2025 Chicago International Film Festival Preview- 5 Movies to See at the 61st CIFF
There are a few things that are constant in Chicago: bitter cold weather, never-ending construction on the Dan Ryan expressway, and the Chicago International Film Festival. Taking place October 15th-26th, this is the 61st installment of the legendary fest, and although it has often been the last leg of festival season, that doesn’t lessen the fact that every year the movies are bigger and better. They also constantly keep things pure Chicago. The opening night film is One Golden Summer, a documentary about Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West Little League World Series team, which captured the hearts of America, only to have their success wrongfully taken away. It’s also a part of the City & State program, which features films such as Rich Newey’s comedy Adult Children and Alex Phillips’ After Dark Chicago-set film Anything That Moves. There are also big movie premieres for films such as Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, and Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning It Was Just an Accident. To top it off, this year features an entire retrospective on the films of Kelly Reichardt, as well as the very special ‘An Evening With Spike Lee’ interview, which is sure to sell out in seconds. This is a rich year for cinema, so it is difficult to choose, but here are five movies that I think you should keep on your radar for what should be an excellent fest:
MOVIE: THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE
STARRING: BANEEN AHMED NAYYEF, WAHEED THABET KHREIBAT, SAJAD MOHAMAD QASEM
DIRECTOR: HASAN HADI
SCREENING: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17TH, 5:15 PM @ AMC NEWCITY 14
If you follow AMovieGuy.com, you most likely know that I have a great appreciation for Iranian cinema. From Asghar Farhadi to Jafar Panahi, there have constantly been voices from the Middle East that ring loud and true. This is why Hasan Hadi’s film The President’s Cake instantly caught my eye. It’s set in 1990s Iraq, where a 9-year-old girl- played by newcomer Baneen Ahmad Nayyef- must bake a cake for President Saddam Hussein. This creates tension, where the girl must find the needed ingredients and make the cake in time, or else she is subjected to certain punishment. It sounds like the kinds of drama we see from Iranian cinema, where the tension rests in something simple, yet it deals with unthinkable human rights conflicts. I can’t wait to check this out.
MOVIE: THE STRANGER
STARRING: BENJAMIN VOISIN, REBECCA MARDER, DENIS LAVANT
DIRECTOR: FRANÇOIS OZON
SCREENING: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17TH, 8:30 PM @ AMC NEWCITY 14
If it is another year of movies, then that means there is a new François Ozon to watch. The French director has made a movie nearly every year since 2009, and his work continues to thrive. His newest The Stranger, is a beautiful black & white film, about a Frenchman living in Algeria, who has such emotional detachment from life that he shows little remorse when he’s put on trial for murder. In typical Ozon fashion, this sounds like another mysterious and perplexing film that studies the human psyche in all of its limitless complexities. The lead performance from young Benjamin Voisin could be one performance to look out for and a career to follow after.
MOVIE: THE PLAGUE
STARRING: JOEL EDGERTON, EVERETT BLUNCK, KAYO MARTIN
DIRECTOR: CHARLIE POLINGER
SCREENING: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, 9:00 PM @ AMC NEWCITY 14
What looks and sounds like a sneaky great movie is Charlie Polinger’s The Plague. It involves a socially awkward teenager who is mistreated at a water polo camp. What happens after is where the anxiety ramps up. The only known main actor is Joel Edgerton as an often oppressive coach, not helping the kids as much as he should, and for the Australian, it is just one of a few movies he has at CIFF 61. A film of this nature reminds me of the excellent film The Teachers’ Lounge, which was a big international player in the 2023 Oscars, so here is hoping that The Plague has the same kind of trajectory.
MOVIE: SILENT FRIEND
STARRING: TONY LEUNG CHIU-WAI, LÉA SEYDOUX, LUNA WEDLER
DIRECTOR: ILDIKÓ ENYEDI
SCREENING: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22ND, 8:30 PM @ AMC NEWCITY 14
When reading through the synopsis of some of the movies that are part of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival, I look for a movie that may have a narrative style that challenges me as a viewer. The one that instantly stuck out was Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend. Why? Because the movie is about a single tree, standing in the middle of a botanical garden, and the stories that it witnesses. It sounds peaceful, but it also has a cast of Toney Leung Chiu-wai and Léa Seydoux, which means it will also have legendary actors as well. That is a hard movie to pass up, and CIFF has a history of films that challenge the way a story can be told.
MOVIE: THE MASTERMIND
STARRING: JOSH O’CONNOR, ALANA HAIM, BILL CAMP, HOPE DAVIS
DIRECTOR: KELLY REICHARDT
SCREENING: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22ND, 7:30 PM @ GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER
My last suggestion from CIFF 61 is Kelly Reichardt’s new heist film, The Mastermind. One could suspect that it will be a heist movie told in the most Reichardt way, with Josh O’Connor in the lead, a deliberate pace, and plenty of characters to fill up a frame. O’Connor plays an architect who tries to steal four paintings in broad daylight, only to struggle with keeping them in his possession. It only feels right to put the newest Reichardt on your list, especially considering CIFF is having an entire career retrospective on the Showing Up and First Cow director. You can never get enough Reichardt.
