TORONTO — Guillermo del Toro slipped into the Criterion Closet at the Toronto International Film Festival and some wondered if he might ever come back out.

The Oscar-winning “Shape of Water” director popped by the viral hot spot near TIFF headquarters, which affords movie lovers three minutes to make their own social media moment, picking from thousands of DVD and Blu-ray titles in the curated Criterion Collection.

Del Toro spent nearly 15 minutes inside the truck, leaving Criterion staff to playfully knock on the door, telling him his time was up. One said it seemed the door had been locked from the inside.

The obsessive cinephile emerged with a stack of 10 films. Most of their titles were hidden, though Alfonso Cuarón’s 2018 drama “Roma” was visible in the pile.

“I stole a few,” del Toro said on his way out.

The director is at TIFF to promote his upcoming Netflix film “Frankenstein,” which will have a limited theatrical release next month before landing on the streaming platform in November.

After raiding the movie truck, del Toro wandered into the crowd, shaking hands, hugging fans and signing copies of his 2022 Netflix film “Pinocchio,” which was introduced into the Criterion Collection nearly two years ago.

Del Toro was there to record an upcoming video for the film distribution company’s popular YouTube series, which sees directors, actors and musicians pull their favourite films off the shelves and explain what they mean to them.

The filmmaker is credited as the first person to ever appear in the Criterion Closet 15 years ago. He had been invited to the company’s Manhattan offices to talk movies, and was offered a chance to pick a few DVDs on his way out. His commentary helped spark the idea to make it into an ongoing series.

“It was a happy accident,” recalled Nur El Shami, Criterion’s chief marketing officer of the first video they made.

“As we were looking at it, we thought, ‘Oh we’re onto something here.’ It’s just a great way for other people to discover new movies.”

Since then, the Criterion Closet has welcomed countless stars, including Canadians Pamela Anderson, David Cronenberg and Seth Rogen. Its popularity inspired a mobile truck that roams film festivals, its first-ever Canadian stop being at TIFF through Sunday.

A few other notable names swung by over the weekend to make their picks, including Toronto filmmaker Chandler Levack, actor Ethan Hawke and director Richard Linklater.

There were also hundreds of film buffs who lined up for hours to have their moment inside the Criterion Mobile Closet, which stores about 1,700 titles.

Groups of up to five people were permitted in the truck to record three-minute videos about the movies that shaped them. They could then purchase those titles on the spot with a 40 per cent discount.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2025.