Most Anticipated Films at ChiFilmFest 2026
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Trash Mountain still
Celebrating its 62nd edition from October 14 - 25, 2026, the Chicago International Film Festival is North America’s longest-running competitive international film festival. This year’s program includes 113 feature films and 57 shorts, including four World Premieres, 15 North American Premieres, and 21 U.S. Premieres, showcasing cinema from more than 60 countries. The Chicago International Film Festival offers such a diverse selection of films that it’s nearly impossible to narrow it down to just a handful, but the following films stood out among the rest.
Tickets go on sale to the general public September 24th, while Cinema/Chicago members can access presale tickets beginning September 18th. Memberships and passes are currently available here.
TIN CASTLE
TIN CASTLE
Along a long-forgotten road, the O’Reillys live in a rundown trailer stranded in the middle of the fields. Pa’, Lisa, and their ten children weather the seasons in their tin castle, heirs to a way of life on borrowed time. Under threat of eviction, their tenuous balance falters, yet – steadfast in their tradition – they resist. The children laugh, the dogs bark, the trailer holds on – but for how long?
DIRECTOR: ALEXANDER MURPHY
U.S. PREMIERE | 96m | DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
MINOTAUR
MINOTAUR
A high-powered executive's meticulously controlled existence unravels when professional crises, global chaos, and marital betrayal converge, pushing him toward a dangerous breaking point.
DIRECTOR: Andrey Zvyagintsev
FRANCE | 141m | SPOTLIGHT
A LONG WINTER
A LONG WINTER
Set high in the mountains, fall comes to an end and a family prepares for the long winter ahead.
DIRECTOR: Andrew Haigh
Canada, U.K. | 117m | SPOTLIGHT
A STILL FROM A LONG WINTER
NO REST FOR THE WICKED
NO REST FOR THE WICKED
1862. Baldur lives a fisherman’s life on the isolated Faroe Islands far to the north in the Atlantic Ocean. His world is turned upside down when a stranger arrives: Helge, a rugged whaler, who awakens deep emotions within him. A mutual attraction starts to grow. When tragedy strikes, their forbidden passion unleashes natural forces so disturbing that the villagers rally to keep evil at bay. But Baldur and Helge refuse to let their love be buried. They will fight till the end – and after.
DIRECTOR: Kasper Kalle
Denmark | 103m | AFTER DARK, OUTLOOK
TRASH MOUNTAIN
TRASH MOUNTAIN
A twenty something gay man travels from Chicago to his home in rural Missouri following the death of his father — an obsessive hoarder who has left a house full of items, some valuable and some not so, to pick through.
DIRECTOR: Kris Rey
U.S. PREMIERE | 90m | COMEDY, OUTLOOK, CITY & STATE
A STILL FROM TRASH MOUNTAIN
IRON BOY
IRON BOY
Le Corset
Christophe, a 10-year-old boy with balance issues navigates life in an orthopedic brace while his struggling family farm faces modernization. Torn between independence and mending ties with his distant father, he weighs his future.
DIRECTOR: Louis Clichy
France, Belgium | 90m | ANIMATE!
LOOK BACK
LOOK BACK
Two manga artists meet and develop a bond over making manga.
DIRECTOR: Hirokazu Kore-eda
JAPAN | 100m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
MOUSE
MOUSE
Callie and Minnie’s relationship is suddenly upended at the start of the summer before their senior year of high school. Left rudderless without her charismatic best friend, Minnie starts to form a complicated friendship with Callie’s mother.
DIRECTOR: Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson
U.S. | 120m | CENTERPIECE, SPECIAL PRESENTATION
THE SPIRAL
THE SPIRAL
L'Estranea
Anna arrives at her daughter Alice’s apartment with a devastating confession: their entire family history is built on a lie. Twenty years earlier, after a horrific accident that nearly cost Alice her leg, Anna claims she made a pact with a mysterious Stranger to save her. But the miracle came at a price. What she believed was a single desperate bargain has in fact unleashed a spiraling chain reaction. Anna is convinced that only Alice can break the spiral and set things right. But at what cost?
DIRECTOR: Paolo Strippoli
ITALY | 115m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
EVERYTIME
EVERYTIME
Follows a mother, her daughter, and a teenage boy blamed for a tragic death as they travel to Tenerife together, confronting grief, blame, and forgiveness on a family holiday that never happened.
DIRECTOR: Sandra Wollner
GERMANY | 121m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
TANGLES
TANGLES
When Alzheimer’s disease begins to strip away her mother’s vibrant personality, a headstrong young woman is forced to return to her oddball family in the conservative small town she recently fled in order to care for her. She quickly realizes she must accept the cruel and warped reality of the disease, and the imperfect beauty of her family, in order to become the daughter they need.
DIRECTOR: Leah Nelson
Canada, U.S. | 102m | OUTLOOK, ANIMATE!
BEHEMOTH!
BEHEMOTH!
Gifted cellist Alex Serian returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Music, which has been the constant, all-consuming river of his life, begins to carry Alex on an adventure that will change him forever.
DIRECTOR: Tony Gilroy
U.S. | 124m | CLOSING NIGHT
THE BELOVED
THE BELOVED
El ser querido
The acclaimed film director Esteban Martínez is a legend both for his films and for his past marked by violence and excess. For his new project, he offers his daughter Emilia a role under the pretext of helping her with her stalled acting career. Living together on set will foster a closeness they haven’t shared for years, but it will also reopen old wounds that never healed.
DIRECTOR: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
SPAIN | 135m | SPOTLIGHT
I PLAY ROCKY
I PLAY ROCKY
The electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told “no” at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds.
DIRECTOR: Peter Farrelly
U.S. | 127m | SPOTLIGHT
CLUB KID
CLUB KID
A hard-partying New York City club promoter sees his whirlwind lifestyle upended by the arrival of the 10-year-old son he never knew he had.
DIRECTOR: Jordan Firstman
U.S. | 122m | OPENING NIGHT, COMEDY, OUTLOOK
