The Chicago Critics Film Festival was founded in 1990 and now, 35 years later, seems to be thriving more than ever with over 20 feature films and two short film programs. Ticket sales were on fire from May 2-8, thanks to dynamic performances in relatable films.
Taking a cue from many of the films screened earlier in the year at the Sundance Film Festival and the South By Southwest Film Festival, the programmers at CCFF booked several outstanding films over the course of eight days.
The Music Box Theater workers packed in patrons who were ravenous for fresh content and concessions at the iconic venue. Special guests took questions from the press at the red carpet area in front.
Opening night, director and co-writer of The Baltimorons, Jay Duplass, was accompanied by the other co-writer and actor, Michael Strassner, along with his co-star, Liz Larsen. A Christmas Eve dental emergency leads a man into hilarious adventures and challenging relationships in the film.
The city of Baltimore, Maryland, the birthplace of filmmaker John Waters and Windy City Times asked if there were any drag queens in The Baltimorons. Strassner exclaimed, “I wish! I did wear a Divine t-shirt when I was at the film debut at South by Southwest. Divine came into my mom’s store once when I was growing up, and she asked Divine if she had advice for her son who wanted to be an actor, and Divine said, ‘Tell him to get a new hobby!’”
Larsen was in the musical Hairspray in 2002 and she described posting videos on social media with her singing “Good Morning, Baltimore” throughout the filming in Charm City.
Strassner confessed he had played Edna Turnblad (Divine’s Pink Flamingos character) in a sketch comedy show before: “I just came out onstage and ate fake poop then started heaving. It was a statement on regional theater and how the show must always go on.”
Michael plays the main character, who was recently sober in the storyline. In real life, he has been sober for over seven years and stated, “Cliff only has six months being sober and he’s trying to figure out life. I like that in our movie—there’s not a stereotypical scene where he’s facing a bottle.”
Duplass described his overall experience on the Amazon Studios TV show Transparent: “Great art can be funny and irreverent as well. It broke a lot of barriers for me. With this new film, we received a lot of feedback about no one buying independent films anymore. We made the film that we wanted to make and at SXSW, it won the Narrative Spotlight award. It is all part of following your heart to make great art that allows you to break through walls.”
Sundance Audience Award winner Twinless was screened on May 3 and will not be released to general theaters by Roadside Attractions until the fall to general theaters. Actor Dylan O’Brien plays Roman, and James Sweeney wore many hats on the project: directing, writing and playing lead character Dennis. This dark comedy has two men experiencing intense feelings with each other after meeting in a support group. Exuberante fans surrounded the entrance to meet O’Brien while he promoted his next endeavor, “I am excited about a film called Ponyboi that I have coming out in June.”
Sweeney reported on his Twinless personal project, “I can’t think of another film that’s about a friendship between a straight man and a gay man as the leads. It’s not a coming out story, but it happens to feature a character who is gay, which makes it a unique form of representation and that is progress in my opinion.”
The 30th anniversary of Strange Days was projected in 35mm following Twinless, which drove longtime cinephiles into a frenzy for the 9 p.m. showing.
Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. screening of Friendship had folks wrapped around the corner of Waveland and Southport in the rain. While there was no rainbow, that didn’t stop the laughter indoors as the hijinks of Tim Robinson as Craig Waterman had ticket holders rolling in the aisles.
The Centerpiece Screening on Monday, May 5, shone a spotlight on A24’s Sorry, Baby. This standout endeavor had the writer, director and actor Eva Victor [they/she] answering questions before and after the screening. Studying at Northwestern University paid off for the gifted creator who already took home the trophy at Sundance with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. They talked on the red carpet about the LGBTQ+ representation in their film, “The main character Agnes is queer and she has a private moment of exploration with her body after going through something very intense. She realizes that certain things are not true for her, which forces her to shed expectations coming from other people. It’s about being truthful to yourself. The other main character has a different queer journey in the film that the audience will see pieces of. I found it really joyful to write about this and see the growth of the person over four years. There is a partner involved at the end and they are a funhouse mirror to Agnes reflecting her journey.”
Victor mentioned on the red carpet one queer film director they have admired over the years is Jane Schoenbrun, “I shadowed their movie I Saw the TV Glow a few years ago. They have opened my heart and eyes in a million different directions as a filmmaker. Jane has been supportive of me becoming myself in every way and I love them.”
The CCFF and Rotten Tomatoes are looking to the future with support for new generations. The 2025 Emerging Critics Grant recipients were Danielle Momoh and Daniella Mazzio. Sponsors for the film festival included Hotel Zachary Chicago and OML Worldwide Transportation.
The organization may have more award season winners in the future, judging from this wide variety of impressive cinematic projects. Last year, the programmers predicted global prizewinners such as The Brutalist and The Substance. Time will tell, so stay tuned to chicagocriticsfilmfestival.com for more information.