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Banner: the 60th Chicago International Film Festival

Genre: Thriller


A bloody policeman sits in front of a fridge next to a girl holding her phone and drinking soda through a straw.

Addiction [short film]

Tzuhsuan Peng  |   Taiwan
Mandarin Chinese  
Horror, Social Commentary, Thriller

On a scorching afternoon along an isolated stretch of road, a lone police officer watches a girl running a small store. His gaze is sharp and relentless, searching for any sign of guilt like a predator stalking its prey. But as he scrutinizes her every move, he isn’t the only one on the hunt.

Two men, bundled in hats and sweaters, sit back to back in a snowy landscape.

Alpha

Jan-Willem van Ewijk  |   Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland
Dutch  
Drama, Family Affairs, Thriller

A father and son’s reunion in the Swiss Alps turns from tense to perilous when they embark on a backcountry ski day.

Claymation title card shows the words 'Artist on the go' on a painter's palette.

Artist on the Go! (DS Advanced Unreleased Gameplay) [short film]

Nathan William Frost  |   United States
English  
Animation, Art, Thriller

A surreal, nightmarish game in which the player (or the viewer) is confronted with abstract and frightening tasks to complete.

A person stands in front of a black background wearing a bloody turtleneck and jacket with blood on their mouth and forehead.

Chomp [short film]

Suki-Rose, Crickett Arrison  |   United States
English  
Horror, Thriller, Women-Centered

A news studio becomes the ideal breeding ground for an unexpected new monster. As the cameras roll, something sinister begins to take shape behind the scenes.

A man stares and points a handgun straight into the camera lens.

Cloud

Kiyoshi Kurosawa  |   Japan
Japanese  
Action, Crime, Thriller

Angry customers get their revenge on an amoral online reseller in this intriguingly bizarre thriller from Japanese genre master Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

A preist in a red cap and robe stands profile, looking down.

Conclave

Edward Berger  |   United States, United Kingdom
English, Italian  
Drama, Religion, Thriller

During the secretive process of selecting a new Pope, a Cardinal finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the foundation of the Church.

A black-haired woman stands close to camera with a black lace face mask looking off to the right.

Faces [short film]

Blake Simon  |   United States
English  
Horror, Social Commentary, Thriller

A group of friends bring a newcomer named Judy to a certified jerk’s house party.
Judy is sweet, wears a nice dress — and she’s a shape-shifter battling an identity crisis while targeting her next victim.

A man with dark hear, wearing headphones, looks back over his shoulder

Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes)

Jonathan Millet  |   France, Germany, Belgium
Arabic, English, French  
Drama, Political, Thriller

A Syrian exile in France hunts the man responsible for torturing him — and countless other political prisoners — in a tension-filled game of cat and mouse.

A black man, lit by yellow light, stares off camera with concern.

The Knife

Nnamdi Asomugha  |   United States
English  
Drama, Social Commentary, Thriller

After an African-American father confronts an intruder in his home, his actions spark a tense and confrontational investigation with far-reaching consequences.

A silhouette of a woman in a dark room facing away towards a window with the blinds closed.

Lumen [short film]

Stéphanie Bélanger  |   Canada
French  
Comedy, Social Commentary, Thriller

Shopping under the pseudonym “Claude,” an older woman finds solace in isolation by buying secondhand lamps online. When a seller abruptly rescinds their offer, however, Claude is determined to possess the lamp by any means necessary.

Two men stand together looking camera left. Behind them the multicolored lights of a carnival ride.

Okie

Kate Cobb  |   United States
English  
Drama, Thriller

When a famous novelist returns to his rural Illinois hometown, he receives a mixed welcome that’s equal parts admiration and resentment.

Two decorated military men look screen right.

The Package (1989)

Andrew Davis  |   United States
English  
Crime, Drama, Thriller

Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones star in this densely plotted, Chicago-set thriller about an army veteran who becomes a pawn in a sprawling conspiracy.

A woman stands in the foreground, two women stand behind her. They all look somewhat concerned.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Mohammad Rasoulof  |   Germany, Iran, France
Farsi  
Drama, Family Affairs, Social Commentary, Thriller

When Iman’s handgun mysteriously goes missing, he reaches a breaking point in this tense domestic drama crossed with a paranoid political thriller.

September 5

Tim Fehlbaum  |   Germany
English, German  
Historical, Thriller

Set during the 1972 Munich Olympics, the film follows a U.S. broadcasting team that quickly adapts from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage.

A man in a red track suit holds up his hands, a man in black stands in front of him laughing and holding a gun.

Sicilian Letters (Iddu)

Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza  |   Italy, France
Italian, Sicilian  
Crime, Drama, Thriller

After serving time, a corrupt politician is enlisted by Italy’s secret service to take down Sicily’s last godfather using only handwritten letters.

Two men sit on a planter in a city

To a Land Unknown

Mahdi Fleifel  |   United Kingdom, Palestine, France, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Arabic, English, Greek  
Crime, Drama, Social Commentary, Thriller

Stranded in Athens, displaced Palestinian cousins devise a dark scheme in order to reach Germany and start a new life.

A woman in the foreground smoking, out of focus. A man smiles at her.

Turning Tables (Klandestin)

Angelina Maccarone  |   Germany
Arabic, English, German  
Political, Social Commentary, Thriller

The lives of a politician, her aide, an artist, and a refugee become intertwined as values and allegiances are tested in this political thriller.

Two men in a forest drop a small firework into an empty gatorade bottle.

Vulcanizadora

Joel Potrykus  |   United States
English  
Drama, Thriller

Middle-aged buddies walk in the woods towards an unknown destination. Are these overgrown adolescents blowing off steam, or is something darker afoot?

A tiny woman with gray hair sits atop a VCR, staring at the tv in front of her.

Wander to Wonder [short film]

Nina Gantz  |   The Netherlands, Belgium, France, United Kingdom
English  
Animation, Comedy, Thriller

Without their leader, a group of pocket-sized people must cope with increasingly harsh conditions while trying to maintain their sanity on an ’80s TV show. An absurd and humorous tale executed with exquisite stop-motion animation, this film asks what it takes to move on.