Tuner (dir. Daniel Roher)

By: Adam Freed 

May 3, 2026

Day 2 of the 2026 Chicago Critics Film Festival kicked off with an important reminder that despite there being no shortage of heist films from which to choose, there is still some meat left on the bone of the vastly explored genre.  Director Daniel Roher’s Tuner is a cohesive and tightly scripted modern caper film about a hearing impaired piano tuner named Niki (Leo Woodall) and his rapidly deteriorating mentor Henry (Dustin Hoffman).  While Woodall’s protagonist is motivated by an admittedly predictable set of circumstances, it is invigorating to see a heist film that feels like it is coming from a place of unexplored potential.  As great thrillers are prone to do, each passing moment of Tuner spirals Niki into more unthinkable depths of peril.

Tuner works because it actively avoids the tropes that tend to sink some of the overly fictionalized films within the genre.  As great as it is to see Hoffman on screen again, it is unquestionably Leo Woodall's quiet confidence and earned empathy that carries the bulk of the film’s dramatic tension.  Tuner is very likely to become a star-making vehicle for the young British actor, who is yet to become a household name, but seems to be knocking on the door.  With Tuner, director Daniel Roher has crafted an infinitely watchable heist film very much akin to the gritty and contained aspirations of Michael Mann’s Thief (1981). 

Carolina Caroline (dir. Adam Rehmeier)

By: Adam Freed 

May 3, 2026

Adam Rehmeier’s mid 90’s Bonnie and Clyde love story Carolina Caroline is about as easy to take down as a pitcher of sweet tea, and contains about the same level of nutritional value.  Caroline (Samara Weaving) is a lonely, southern girl who crosses paths with an excitable petty criminal, played by a tantalizing Kyle Gallner.  The alchemy of colliding the two incendiary physical specimens results in a rare breed of palpable screen chemistry.  Carolina Caroline visually drips with southern sunset Americana, a delivery method that is certain to work on broad swaths of domestic audiences.  

At its best, Rehmeier’s film flexes a memorable aesthetic nostalgia that makes losing oneself in the story quite easy.  Although most of the film can be categorized as tangible escapism, there are also a few moments that view more like a Wrangler Jean’s commercial.  The caper film is at its best when the undeniable allure of Weaving and Gallner overwhelm the screen like buzzing song of cicadas on a humid southern night. 

Power Ballad (dir. John Carney)

By: Adam Freed

May 3, 2026

Nobody crafts a feel good musical comedy quite like John Carney. With Power Ballad, the Irish writer and director has once again helmed an infinitely palatable story about a musician caught between limitless aspiration and the ceiling of harsh reality.  Rick (Paul Rudd) is a Dublin-based wedding band singer decades past his prime who crosses paths with Danny (Nick Jonas), a former boy band star who despite only being 27, finds himself mired in the same cultural irrelevance as the much older Rick.  The chance encounter augments the trajectories of their lives in ways that are not mutually beneficial. 

Like so many of Carney’s films, Power Ballad holds most dear the everlasting power and universal appeal of a great song.  Unlike his prior films Once (2006) and Sing Street (2016), the musical high notes in Power Ballad never quite reach earworm status, but the cadence of an interestingly sentimental Paul Rudd and an equally sypathetic Nick Jonas is nearly pitch perfect.  While Power Ballad falters only slightly down the stretch, the musical comedy lands gracefully as so many of John Carney’s inspired creations tend to.  

Chili Finger (dirs. Edd Benda & Stephen Helstad)

By: Adam Freed

May 2, 2026

There is no amount of prep one can do to prepare for becoming a parent.  The experience is the ultimate moving target, an unreachable goal trailed by an endless string of amorphous checkpoints.  And after eighteen years of “trying not to screw it up” those newborns, turned toddlers, turned kids, turned teens, turned young adults leave.  And in the life sized vacancy created by their absence, the world presents yet another unthinkable task, life as an empty nester.  Directors Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad use this curious vacancy as the central backdrop to their effective dark comedy Chili Finger.  

Recent Wisconsin empty nesters Jess (Judy Greer) and Ron (Sean Astin) grapple with the emotional vacancy of their daughter’s departure for college, coupled with the financial insecurity tied to her school of choice.  Desperation and empty hearts prompt a haywire string of decisions that spin the naive midwestern couple into a world of unexpected trouble when they match wits with locally famous fast food king Blake Jr. (John Goodman) and his unpredictable sidekick Dave (Bryan Cranston).  Long on laughs and genuine peril, Chili Finger marks an impressive step up in class for directors Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad.  While not for the faint of heart, there is a satisfying Coen-esque “truth is stranger than fiction” quality to Chili Finger that is likely to make it a 2026 cult favorite. 

The Invite (dir. Olivia Wilde)

By: Adam Freed

May 2, 2026

Deep within the heart of Olivia Wilde’s deliciously funny couples comedy The Invite is an impossibly devastating question about the nature of sustained love and the debatable practicality of marriage.  In what can easily be described as the most prolific work of her directorial career, Wilde helms a fully formed character-driven comedy that feels far more like a one act play than a feature length film.  Set almost entirely within the confines of their newly renovated San Francisco apartment, struggling married couple Joe (Seth Rogan) and Angela (Wilde) embark on an unexpected evening when they invite new neighbors Hawk (Edward Norton) and Pina (Penélope Cruz) over for wine and hors d'oeuvres.     

The Invite, an English language remake of the Spanish film Sentimental (2020), unfolds at breakneck pace, with each member of the talented quartet providing equal chaos and hilarity to the tightly wound film.  Offering visual shades of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), the captivating single location film relentlessly presses onward until it unveils a jarring and unforgettable revelation.  Not only is The Invite the best comedy of the year, it very well may also end up as one of the best films, regardless of genre.