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.

Indie rock musician Francis of Delirium on the movies that complement her new album.

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.

Indie rock band Arc Iris on the movies that complement their new album.

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.

Singer/songwriter Kevin Morby on the movies that complement his new album.

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.

Product strategist and writer Youngna Park on the movies and movie experiences that have made her life sweeter.

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.

12+1 questions with film critic, professor, and novelist Jeffrey Overstreet on his new movie memoir, his evangelical Christian background, being inspired by Jim Henson, and much more!

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.

Content creator and author Jon Gustin on the movies that complement his new book.

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.