film & MEDIA
What we’re watching in theaters and at home
Review: The Sheep Detectives
The Sheep Detectives is a classic family mystery with pro-sheep propaganda and an all-star cast.
Review: LifeHack
As a screenlife film, LifeHack struggles to bridge form and content into anything exceptional.
Hungary for discovery
Judit Elek: Reality by Itself, Blue Heron (2026), and the Chicago Film Society’s Pre-Code Picture Party
Review: Mortal Kombat II
Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat II strains to balance spectacle with story.
ON THE BIG SCREEN
Review: The Sheep Detectives
The Sheep Detectives in wide release in theaters
Review: LifeHack
LifeHack in wide release in theaters
Review: Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II in wide release in theaters
Review: The Devil Wears Prada 2
The Devil Wears Prada 2 in wide release in theaters
Review: Blue Heron
Blue Heron screening through Thu 5/14 at the Siskel Film Center
Review: Hekla
Hekla screening Sun 5/10 at 7 PM at the Music Box Theatre
Review: Erupcja
Erupcja in limited release in theaters
indicates Reader Recommended
MOVIE FEATURES
Sapphopalooza, the Music Box Theatre’s lesbian film series, returns for a second year
An interview with series programmer Elizabeth Arnott
Johnny Jones is telling North Lawndale stories
The local filmmaker’s short documentary series captures the history, culture, and artistic power of his neighborhood.
This year’s Doc10 Film Festival comes with a call to action
The 11th edition of the fest includes its usual slate of ten documentaries, plus a new program to encourage dialogue and engagement.
Local film buff Kat Sachs collects the best of what Chicago’s independent and underground film scene has to offer.
Hungary for discovery
Judit Elek: Reality by Itself, Blue Heron (2026), and the Chicago Film Society’s Pre-Code Picture Party
From our Community Calendar
Everything in Film & MEDIA
Review: The Devil Wears Prada 2
The Devil Wears Prada 2 meets the moment but ultimately feels like a dupe.
Review: Widow’s Bay (Season one)
Widow’s Bay is a hodgepodge of pastiche with potential for stronger seasons in the future.
Review: Blue Heron
Blue Heron is Sophy Romvari’s extraordinary debut feature about family and memory.
Review: Hekla
Michael Glover Smith’s Hekla is an intimately deglamorized, down-in-the-trenches look at the acting profession.
Review: Erupcja
Pete Ohs creates a dream world with Erupcja, but the film doesn’t fully earn its wistful stylishness.
Review: Mother Mary
David Lowery’s Mother Mary resists theology and fails to meet its potential.
Review: Michael
Antoine Fuqua’s Michael, like many musical biopics, is spiritually empty.
Review: The Christophers
Steven Soderbergh’s latest is an art heist tale that grows into a refreshingly layered meditation.
Projection events
The Onion City Experimental Film Festival and the films of Robert Beavers
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Review: Exit 8
Exit 8 is a single-setting, video game–inspired thriller that’s worth watching exactly once.
Review: The Testaments
This sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale merely prolongs a story that should have wrapped up long ago.
Review: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a visual assault, but there’s no denying the creativity and energy on display.
Avant-garde filmmaker Angelo Madsen doesn’t want to make easy work
In his documentary feature A Body to Live In (2025), Madsen contextualizes the life of controversial body mod trailblazer Fakir Musafar.
The horrors and miracles of the 25th Chicago Palestine Film Festival
As Israel persists in its genocide of Palestinians, this necessary fest returns as both witness and guide.
Review: The Serpent’s Skin
The Serpent’s Skin is a beautiful film, one that fits perfectly into Alice Maio Mackay’s ever-growing oeuvre.
Review: The Drama
In Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama, the questions raised are more interesting than the attempts to answer them.
Review: Faces of Death
Daniel Goldhaber reworks the 1970s film of the same name into a generic slasher.
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