KSanders writesThe 2024 Chicago Critics Film Festival, Part 1: A Horror-Heavy First Half, with Some Touching Titles in Between

by Kyle Sanders

In its eleventh year, the Chicago Critics Film Festival continues to outdo itself. Last year gave us the critically-acclaimed Oscar contender Past Lives (not to mention our first glimpse of Lily Gladstone, before becoming an Oscar-nominated household name), so my expectations were high. So far, the festival has managed to fulfill them with a slot of fun horror flicks making big splashes while the more dramatic fare wades in between.

To kick off the festivities, CCFF smartly chose Sing Sing, a crowd-pleasing drama set in the infamous prison, where prisoners find purpose through performance.

Fresh off his Oscar-nominated turn in Rustin, Colman Domingo stars as Divine G, one of the founding members of RTA (Rehabilitation Through the Arts). It's time to put on a new staged production, and Divine G and company decide to shake things up with a comedic original, where each prisoner auditions for roles, rehearses lines, and develops the truths of their character while confronting the truths of their incriminating pasts.

More than just "Shakespeare with shanks," Sing Sing is a triumph thanks to its charming ensemble--mostly made up of formerly incarcerated actors (Release Date: TBD). 

In Cuckoo, Euphoria's Hunter Schaeffer plays Gretchen, a seventeen-year-old who moves to the Bavarian Alps with her father and step-family. Already in the throes of teen angst, Gretchen feels even more alienated at her new home--a secluded resort managed by the discomforting Mr. Konig (played with discomforting delight by Dan Stevens with a whimsical euro accent).

It isn't long before Gretchen notices bizarre behavior from the resort's inhabitants, as well as strange noises and a mysterious figure cloaked in a beige trench coat. Cuckoo is more than just a title--it's also a great description for its kooky finale! (Release Date: August 9th)

The filmmakers behind In a Violent Nature finally answer the age-old question in all slasher horror films: What is the killer up to before dispatching all of the dumb, horny teenagers who are off drinking, drugging, and having sex?

Killing time, of course (did I just make a Dad Joke?). Director Chris Nash strategically films this clever horror film from the point-of-view of the ambiguous killer: an undead monster unknowingly resurrected who kills with unflinchingly violent--yet deliciously inventive--vigor. For any fan of the Friday the 13th franchise, you won't want to miss this! (Release Date: May 31st)

Riding on the coattails of In a Violent Nature, comes Oddity. This film seems to have been crafted from a collection of oddities of the cinematic variety: borrowing from the haunted house archives of The Conjuring and Stir of Echoes, as well as the paranormal thriller files of The Dead Zone and Don't Look Now.

After the brutal murder of his wife Dani in the country home they were renovating, Dr. Ted Timmis gets an unexpected visit from Dani's blind clairvoyant sister Darcy. Darcy believes there's more to Dani's murder than what was initially reported, and to help her find answers, she brings along a disturbing artifact from her antique store of supposedly cursed items.

How this "oddity" will help her is gradually revealed in this scary, well-crafted horror film. (Release Date: TBD)

Oddity

After surviving three horror films back-to-back, I was in need of a good palate cleanser. I found my answer in the refreshing western The Dead Don't Hurt. Directed and co-starring Viggo Mortensen, the film really belongs to Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, Corsage).

As the headstrong Vivienne Le Coudy, Krieps portrays a French woman determined to clear her own path in the world. She meets her match (both in gumption and romance) with Danish Holger Olsen (Mortensen).

When the call of duty persuades Holger to join up with the Union during the Civil War, Vivienne is left to fend for herself in a community built on corruption and brutality. With The Dead Don't Hurt, Mortensen contributes a callback to gritty classics from John Ford and Clint Eastwood, while also carving out a space for a western about two immigrants building a life for themselves in the wild American frontier. (Release Date: May 31st)

When Mats Steen was born, his parents had such dreams and hopes for their son, but upon his devastating diagnosis with a severe form of muscular dystrophy known as Duchenne, those dreams seemed to be over.

But after his death at age twenty-five, his parents learned that what they assumed to be a lonely and isolated life, turned out to be something more profound and impactful in the online gaming world. In The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, we watch as Mats' parents learn about his friendships and connections through World of Warcraft, where he existed in avatar form as Ibelin, a charismatic persona who provided Mats with boundless opportunities not afforded to him in the real world.

A documentary that'll leave you a sniffling, emotionally-wrecked mess, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin serves as an uplifting reminder that one's existence in the world matters and can impact others in ways never imagined. (Release Date: TBD) 

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Based on the sold out screening, I Saw the TV Glow was perhaps the festival's most buzzworthy--and most attended--event. I admit, it's probably the only title I was remotely aware of thanks to the film's day-glo splattered trailer playing at most movie theaters I've been frequenting.

The film itself is like an homage to David Lynch with a script inspired by John Hughes: an awkward teenager surviving the soul-sucking suburbs meets the archetypal high school "goth chick" who introduces him to a late-night kids TV show called The Pink Opaque.

In what becomes a shared obsession for a pop cultural peculiarity, manifests into something far more sinister beneath the gleam of its cheap mid-nineties production values. The film itself is beautifully shot in a mix of neon blues, pinks, and purples, but tonally, is more arthouse than horror. (Release Date: May 17th)

Coming up, the festival shakes things up a bit with films about road trips, record stores, and the returning dead, as well as celebrating the anniversary of an underrated Scorsese flick. The Chicago Critics Film Festival continues on through May 9th!