King Richard, 2021. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green. Starring Will Smith, Demi Singleton, Saniyya Sidney, Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn, Susie Abromeit, Dylan McDermott, Judith Chapman, Katrina Begin, Erin Cummings, Andy Bean, Kevin Dunn, Craig Tate, Calvin Clausell Jr., Noah Bean, Vaughn W. Hebron, and Chet Grissom. SYNOPSIS: A look at how tennis superstars […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Review – Passing
Passing, 2021. Written and Directed by Rebecca Hall. Starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Justus Davis Graham, Ethan Barrett, Ashley Ware Jenkins, and Amos J. Machanic. SYNOPSIS: Passing follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Belfast
Belfast, 2021. Written and Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Starring Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds, Lara McDonnell, Gerard Horan, Turlough Convery, Gerard McCarthy, Bríd Brennan, Sid Sagar, Colin Morgan, and Olive Tennant. SYNOPSIS: Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Spencer
Spencer, 2021. Directed by Pablo Larraín. Starring Kristen Stewart, Jack Farthing, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, Thomas Douglas, Olga Hellsing, Matthias Wolkowski, Oriana Gordon, Ryan Wichert, John Keogh, Amy Manson, Elizabeth Berrington, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Stella Gonet, Richard Sammel, Lore Stefanek, James Harkness, Laura Benson, Wendy Patterson, and Libby Rodliffe. SYNOPSIS: During her […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – C’mon C’mon
C’mon C’mon. 2021 Written and Directed by Mike Mills. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Woody Norman, Gaby Hoffmann, Scoot McNairy, Molly Webster, Jaboukie Young-White, and Sarah Klein. SYNOPSIS: A radio journalist embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. There are real-life concerns about the planet’s future and the emotional struggles of a fictional estranged family […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Review – Mayor Pete
Mayor Pete, 2021. Directed by Jesse Moss. Featuring Pete Buttigieg, and Chasten Buttigieg. SYNOPSIS: An inside look at Pete Buttigieg campaign to run for President of the United States. The 2019 Iowa caucus is typically remembered for the botched and delayed voting results, and the surprise victory for openly gay South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Julia
Julia. 2021 Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West. Featuring Julia Child, José Andrés Puerta, Ruth Reichl, Cecile Richards, and Marcus Samuelsson. SYNOPSIS: Julia tells the story of the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even about women. Even for those unfamiliar with cookbook author/TV […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday, 2021 Directed by Eva Husson. Starring Odessa Young, Josh O’Connor, Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Glenda Jackson, Sope Dirisu, Nathan Reeve, Samuel Barlow, Dexter Raggatt, Patsy Ferran, Charlie Oscar, Emma D’Arcy, Simon Shepherd, Caroline Harker, Craig Crosbie, Emily Woof, Alex Cubb, Forrest Bothwell, and Albert Welling. SYNOPSIS: A maid living in post-World War I […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Drive My Car
Drive My Car, 2021. Directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Starring Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Reika Kirishima, Masaki Okada, Park Yurim, Jin Daeyeon, Sonia Yuan, Ahn Hwitae, Perry Dizon, and Satoko Abe. SYNOPSIS: Yûsuke Kafuku is a stage actor and director happily married to his playwright wife. Then one day she disappears. The prologue of Drive My […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, 2021. Written and Directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Starring Kotone Furukawa, Ayumu Nakajima, Hyunri, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Katsuki Mori, Shouma Kai, Fusako Urabe, and Aoba Kawai. SYNOPSIS: An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters […]
