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.

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.

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.

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.

Olivia Wilde’s third feature astutely dissects what it’s like to both love and hate parts of your long-term partner.

One of David Cronenberg’s best films and a peak of ‘80s horror, The Fly holds up 40 years later thanks to its gruesome makeup effects, a perfect match-up of Geena and Jeff Goldblum, and a haunting allegory for losing a loved one to aging and disease.

After taking a hiatus from feature films, ‘90s New Queer Cinema provocateur Gregg Araki is back to pervert audiences with an all-star cast in tow.

The narrative feature debut of documentarian and writer-director Daniel Roher follows a reserved piano tuner with a hearing disorder who turns his talents to safecracking.