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Banner: the 61st Chicago International Film Festival

Genre: Horror


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

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.

Shorts Program

Best of CineYouth 2025

Various  |   Poland, Spain, U.S.
English, Korean, No Dialogue, Spanish  
Action, Animation, Drama, Horror, Music, Science Fiction, Social Commentary, Thriller

The award-winning shorts of CineYouth 2025 showcase the talent and vision of eight young filmmakers from around the world.

A woman with wild hair and yellow eyes and teeth speaks to a person, a wild expression on her face. There is blood on her face.
After Dark

The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin (Kitab Sijjin Dan Illiyyin)

Hadrah Daeng Ratu  |   Indonesia
Indonesian  
Horror, Religion, Women-Centered

Gross-out gore takes center stage when a mistreated young woman summons a jinn to curse her stepfamily in this award-winning revenge film.

An animated man, with chainsaws for his arms and his face, stands with his arms spread. Blood and debris fall around him.
After Dark

Chainsaw Man—The Movie: Reze Arc (Gekijô-ban chensô man reze-hen)

Tatsuya Yoshihara  |   Japan
Japanese  
Action, Animation, Horror

For the first time, Chainsaw Man slashes his way onto the big screen in an epic, action-fueled adventure that continues the hugely popular anime series.

A man with a pained expressin sits in a shadowy bathtub wearing headphones. A tear glistens under his right eye.
After DarkShort Film

Earworm (Öronmask)

Patrik Eklund  |   Sweden
Swedish  
Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction
Ulph has been plagued by an earworm for weeks, fixating on the chorus of “Cotton Eye Joe” and bursting into song at the most inappropriate of times. When he finally [...]
A young man stands facing the camera, extending his palm to show various cartoon faces drawn onto his fingertips.
After DarkOutLook

The Holy Boy (La Valle dei Sorrisi)

Paolo Strippoli  |   Italy, Slovenia
Italian  
Horror, LGBTQ, Religion, Thriller

In this striking horror film, a teen boy’s embrace promises an end to pain—until the dark side of his power comes into disturbingly detailed focus.

A man and a pregnant woman, seen from above and both nude and painted white, spoon on a rumpled sheet.
After DarkShort Film

Hotel Acropole (Hôtel Acropole)

Sarah Lasry  |   France
French  
Drama, Horror, Women-Centered
In the throes of grief after her partner Hugo’s recent passing, Rivka, a pregnant woman with a mysterious wound along her spine, checks into Hotel Acropole. On the evening before [...]
A metal bucket filled with dark liquid and a cut off nose inside sits beside someone's foot
Short Film

How to Smell Without a Nose

Esther Yun Kong, Age 21  |   Brooklyn. New York, United States
Korean  
Horror

A dark and impactful short about the Korean war illustrated through the prosecution of a Joseon woman.

An animated man in a yellow cap holds a plastic bag of pills in one hand and his phone in the other while driving a car.
After DarkShort Film

Luz Diabla

Gervasio Canda, Paula Boffo, Patricio Plaza  |   Argentina, Canada
Spanish  
Animation, Horror, LGBTQ
On his way to a rave in the Argentine Pampas, a young queer man gets into an accident. Taking refuge in a mysterious rural tavern where he is conspicuously out [...]
A woman in a red period dress stands in a luxurious room, a wild and angered expression on her face.
After Dark

Mārama

Taratoa Stappard  |   New Zealand
English, Te Reo Māori  
Historical, Horror, Social Commentary, Women-Centered

Mary’s pursuit of the truth about her Māori heritage sends her down a blood-soaked path of righteous retribution in this striking gothic horror.

A hooded woman sits in a dark room, in front of a table that holds animal skulls. She holds a spiked twig.
After Dark

Mother of Flies

Zelda Adams, John Adams, Toby Poser  |   U.S.
English  
Family Affairs, Horror, Women-Centered

A reclusive necromancer promises a black magic cure for a young woman’s cancer in the latest folk horror film from the visionary Adams Family.

A large group of students form a human pyramid outdoors. Two others stand facing them.
After Dark

New Group

Yûta Shimotsu  |   Japan
Japanese  
Horror, Science Fiction, Social Commentary

If Invasion of the Body Snatchers traded pods for human pyramids and took place in a Japanese high school, it would be New Group.

A fly rests on an extreme close-up of a blue iris with eyelashes to the left and right. The eye seems to belong to a corpse.
After DarkShort Film

Pinpoint

Michael Merlino  |   U.S.
English  
Horror, Thriller
Wolfe, a struggling medical student who aspires to become an anesthesiologist, has been hounding his professor for more cadaver time for weeks. Between his instructor’s harsh criticisms and classmates who [...]
After DarkShorts Program

Shorts 1: After Dark

Various  |   France, Jordan, Palestine, Sweden, U.K., U.S.
Arabic, English, French, Swedish  
Comedy, Drama, Family Affairs, Horror, LGBTQ, Romance, Science Fiction, Social Commentary, Thriller, Women-Centered

Unfulfilled dreams, dark obsessions, and illicit desires take center stage in this program that transports viewers into the bold and blood-curdling world of genre film. From ventriloquist dummies to unrequited love, these shorts expose our darkest fears… and create new ones.

After DarkShorts Program

Shorts 10: Outré

Various  |   Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, U.S.
English, French, Spanish, Tagalog  
Animation, Comedy, Drama, Environmental, Horror, LGBTQ, Romance, Social Commentary, Women-Centered

The creators of these shorts unabashedly follow their own singular visions into wildly new and weird territories.

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