Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson are the Chicago-based filmmaking duo behind tender, coming-of-age dramas Saint Frances and Ghostlight. We honored them at our 2026 Cinema Soiree with our Vanguard Award and are thrilled to present their new film, Mouse, as the Centerpiece screening of our 62nd Festival.
“While I’m not sure there’s yet a cult assembled around the deeply empathetic and uniquely humane cinema of O’Sullivan and Thompson (partners in both film and life), God willing, there will be after more audiences see the pair’s third effort,” critic Kate Erbland wrote in IndieWire.
We chatted with Kelly and Alex about Mouse, their cast, shooting in Arkansas, and more.
You all work with a lot of the actors from Ghostlight again for Mouse. Why – and how is your filmmaking style like a theater troupe?
Alex Thompson: I would liken it less to a theater troupe and more to the kind of relationship you see with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, or Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst. On one hand these are some of the greatest actors alive, which is incentive enough. On the other hand, they fit uniquely into the worlds we are building.
Kelly O’Sullivan: Same with Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan. It’s similar to how a director might work with the same DP or Editor over the course of their career. There’s an evolving trust, short-hand, and desire to grow together.
Your film also stars British actress Sophie Okonedo – who is receiving a Tribute at the Festival this year. She is not the most obvious choice for an Arkansas Mom, so why did you all decide to cast her?
KO: It was important that both Minnie and Helen felt like “outsiders” in the community, so that when their link to the community (Callie) vanishes, they feel they can only lean on each other. Helen being a British, classically trained pianist immediately sets her apart, both in her own mind and experience, but also in Minnie’s admiration for her.
AT: If you have the chance to work with Sophie Okonedo, you should. There’s no one better.
Kelly, how autobiographical was the story, or did it come from people who you knew growing up in Little Rock?
KO: There were pieces of autobiography and real-life inspirations, but I would say the majority of the story is fiction. Characters are amalgamations of real people, myself, feelings I’ve had or experiences I’ve witnessed or lived-through, and total invention.
As Chicago filmmakers, what was it like to shoot in a different location and milieu after already making a number of films locally?
AT: We’re Chicago filmmakers in that we live here, but I don’t know that we’ve really explored Chicago as a character yet in the way we do North Little Rock in Mouse.
KO: The specificity of my hometown was written into the script, and shooting there was akin to casting an actor who’s immediately the perfect fit for the role, rather than trying to mold it into something inauthentic.
What does it mean to have Mouse be the Centerpiece screening at this year’s Chicago International Film Festival?
AT: We’re honored to have our film be championed and supported at this level. Even though the film was shot in Arkansas, this is still a kind of homecoming, since many of our crew and cast are based here. We love the Festival programming and community and feel very lucky to be a part of it.
Mouse screens at the Music Box Theater on Oct 21 with directors Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson and actors Sophie Okonedo, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, and Tara Mallen joining for Q&A, and on Oct 22 at AMC NEWCITY with O’Sullivan, Thompson, Kupferer & Mallen in Q&A. Get tickets now!
