Matt Barats' 71-minute Anchors Aweigh docks at TIFF Midnight Madness
Comedian Matt Barats plays a version of himself trying to get married and ending up living on a boat in Anchors Aweigh, a 71-minute feature reviewed by Variety on 19 September 2026. Variety
Barats plays an unnamed, self-insert protagonist. He is a comedian in his late thirties who hopes to marry Megan, played by Serena Profaci, a 25-year-old heiress who wants a career on Broadway, according to that review. Variety
The film is built in part as a documentary shot by the protagonist himself. It mixes MiniDV tapes, an early digital video format, from his teen years with newly shot solo sketches. The story moves him to a rented boat at a marina near a New York airport, where he passes time with the people who live and work around the docks.
Anchors Aweigh is a United States production in English, listed by the Toronto International Film Festival as a 2026 International Premiere. TIFF It had its first showing at the Oak Cliff International Film Festival in 2026 before screening in Midnight Madness, TIFF's late-night section for genre and offbeat work, at TIFF 2026. IndieWire
It is Barats' second feature film. That festival path, from a regional premiere at Oak Cliff to a midnight slot in Toronto, puts a small, personal production in front of a large festival audience.
Music comes from Simon Hanes. TIFF describes the result as a dreamy jazz score, and bills the film itself as a laugh-out-loud plea for human connection. TIFF
Festival coverage has followed. IndieWire gave the film a B grade in its review published on 14 September 2026. IndieWire The Film Stage also reviewed it at Toronto under the headline "TIFF Review: Anchors Aweigh Finds Profundity In Silliness" on 17 September. The Film Stage
What makes this stand out on the calendar is the package. Seventy-one minutes is short for a festival feature. The MiniDV archive gives Barats years of his own material to cut against. And the marina setting keeps the action in one tight, lived-in place, with boats, regulars and airport noise close by.
