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Banner: the 61st Chicago International Film Festival

Genre: Crime


A close up of a man laying on a bed, lighting bathing him in red, yellow, and green light.

Anything That Moves

Alex Phillips  |   U.S.
English  
Comedy, Crime, Horror, Sex and Sexuality

In this raucous exploitation thriller, a Chicago bike-courier/sex worker delivers whatever his clients desire—until they start turning up dead.

Seen in black and white, a man and a woman walk down a city street while the man smokes.

Breathless (À bout de souffle)

Jean-Luc Godard  |   France
French  
Crime, Drama

Jean-Luc Godard’s breakthrough follows small-time crook Michel, who steals a car, murders a policeman, and then reconnects with old flame Patricia in Paris.

Dead Man’s Wire

Gus Van Sant  |   U.S.
English  
Crime, Thriller

Gus Van Sant recreates the wild true story of outlaw “Tony” Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), who in 1977 took a mortgage mogul’s son hostage to seek retribution for feeling cheated.

A man stands in the woods, leading a brown cow. Another figure is in the background, out of focus.

First Cow

Kelly Reichardt  |   U.S.
English  
Crime, Drama, Historical

Oregon Territory circa 1820. A taciturn loner and a Chinese immigrant seek their fortunes via a landowner’s prized cow in this brilliant interrogation of Americana.

Highest 2 Lowest

Spike Lee  |   U.S.
Crime, Drama, Thriller

When a powerful music mogul (Denzel Washington) is targeted by a ransom plot, he is forced to fight for his family and legacy while jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.

A close-up of a man leaning across the driver’s seat of a car with a tense, searching expression.

The Mastermind

Kelly Reichardt  |   U.S.
English  
Art, Crime, Drama

In suburban Massachusetts circa 1970, an unemployed carpenter turned art thief plans his first big heist. When things go haywire, his life unravels.

A man in a red apron peers cautiously around a doorway, his expression tense.

No Other Choice (Eojjeolsugaeopda)

Park Chan-wook  |   South Korea
Korean  
Comedy, Crime, Social Commentary

In Park Chan-wook’s latest satirical thriller, an unemployed paper expert hatches a desperate plan to eliminate the competition for a coveted job.

A group of people stand on a hill, looking at a white tent pitched in the valley below.

Nuestra Tierra (Landmarks)

Lucrecia Martel  |   Argentina, U.S., Mexico, France, Netherlands, Denmark
Spanish  
Crime, Political, Social Commentary

Acclaimed auteur Lucrecia Martel poetically chronicles the trial of three men who killed the leader of an Indigenous community in Northern Argentina.

A man with a beard and unbuttoned shirt leans casually against a red pole beside a yellow car. Behind him, fields of tall grass stretch beneath a wide, cloud-filled sky, evoking both restlessness and quiet contemplation.

The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto)

Kleber Mendonça Filho  |   Brazil, France, Netherlands, Germany
Portuguese  
Crime, Drama, Mystery, Political

Brazil, 1977. Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a university researcher, is on the lam from the country’s military dictatorship in this timely, entertaining political thriller.

Still from The Stranger: In a black-and-white seaside scene, a young man in a loose button-down shirt and high-waisted trousers stands against a wooden beam, looking out toward the ocean with a solemn, pensive expression.

The Stranger (L'Étranger)

François Ozon  |   France
French  
Crime, Drama, Literary Adaptation

Algiers, 1938. A young man shows utter indifference to the events of his life, even as he lands in jail on murder charges in this searing adaptation of Camus’ classic.

A solemn young man in a dark suit and tie walks down a dim hallway, holding his coat and hat in one hand. Behind him, uniformed guards in caps flank the corridor, their expressions stern. The muted, shadowy lighting and period costumes suggest a historical or prison setting, evoking a tense and oppressive atmosphere.

Two Prosecutors

Sergei Loznitsa  |   France, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia, Romania, Lithuania
Russian  
Crime, Drama, Historical, Political

1937. Investigating a case of wrongful imprisonment, a prosecutor embarks on a paranoia-infused journey to Moscow during Stalin’s Great Terror.

Two men sit in a car at night, rain streaking the windshield. The man on the left leans forward tensely, holding a crumpled tissue and staring intently at the driver. The driver, wearing a beige trench coat, looks straight ahead with a grim, troubled expression. The atmosphere is tense and suspenseful.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Rian Johnson  |   U.S.
English  
Comedy, Crime, Mystery

World-renowned detective Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet.

A woman with dark hair pulled back stands in a forest, wearing a brown jacket, knit sweater, and backpack straps over her shoulders. She looks ahead with a serious, slightly tense expression. The background is blurred trees and soft light.

Whitetail

Nanouk Leopold  |   Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium
English  
Crime, Environmental, Thriller, Women-Centered

As poachers encroach on the wilderness she supervises, Irish park ranger Jen must reconcile past trauma with new threats in this white-knuckle thriller.

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