Synopsis

From award winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes a speculative retelling of the extraordinary story of Ann Lee, founder of the religious sect known as the Shakers. Academy Award-nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shakers’ irrepressible leader — who espoused gender and social equality while believing herself to be the female incarnation of Christ. The Testament of Ann Lee thrillingly imagines the ecstasy and agony of Ann Lee and her followers’ conviction and commitment to her own vision of utopia. More than a dozen original Shaker hymns are transformed into ecstatic “movements,” featuring choreography from Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and music by Academy Award-winning composer Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist). Screening in 35mm

Synopsis

On the morning of February 8, 1977, Indianapolis entrepreneur Anthony G. “Tony” Kiritsis entered the office of Richard O. Hall, president of the Meridian Mortgage Company, and took the man hostage with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun wired to his head. In this ‘70s-style thriller reminiscent of Dog Day Afternoon, acclaimed filmmaker Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting) recreates the incident in meticulous detail, following Tony’s misbegotten attempt to seek retribution from the Hall family for cheating him out of what he felt he was owed.

Featuring commanding performances from Bill Skarsgård as the unhinged Kiritsis, Colman Domingo as a radio DJ who gets up caught in the chaos, and Al Pacino as the grouchy mortgage mogul whose son, played by Dacre Montgomery, is under the gun, Dead Man’s Wire is an eerily timely, unsettling, and captivating story about vigilante justice and the thin line between criminal and hero in American society.

Synopsis

Tasked with writing an essay for her college application, high school senior Morgan (Ella Rubin) is at a loss. With no real sense of who she is or what she wants, the 17-year-old is hopeful that her much-older half-siblings will provide some inspiration. But after their mother heads off to Europe on a long overdue vacation, the sheltered teen quickly realizes that they might be even more off balance as she is. Charged with keeping brother Josh (Thomas Sadoski) from going off the deep end yet again, Morgan and sisters Lisa (Betsy Brandt) and Dahlia (Aya Cash)—each with their own issues and secrets—struggle to maintain equilibrium as the misadventures mount.

In this endearing Chicago-made dramedy, director Rich Newey and writer Annika Marks (Killing Eleanor) paint a humorous and touching portrait of coming of age at all ages. Featuring winning performances from Brandt (Breaking Bad), Sadoski (Life in Pieces), and Cash (The Boys), and an especially sympathetic turn from newcomer Rubin (Anora, The Idea of You), Adult Children is richly drawn, deeply felt, and warmly amusing.

Synopsis

From the twisted mind behind All Jacked Up and Full of Worms comes a raucous, Chicago-set riff on ’70s sexploitation films. Writer-director Alex Phillips returns to the Festival with this stunning 16mm thriller following Liam, an unassuming bike-courier and sex worker in Chicago delivering whatever will satisfy his clients’ appetites—until they start turning up dead. A trail of taboo encounters and gruesome crime scenes paint Liam as the primary suspect, making him wanted in more ways than he’d anticipated. Framed by a serial killer and pursued by a pair of deranged cops, all while trying to maintain his lascivious livelihood, Liam’s simple life of on-demand pleasure turns into a conspiratorial nightmare.

Playful and gory yet full of heart, Anything That Moves blends salacious sex and social critique into a thrilling exploration of the darker sides of desire.

Synopsis

After falling from the sky and accidentally landing in 2075, adolescent time traveler Arco is shocked to find a world in peril and seemingly on the brink of collapse. Soon after, he encounters 10-year-old Iris, a lonely and isolated girl being raised by her trusted robot caretaker Mikki. Buoyed by her newfound friendship with the mysterious boy in the rainbow suit, Iris’s outlook begins to change. Banding together, the unlikely duo, with Mikki in tow, sets out to help return Arco to his peaceful, idyllic future—and to save Iris’ environmentally ravaged home.

With his charming full-length debut, French illustrator, graphic novelist, and animator Ugo Bienvenu crafts a warm, uplifting tale that possesses an undeniable visual splendor recalling the great work of Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki. An engaging sci-fi inflected fantasy and a love letter to the power of the imagination, Arco offers an uplifting look at the power of kinship and camaraderie to affect change, both on a personal level and in the larger world.