The Chicago Critics Film Festival: A Wrap Up

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of immersing myself—almost entirely—in what has become one of my favorite cinematic events of the year: The Chicago Critics Film Festival. This was its 12th edition, and yeah... I was there for six of the seven glorious days.

I saw 13 feature films (some incredible, some not so much) and enjoyed two blocks of terrific shorts, all while soaking in the magic that only the Music Box Theatre on Southport can provide.

Now, for those of you who don't know, this isn’t your typical fest. It’s still—and proudly—the only film festival in the entire country programmed entirely by film critics. That’s right: real-deal, boots-on-the-ground, love-the-movies-too-much-to-not-write-about-them critics.

Friends and colleagues of mine—people I’ve known for years and truly admire—are the ones behind it. The festival is spearheaded by Erik Childress and Brian Tallerico, but it's a collaborative labor of love from a bunch of my peers and longtime pals like Collin Souter, Steve Prokopy, and Peter Sobczynski and others.

These are people who hustle year-round, hitting up Sundance, SXSW, TIFF, and who-knows-where-else, hunting for the gems... and then they bring those films back here to Chicago for you. For us.

The result? A weeklong celebration of cinema that’s more curated mixtape than algorithmic playlist. You get indies that don’t have distributors yet, big studio sneak peeks, world premieres, genre benders, retrospectives, and post-screening Q&As featuring writers, directors, actors, and actual conversation—not just promotional fluff.

This year was stacked with guests. Every night felt like an event. And speaking of events: I got to meet Jane Levy—yes, from Don't Breathe, Evil Dead, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. She was amazing, on screen and off, and she stars in one of the films I’ll be ranking below.

The venue? Let’s talk about the Music Box Theatre—an absolute treasure and, in my opinion, the greatest movie theater in the country. Built in the 1920s, a 740-seat house of cinematic worship. It’s old-school charm meets modern cinephilia. There’s no place better to watch a film, especially when you have a staff as dedicated and welcoming as the Music Box crew. They do it right.

And this year’s fest? One of the best yet. Seriously. Not every movie was a home run, of course—I saw 13 films, and while 10 of them I would wholeheartedly recommend, there are three I would very much not. But that’s still a damn good batting average. The programming had range too: everything from horror to musical, from hard-hitting drama to laugh-out-loud comedy, even a few docs thrown in for good measure.

They also went retro in the best way possible. I sat in awe at a 35mm print of Chaplin’s The Great Dictator—a movie that hit harder now than maybe it ever has. That final speech? Still haunting. Still timely. And they screened Strange Days—Kathryn Bigelow's prophetic, adrenaline-soaked masterpiece—on 35mm for its 30th anniversary. Incredible.

As a critic who’s been doing this gig for 40 years, I can’t tell you how proud I am to see this group of passionate film lovers—many of them younger than me—put together something so unique, vibrant, and respected.

This is no small-town film fest. This is a legitimate, vital piece of the film festival circuit. And it all happens in Chicago, programmed by people who love movies just as much—if not more—than the folks who make them.

So now, here it is: my ranked list of the 13 films I saw during the festival. From the jaw-droppingly great to the regrettably awful, this is how they stacked up for me. Number one is a stunner. Numbers 11 through 13... not so much. But overall? A stellar fest. Let’s get into it.

THE FILMS OF THE 12TH ANNUAL CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FESTIVAL (in order of my preference):

1. APRIL - Directed by: Dea Kulumbegashvili

A Georgian film about an OBGYN who’s under investigation after a newborn dies under her care. She continues her work in remote areas of Georgia, and the result is one of the most haunting, surreal, challenging and bold pieces of cinema I’ve seen in years. This is only Kulumbegashvili’s second film, but make no mistake—a major voice in international cinema has arrived. It’s unrelenting. It’s uncomfortable. It’s pure cinema, no compromise. It played briefly in theaters, and will be available on VOD soon. The best film I saw at the fest, full stop.

2. DESERT ROAD - Directed by: Shannon Triplett

A young woman crashes her car and gets caught in an eerie time loop, forever walking down the same desert road, trying to escape. Sounds simple, but this movie is inventive, funny, creepy, and packed with meaning. It’s about being stuck—emotionally, spiritually—and breaking through that rut. Every frame feels fresh and creative. I absolutely loved it, but there is no release date set just yet. Seek it out when it is released.

3. SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED - Directed by: Ryan Olson & Isaac Gale

One of the best music documentaries I’ve seen in years. Swamp Dogg—who you may not know by name—has been everywhere, worked in every genre, and written an incredible amount of great music. This is about his life, his art, and his house-turned-art-installation. But it’s also a movie about friendship, survival, creativity, and how art can lift you up. It’s life-affirming and just plain wonderful. Opens this weekend.

4. THE BALTIMORONS - Directed by: Jay Duplass

Takes place on Christmas Eve in Baltimore. A guy cracks a tooth, meets a dentist, and they spend a weird, beautiful night together. It’s about sobriety, connection, and human decency—with two knockout performances by Michael Strassner and Liz Larsen. As someone who is sober myself, this film hit me hard. It's truthful, funny, moving. Expect this one before the end of the year or in the new year.

5. A LITTLE PRAYER - Directed by: Angus MacLachlan

Set in a small North Carolina town, this drama is all about family, loyalty, and betrayal. Jane Levy is terrific, but David Strathairn? One of the best performances of the year. It’s a quiet little movie with big emotional weight. Intimate, subtle, powerful. Music Box Films just picked it up—it’ll be released later this year, and it’s absolutely worth your time.

6. FAMILIAR TOUCH - Directed by: Sarah Friedland

A poetic, emotionally devastating look at aging, dementia, and assisted living. Kathleen Chalfant gives a performance for the ages, portraying a woman navigating the end stages of her independence. It’s about memory, touch, presence—a sensory experience, really. There are plenty of films about dementia, but none like this one. It opens in September.

7. LURKER - Directed by: Alex Russell

A twisted tale of fandom, obsession, and the dangerous hunger for internet fame. A retail worker slithers his way into a pop star’s life, and things get very weird. Social media toxicity, influencer culture, manipulation—it’s all here. It’ll make your skin crawl. Darkly funny, disturbing, incredibly relevant. This one’s a gut-punch with bite.

8. SISTER MIDNIGHT - Directed by: Karan Kandhari

A black comedy/horror/feminist parable from India that is as wild as it is original. A woman flees an arranged marriage and may—or may not—turn into something otherworldly. It’s trippy, weird, bold, and totally unpredictable. Radhika Apte is fantastic in the lead. A surreal, sharp social critique wrapped in midnight movie madness. It opens next weekend.

9. HAPPYEND - Directed by: Neo Sora

Near-future Japan. Martial law. Earthquake looming. Teens rebelling. The setup is great and the message strong, but it’s a bit too long and repetitive. Still, it has powerful moments and strong performances. If teen rebellion stories are your thing, this will work. Flawed, but worthwhile. This opens at the end of June.

10. OBEX - Directed by: Albert Birney

Starts in 1987 with a guy obsessed with his VCR, dog, and dot-matrix printers. Then he gets sucked into a video game, and we follow him in. The first half is fantastic—quirky, funny, very Lynchian in black-and-white. But once the game stuff kicks in, it loses steam. Still, the first 45 minutes are strong enough to make it worth a look. You can see this before the end of the year.

11. ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT - Directed by: Charlie Shackleton

This isn’t a movie. It’s a podcast on a movie screen, and not even a good one. Shackleton lost the rights to the Zodiac book and just made a film about the movie he wanted to make. And he narrates it himself, complete with smugness and self-satisfied jokes. It’s annoying, lazy, and totally non-cinematic. Skip it.

12. SORRY, BABY - Directed by: Eva Victor

This won the audience award at CCFF and... I don't get it. It deals with serious subject matter—sexual assault, trauma—but it’s handled with film school tricks and amateurish direction. Eva Victor (who writes, directs, and stars) leans into quirk instead of gravity. The intent is heartfelt, but the execution completely misses the mark. I didn’t like it. Not at all. In theaters on June 27th.

13. FANTASY LIFE - Directed by: Matthew Shear

Easily the worst film I saw at the festival. A vanity project starring the writer/director himself as a sad-sack paralegal turned nanny. Amanda Peet (who deserves better) and some other great actors show up, but they’re all wasted in a film that’s self-indulgent, badly written, and just plain annoying. Zero charm. Zero laughs. Zero interest. A disaster.

Wrap Up

13 films, some revelations, some duds, and a whole lot in between. And listen, if you walk out of a festival where 10 out of 13 movies are solidly recommended (with at least five that could land on a best-of-the-year list), that's not just a win—that's a goddamn triumph. The Chicago Critics Film Festival delivered this year. Big time.

What makes this fest so unique isn’t just the films themselves (though yeah, April blew my face off, Desert Road surprised the hell out of me, and Swamp Dogg made me want to call old friends just to say hi).

It's the community. The vibe. The conversations in the lobby. The Q&As that feel less like PR and more like actual discussion. The staff at the Music Box who treat every single screening like it's a big deal—because it is. The beautiful, creaky floorboards of that historic theater. The popcorn. The city. The crowd.

But most of all, it’s the critics. My people. Fellow film obsessives who actually care. They could’ve chosen a cushy path writing clickbait somewhere, but instead they work their asses off going to fests, hunting down gems, and creating a weeklong lineup for Chicago audiences that rivals anything you’ll find in Park City or Toronto.

This was my sixth year attending and my favorite year so far. The breadth of films—from sobering domestic drama to surreal Indian black comedy to lo-fi Japanese near-future rebellion flicks—was stunning.

And to have retrospectives like The Great Dictator and Strange Days thrown in for good measure? That’s just showing off. And I love it.

So if you're a movie lover, mark it down: Next May, make it a point to spend some time at the Chicago Critics Film Festival. Support the programmers. Support the venue. Support the art. And maybe you’ll walk away like I did—rattled, rejuvenated, inspired, annoyed, elated. That’s what the best movie experiences do.

See you at the Music Box.

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