Dinner with Friends (2025): Cast, Plot, Release Date & Where to Watch – A Bittersweet Feast of Friendship, Time, and Change

What happens when old friends gather around the same table but realize they’ve grown into different people? Dinner with Friends (2025), directed by Sasha Leigh Henry, explores that very question with warmth, wit, and raw honesty. Premiering in the Discovery program at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 5, 2025, this Canadian drama promises to serve an intimate, layered story about love, loyalty, and the bonds we fight to keep alive.

🥂 The Premise

At the heart of the film lies a group of eight longtime friends in their mid-30s. Once inseparable, they now meet regularly for dinner in a desperate attempt to preserve the connection that defined their youth. But between career pressures, unspoken resentments, family obligations, and shifting identities, their evenings around the table become less about food and more about the simmering truths that rise to the surface.

As the wine pours and conversations deepen, Sasha Leigh Henry turns a simple dinner into a mirror of modern adulthood—asking the haunting question: “What happens when the people who knew you best don’t recognize who you’ve become?”

🎭 The Cast

The film features a rich ensemble of Canadian talent:

• Tattiawna Jones

• Izaak Smith

• Andrew Bushell

• Alex Spencer

• Tymika Tafari

• Rakhee Morzaria

• Michael Ayres

• Leighton Alexander Williams

Together, they embody the tension and tenderness of friendships that are both cherished and tested, bringing authenticity to every laugh, every silence, and every broken truth at the dinner table.

🎬 Behind the Table: Filmmaking

Sasha Leigh Henry, making her feature directorial debut, co-writes the screenplay with Tania Thompson, crafting a dialogue-driven story that thrives on nuance. With Grant Cooper’s cinematography capturing the intimacy of close quarters, and Gloria Tong’s editing allowing conversations to breathe, the film immerses audiences in a single evening that feels at once ordinary and life-changing. The score by James M. Findlay adds a tender rhythm, underscoring the emotional shifts between joy, nostalgia, and heartbreak.

🌍 TIFF & Beyond

Premiering at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, Dinner with Friends is set to stand out in the Discovery program, spotlighting bold new voices in cinema. Running at 96 minutes, it is both contained and expansive, weaving a story that resonates universally—because at some point, we’ve all struggled to hold onto friendships that feel like they’re slipping away.

🍴 Conclusion

Dinner with Friends (2025) is not just about food on the table but about what’s left unsaid between courses. It’s a heartfelt drama that reminds us that friendship, like love, demands effort, forgiveness, and sometimes the courage to let go. Sasha Leigh Henry’s debut is poised to strike a chord with anyone who’s ever sat down with old friends and realized life has changed more than they ever admitted.

When it premieres this September at TIFF, expect laughter, tears, and a story that feels like your own dinner table brought to life.