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…
CLFF 2026: It Would Be Night in Caracas
Venezuela. It’s been in the news this year for various reasons, most notably after the U.S. military captured President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026. This has led to a major political transition, the rise of interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, and the start of a “purge” of Maduro loyalists. The situation involves U.S.-led efforts to restructure the oil/mining industries, release political prisoners, and hold new elections. However, not many know that almost a decade ago, Venezuela experienced a severe, multifaceted crisis characterized by intense anti-government protests, a constitutional breakdown, a deepening economic collapse, and widespread violent repression. 2017 was marked by months of daily demonstrations aimed at removing President Nicolás Maduro, resulting in high casualties, with over 160 deaths and thousands of arrests. The latest film from directors Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás, “It Would Be Night in Caracas,” recreates the chaos of the Venezuelan riots that year into a gripping apocalyptic nightmare. Read more…
THE TRAVEL COMPANION (2026) review
written by: Alex Mallis, Travis Wood, and Weston Auburn
produced by: Alex Mallis, Travis Wood, and Weston Auburn
directed by: Alex Mallis and Travis Wood
rated: not rated
runtime: 91 min.
U.S. release date: April 10, 2026 (limited)
After premiering at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, “The Traveling Companion”, the feature debut from directors Alex Mallis and Travis Wood, is getting a limited release here in the States. The melodramatic comedy finds the independent filmmakers taking an uncomfortably realistic, yet somewhat humorous, look at the indie film scene. While the film is set in New York City, it feels like the directors, who co-wrote and co-produced with Weston Auburn, are offering an accurate portrayal of the struggles of making a micro-budget film in any city. But, while that aspect of the film feels authentic, it’s overshadowed by the bigger issue here, which is how the director in the film’s story is in a state of arrested development that’s effecting everyone around him, and possible you’re threshold for enjoying this film. Read more…
Chicago Latino Film Festival 2026 preview
The annual Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) kicked off tonight in its 42nd year, promising a vast array of films for Windy City viewers. The festival, featuring 51 features and 31 shorts, showcases diverse voices in Latin American cinema, from Argentina to Venezuela, and remains North America’s longest-running celebration of Latino film. Some of these films have already been released in their homeland; for others, this is the next stop on their festival circuit, and some will find their very first audience in Chicago. So far, I’ve watched the four films from Puerto Rico, and I definitely plan to catch many more. Read more…
