TWO WOMEN (2025) review
written by: Catherine Léger
produced by: Catherine Léger and Martin Paul-Hus
directed by: Chloé Robichaud
rated: not rated
runtime: 100 min.
U.S. release date: May 15, 2026
Two women from Quebec, screenwriter Catherine Léger and director Chloé Robichaud, got together and decided to remake the 1970 sex farce “Two Women in Gold (Deux femmes en or),” by Canadian filmmaker Claude Fournier, about two unfulfilled housewives in suburban Quebec. While not an initial hit with critics, it became one of the most commercially successful movies to come out of Quebec at the time. Such a subject was fully embraced during the “sexual revolution” of the 70s, popularizing unrestrained sexuality and marking a significant cultural shift towards open dialogue, liberation, and experimentation. So, the question that comes to mind is, will a modern take on the subject offer anything different or new? Well, yes and no, because the more things change, the more they stay the same. Read more…
MY FATHER’S SHADOW (2025) review
written by: Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jr.
produced by: Rachel Dargavel and Funmbi Ogunbanwo
directed by:
rated: Akinola Davies Jr.
runtime: 93 min.
U.S. release date: February 6, 2026 (limited) and April 10, 2026 (MUBI)
“My Father’s Shadow” is the semi-autobiographical feature-length debut from British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother, Wale Davies. It’s no wonder, considering how heartbreakingly personal the story set in 1993 Nigeria feels. That summer was a contentious one, as Major General Ibrahim Badamasi refused to accept the citizens’ overwhelming vote for the people’s champion, MKO Abiola, on June 24th. It was the country’s first democratic election since the 10-year-old military coup. On this same day, two young brothers were invited by their father to take a rare trip to Lagos. Since their father was often away for months at a time, this was a big deal. Read more…
REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES (2026) review
written by: Olivia Newman and John Whittington
produced by: Bryan Unkeless, Peter Craig, and David Levine
directed by: Olivia Newman
rated: PG-13 (for thematic material, some strong language, suggestive references, and brief drug use)
runtime: 111 min.
U.S. release date: May 8, 2026 (Netflix)
American novelist Shelby Van Pelt’s 2022 novel Remarkably Bright Creatures became a New York Times bestseller and sold over 4 million copies in 30 translations. That’s impressive considering the mystery drama was her writing debut, and it also guarantees an inevitable movie adaptation, which is where Netflix comes in. Tasked with helming the project is Olivia Newman, who is no stranger to novel adaptations after 2022’s “Where the Crawdads Sing”, and she has co-written the screenplay with John Wittington (who co-wrote the recent animated feature “Swapped” for Netflix), creating a semi-whimsical, quasi-introspective tale of grief and connection. While lovers of the novel might cringe at some choices that deviate from the novel, the movie is still about a friendship between an elderly woman and an octopus at its core. Just as an octopus can adapt to its surroundings, here is an adaptation that considers what works best as the story is translated to a different medium. Read more…
CCFF 2026: I Want Your Sex
No, “I Want Your Sex” isn’t a George Michael biopic, but rather the long-awaited latest film from cult auteur Gregg Araki. The writer/director had premiered the film earlier this year at Sundance, marking his eleventh feature to premiere at the festival (starting with 1992’s queer road comedy “The Living End”), and it now continues its festival tour with a stop at the Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF). Araki is calling upon the Zillenials out there to stop scrolling and get out there and get laid, but this comedy would be better off if it explored why they should and why they are apparently not. Read more…
CCFF 2026: Power Ballad
While I have yet to see every film in this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF), it’s safe to say that “Power Ballad” is the most thoroughly enjoyable of any I’ll see in this year’s lineup. It’s the latest movie from Irish writer/director John Carney, known for the Oscar-winning “Once” and the fabulous “Sing Street”, and like those movies, this one revolves around music. Carney is a filmmaker who typically tells beguiling, heartfelt stories in which characters are connected through music, specifically the process of creating music and all its struggles and joys. We forget that coming up with your own song, a catchy one at that, is far from an easy or quick process. That is, for most of us. Read more…
HOKUM (2026) review
written by: Damian Mc Carthy
produced by: Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Derek Dauchy, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, Mairtín de Barra
directed by: Damian Mc Carthy
rated: R (for some violent/disturbing content, and language)
runtime: 107 min.
U.S. release date: May 1, 2026
“With that attitude, you can stay lost.”
With his sophomore feature, 2024’s “Oddity,” writer/director Damian McCarthy demonstrated his talent for folklore-ish horror, seeping into deep, dark corridors where ancient terrors mix with the evil deeds of modern psychopaths. His third film, “Hokum,” continues to journey down these same haunted hallways where primordial terror once roamed freely, and now those malevolent spirits conjure contemporary transgressions. Read more…
CCFF 2026: The Invite
The Chicago Critics Film Festival kicked off its Opening Night last night with “The Invite”, a comedy that sold out the historic Music Box Theatre. Clearly, plenty of film enthusiasts RSVP’d to the latest from director Olivia Wilde! She also stars in the movie, alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton – that’s it! That’s the cast. When it premiered this past January at Sundance, the movie mostly received high praise from critics, prompting a bidding war for its North American distribution rights that A24 eventually won. It’s rare to find studios releasing a comedy in theaters nowadays, let alone an adult relationship comedy like this, and while “The Invite” definitely has some laughs, it also touches on marriage, sex, and commitment with biting accuracy and surprising poignancy. Read more…
Chicago Critics Film Festival 2026 preview
If it’s May at the historic Music Box Theatre in Chicago, IL, that means the CFCA is back with CCFF. The Who is back with the What? The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA), the Chicago-area print, online, and broadcast critics group that celebrates the art of film and film criticism, returns for the 13th annual Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF), which remains the only film festival curated solely by film critics. That makes it quite unique, and once again, a hub for film enthusiasts for a week, Friday, May 1st, through Thursday, May 7th. Read more…
CLFF 2026: 8
Best known on an international level for helming 2001’s “Sex and Lucia”, writer/director Julio Medem’s latest, simply titled “8”, is a Spanish historical drama that spans a 90-year period and is built around eight sequences. The story follows two characters across time and space, much as Medem did in his 1998 film “Lovers of the Arctic Circle”, as they gradually cross paths and a love story develops. The film premiered in Spain during last year’s Málaga Film Festival and made its way to Chicago for the 42nd Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF). Read more…
CLFF 2026: 42nd Street (La 42)
One of the most visually absorbing viewing experiences comes from Dominican writer/director Jose Maria Cabral, who drops us into the vibrantly energized streets of the Capotillo neighborhood in “42nd Street” or “La 42”. The documentary follows artists, musicians, and dancers who live alongside drugs, violence, and police crackdowns in the titular address in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, which is described as “600m of streets where anything can happen.” After premiering at last year’s SXSW Film Festival, the film was released in the DR late last summer, and now makes its way to the Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF). Read more…
