Craig Gillespie’s foray into the James Gunn DC Universe shows how just a little craft can go a long way in elevating what would otherwise be a pretty generic action-adventure.

Though not as devastating or thematically rich as Toy Story 3 on the surface, the message of Toy Story 5 is vital for kids and their parents living in a world that’s more isolating than ever before.

Even more than basic queer representation, Girls Like Girls showcases the importance of elevating a voice like musician/director Hayley Kiyoko’s to lend the film authenticity rather than soapy stereotypes.

A mix of political thriller and on-the-run chase film, Disclosure Day has more similarities with Minority Report for most of its runtime than any of Spielberg’s previous alien movies.

Every horror fan has to suspend their disbelief when characters go off by themselves or do something stupid, but in Izabel Pakzad’s debut feature, being abandoned by your friends to certain danger is entirely the point.

Though I didn’t find Natalie Erika James’ latest as effective as her debut Relic, I deeply admire the shots she takes here in another unique twist on the body-horror genre.

Jon Favreau’s theatrical extension of the Disney+ series may disappoint those looking for the next Jedi saga, but this one-off, low-key adventure was a fun ride.

If you’ve never seen any of the Backrooms YouTube short films 20-year-old Kane Parsons started making as a teenager, the creeping dread and ‘90s-internet-vaporwave aesthetic of his feature-length adaptation will give you a primer.

This is Damian McCarthy’s tightest and most realized horror vision to date, making great use of his largest budget to take a promising step forward in his career.

If you love horror movies, you need to see Curry Barker’s Obsession, an amusement park ride of a movie that delivers laughs and brutal scares in equal measure.

Joe Swanberg’s The Sun Never Sets is not just a welcome return for the indie film director, but one of his most accomplished works to date.

Jonathan Demme followed up his pioneering Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense with this uniquely idiosyncratic vision of America that feels deeply indebted to David Byrne and company.

Filmed for no money in 11 days by a bunch of young twentysomethings, DePaul grad Zach Schnitzer’s debut feature—which he also wrote and stars in—will remind many of the early days of mumblecore, particularly fellow Chicagoan Joe Swanberg.

Carla Simón’s Romería checks off many of the hallmarks of Rohmer-style European coming-of-age summer films while wading into murkier waters of memory and identity.

Taking place in 2011, Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks nails the aesthetic of the Pitchfork era without ever rubbing it in your face.

John Carney’s bone-deep sincerity, cheeky humor, and musical populism are on full display in his latest film starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.

Ranging from awesomely stupid to eyerollingly mediocre, Mortal Kombat II gets the job done. That job, of course, is seeing a woman rip apart a man’s head with bladed steel fans and a dude being impaled on a razor-blade hat.

Having not seen this Spielberg/Kubrick film since its release, I revisited it for its 25th anniversary screening as part of the 2026 Chicago Critics Film Festival and found it utterly horrifying.

In Sophy Romvari’s incredibly accomplished feature debut, she takes a metafictional journey into her own past and childhood. 

With a light touch and some dark moments, Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad’s offbeat comedy thriller Chili Finger sets two empty-nesters off on a rather wacky and very Midwestern adventure.