CCFF 2025 – Baltimorons & Lurker

In its 12th year, the Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF) maintains its annual purpose of bringing the best films from recent film festivals to the Windy City. Not only has the city long been known for its rabid film enthusiast community, but the festival’s location, the historic Music Box Theatre, has its fan base, which faithfully draws in many loyal patrons. It’s a perfect synchronicity that statistically offers what winds up being some of the best films of the year.  Some films shown at the CCFF already have distribution deals and/or release dates lined up. If you could not make it to last year’s Toronto International Film Festival or this year’s Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest, you can catch up by checking out what’s offered here from May 2nd through May 8th.

Like every year, I plan on watching as many films as possible, and of course, that started with Day 1. Below are my thoughts on the Opening Night films I watched, which were two solid albeit very different viewing experiences:

THE BALTIMORONS

It’s not easy to come up with a new angle for a Christmas themed film, one that distances itself from the interchangeable plots that are churned out of the Hallmark Channel algorithim every holiday season, but director Jay Duplass does just that with “The Baltimorons”, which he co-wrote with one its stars, Michael Strassner.  They do an impressive job of presenting two lead characters as real, albeit very different people who unexpectedly wind up hanging out together on Christmas Eve in Baltimore. Strassner plays Cliff Cashen (one character asks if it’s a porn name when he’s introduced), a former improv sketch performer and addict who has to abruptly leave his fiance (Olivia Luccardi, in a touching albeit brief role) and her family when a dental emergency lands him in the dental chair of a no-nonsense workaholic dentist, Didi (Liz Larsen). Why else would she take a patient on Christmas Eve? It turns out Cliff’s lovability and undeniable charm mask his underlying anxiety and depression that still haunt him after his suicide attempt six months ago. Something about this jovial patient makes Didi, a divorcee and grandmother, decide to help him through a series of mishaps even after he leaves her office.

Most of the film is an aimless walk-and-talk hangout that makes the most of local Baltimore neighborhoods. Cliff and Didi inadvertently get each other out of awkward situations and develop an unexpected attraction, which grows into a mutual admiration for each other that blossoms out of situational humor and their distinct personalities. Strassner and Larsen have dynamite chemistry, conveying an honesty and eventual tenderness these two characters need. Together, Duplass and Strassner manage to deftly navigate the melancholy and joy that come with the holiday season, adding some wonderful moments of humor throughout.

RATING: ***1/2

LURKER

“Lurker” is an uncomfortable psychological thriller that becomes a fascinating character study for its two main characters. It’s the directorial debut of Alex Russell (a writer on the series “The Bear” and “Beef”), who also wrote the screenplay here, and it will offer something more than you’d expect considering the title and the overall conceit. In modern-day Los Angeles, Russell’s story opens with an encounter at a trendy Melrose Avenue clothing store where Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) works. It’s where celebrities shop, and one day, Matthew encounters rising pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) with his two-man entourage. Is it a chance encounter, or was it only a matter of time? While everyone else in the store acknowledges Oliver, thanks to his viral videos on Instagram posts, Matthew feigns interest, which is refreshing for the singer. In actuality, Matthew is a superfan and when Oliver invites him to be his documentarian, capturing behind-the-scenes photos and videos of daily life, he finds himself pulled into the singer’s inner circle and trepiditiously accepted by those around him, like his manager Shai (Havana Rose Liu). As expected, things quickly turn darker when Matthew and Oliver realize each other’s true nature. Matthew cannot calibrate his persistence and desperation, which finds him falling out of Oliver’s good graces, and Oliver can’t be in tune with the emotional state of anyone other than himself. It all becomes quite toxic, leading to a dynamic switch that changes everything.

Russell offers an awkward dynamic between artist and fan that eventually delivers an unsettling power play stemming from insecurity and paranoia. Pellerin’s Matthew exhibits disturbing yet realistic behavior and never over-the-top, while Madekwe’s Oliver portrays a character that could believably exist in this environment. Neither role is written or performed with stereotypical tropes in mind, and both actors convey some memorable and powerfully emotional moments. Considering the title and the technology available today, one could think “Lurker” would be more about an obsessive online fan, but Russell’s approach is similar to “Saltburn”, which also stars Madekwe, where the threat isn’t apparent at first, one that hides in plain sight.

RATING: ***