Caleb Hearon Brings the Grief to Toronto with 'Trash Mountain'

Caleb Hearon just showed up to the Toronto Film Festival with something heavier than his usual comedy toolkit. The actor and comic co-wrote Trash Mountain with Ruby Caster, and it's exactly what the title doesn't promise — not a comedy, but a grief dramedy that digs into love and loss.

Hearon stars in the film alongside Zooey Deschanel, with director Kris Rey helming the indie project. The world premiere went down at TIFF, marking a shift for Hearon into the kind of intimate, character-driven territory where comedians often surprise people by being genuinely good at the heavy stuff.

There's always something refreshing when someone known for laughs decides to write and perform something that sits with you different. Whether Trash Mountain lands depends on the execution, but the fact that it made the cut at Toronto says something — this isn't vanity. Rey's got a reputation for specificity in her work, and having Hearon and Caster in the writer's room probably kept it real.

Worth keeping an eye on as it makes its way out into the world.

Read the full story at The Hollywood Reporter → https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/caleb-hearon-trash-mountain-tiff-2026-1236698499/