller, adapting her own play for the screen. Erivo stars and also serves as a producer, with Daniel Ings in the cast. All four joined Deadline's TIFF Studio at the Bisha Hotel for an interview published on Sept. 14.
The story centres on Tessa Ensler, a confident and ambitious defence barrister, a courtroom lawyer, working in London. She has built her career defending people accused of sex crimes. Then she unexpectedly becomes the accuser herself, Deadline reported.
Erivo plays Tessa, described by sales company Embankment Films as a brilliant British defence barrister dominating London's ruthless courtrooms, Embankment Films. Her full character name is Tessa Ensler, IndieWire reported.
Speaking at Toronto, Erivo said she fell in love with the script because she loved the grey area it dealt with. She called Tessa not a straightforward human being, and complex in many different ways.
The stage source is a globally acclaimed one-woman show by Miller, an Australian playwright. The Latin title translates as "at first sight".
What makes this stand out on the festival calendar is the business around it. Prima Facie arrived in Toronto as one of the buzzy titles for sale, named to Deadline's TIFF 2026 Hot List. Sales agents Embankment Films, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and UTA Independent Film Group are handling the film, which means they are offering cinema distributors in different countries and regions the chance to buy the rights.
Erivo, a three-time Oscar nominee, and White appeared at the Deadline Studio on Day 2 of the festival. For audiences, the Toronto launch is the first chance to see how Miller's courtroom story plays on screen with a full cast.
