KSanders writesDispatches from the 2023 Chicago Critics Film Festival: “Brother,” “Revoir Paris,” and “Starring Jerry As Himself”

by Kyle Sanders

The 10th Annual Chicago Critics Film Festival has come to a close! I must say as a first time reviewer, I enjoyed the experience immensely and look forward to doing it all again next year.

Here are some final thoughts of the remaining titles I had on my watchlist:

Brother

It's difficult for me to pinpoint just what kind of story Brother wants to tell. Is it about the bond between two siblings born to immigrant parents? A drama about race relations in Scarborough? A gritty take on gang violence and police brutality? Or is it an intimate tale about Black lives? Perhaps it's a little of everything.

From the start, we're introduced to Francis and Michael, two close-knit brothers about to do something dangerous and stupid, but nevertheless, together.

Francis is the oldest, and naturally, Michael defers to Francis for everything. Living in a small apartment with their single Caribbean mother who works late shifts in order to provide for her family, the brothers are often left alone to their own devices.

As they grow older, it's clear Michael is the more studious and obedient of the two. Francis on the other hand--well, nothing is going to get in the way of his dreams.

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KSanders writesDispatches from the 2023 Chicago Critics Film Festival: “Past Lives” and “Kokomo City”

by Kyle Sanders

We're at the halfway point of the Chicago Critics Film Festival, but the lineup doesn't appear to be running out of steam! Here are two impressive films from first-time filmmakers (both of which I'm only allowed to provide mini-capsule reviews), but let me tell ya, they're both quite good!

Past Lives

Think of the endless connections you make in the course of your lifetime. Even something as meaningless as a slight brush against a stranger's sleeve could be caused by events from thousands of years ago connecting you to that person. This Korean philosophy is known as "in-yun," which describes the ties between two people over the course of their lives.

In Past Lives, Nora and Hae Sung are two childhood friends who, in the span of twenty-four years, are torn apart, reconnect online, then finally reunite face to face. Despite separate time zones and different countries, fate keeps their lives intertwined.

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