EVEREST: THE OTHER SIDE (2026) review
produced by: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
directed by: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Shannon Dill, Anna Barnes, Bob Eisenhardt & Janet Yang
rated: PG-13 (for thematic material and brief strong language)
runtime: 115 min.
U.S. release date: October 30, 2026
In a documentary about Mount Everest, you would expect harrowing, breathtaking moments. However, “Everest: The Other Side,” the latest film from Oscar-winning directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, isn’t a straight-up documentary about the world’s tallest mountain. It has several poignant, emotional moments, and the most impactful one happens in the married couple’s kitchen. Chai Vasarhelyi asks Chin how many of their friends who have sat at their dinner table have died. That’s definitely not a typical question one hears from a spouse, but if you’re familiar with the couple’s artistic pursuits over the years, it’s understandable. Read more…
WHO KILLED ALEX ODEH? (2026) review
produced by: Dawne Langford, William Lafi Youmans, Jason Osder & Daniel J. Chalfen
directed by: Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans
rated: not rated
runtime: 84 min.
U.S. release date: October 30, 2026
Watermelon Pictures has had a crazy busy year releasing films in 2026. The film production and distribution company was founded two years ago by brothers Badie and Hamza Ali, with the goal of offering narrative features and documentaries that contradict the way Palestinians and Arabs have been represented and dehumanized in mainstream media for decades. They made the historical drama “Palestine 36” and the important documentary “American Doctor,” and now there’s “Who Killed Alex Odeh?”, a documentary that won the Special Jury Award earlier this year at Sundance. The titular question may as well be rhetorical, since directors Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans never offer a definitive answer, but viewers won’t be left with any doubts. Read more…
YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING (2026) review
produced by: Maggie Ambrose, Tatiana Bears, Jack Davis, Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim
directed by: Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim
rated: R (for language and some graphic nudity)
runtime: 175 min.
U.S. release date: October 16, 2026
“fyi you can totally see everything”
I abhor micro-analysis of a film’s title, but it’s imperative here for “You Can See Everything.” The word “Can” does all the heavy metaphorical lifting. Anyone obsessed with grammar (or anyone with a real peach of a middle school English teacher) would happily tell you that “can” indicates ability. So what Elizabeth Holmes tells Nathan Fielder via text in the film, and what he and co-director Lance Oppenheim tell the audience, is that the potential to see everything does indeed exist in some way, shape, or form. Read more…
CIFF 2026: SUMO: Spirit Weighs Nothing & Ever After
Each year, the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) includes Chicago-tied documentaries in its lineup. Some are documentaries directed by Chicagoans but set elsewhere, while others take place in Chicago. That’s what we have here, respectively, with “SUMO: Spirit Weighs Nothing” and “Ever After”; the former is directed by Japanese-American director Erik Shirai, who grew up in Chicago, and the latter, directed by Frankie Nasso, revolves around a Michelin-star chef who has made his mark in the competitive Chicago restaurant scene. One is about a sport that many probably didn’t even know was still practiced, and the other is about the intricate practice of creating unique cuisine. Both documentaries showcase devoted individuals dedicated to their crafts, and their stories make clear what compelled the directors to make them. Read more…
CIFF 2026: Elsinore
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Elsinore is the castle and historical stronghold in northern Denmark. That play is the last acting gig Scottish stage and screen actor Ian Charleson performed in before he died of AIDS in 1990. The film “Elsinore” finds Irish stage and screen actor Andrew Scott (“All of Us Strangers” and “Blue Moon“) portraying Charleson as he takes on the titular role in a 1989 National Theatre production during the last months of his life. Directed by Australian director Simon Stone, this isn’t a straightforward biopic; instead, it focuses on a period in Charleson’s life when the actor behind “Chariots of Fire” and “Gandhi” struggled to land roles. Hamlet has long been a coveted role. It was a dream for Charleson, and now Scott plays him as Hamlet. Read more…
CIFF 2026: Clarissa
If you’re gonna adapt classic literature into a film, at least do something inventive. To its credit, “Clarissa” does just that, drawing on Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and setting it in modern-day Lagos, Nigeria. Written and directed by Arie and Chuko Esiri, sibling newcomers from Nigeria, the film parallels the author’s post-World War I story with a country still impacted by colonialism and just beginning to settle into democracy. It’s a confidently made, beautifully shot film with a strong ensemble cast, yet the narrative becomes unnecessarily convoluted as the story unfolds. After premiering at the Director’s Fortnight sidebar at last May’s Cannes Film Festival, “Clarissa” has been working the festival circuit before it receives a December 11th release from Neon. Read more…
CIFF 2026: A Common Story
Parents who send their kids off to university should have support groups. Not all parents need them, but some may not know what to do once their adult child has flown the nest. This is especially true for families with only one child. At the very least, a few therapy sessions before the fall departure might help. Actor-turned-director Anna Foglietta’s feature film debut, “A Common Story,” offers no such support for the parents, but the void in their family gradually leads to a marital crisis that rings all too familiar. After premiering at last month’s Venice International Film Festival, the film will screen this week at the Chicago International Film Festival. Read more…
CIFF 2026: The Girl with the Leica
Who is this “Girl” and what is a “Leica”? That’s the first question that comes to mind before watching Italian writer/director Alina Marazzi’s latest film, “The Girl with the Leica”, translated from “La ragazza con la Leica”, a biographical drama co-written with Valia Santella, another Italian writer/director. It revolves around Gerda Taro, a German-Jewish refugee, political activist, and the first female photojournalist to die in battle at age 26. While actors portray real-life characters in actual historical situations, those portrayals are surprisingly less interesting than the archival footage, video clips, and photographs Marazzi incorporates into the film, which often convey a more convincing, fully realized view of a past most viewers will know nothing about. Read more…
CIFF 2026: The Echo Chamber
Bernardo Bertolucci’s final original screenplay is the new film “The Echo Chamber”; he was the first Italian to win an Oscar for Best Director for 1987’s “The Last Emperor,” which also won Best Picture. The late filmmaker is perhaps more famously known for co-writing and directing “The Last Tango in Paris”, the 1972 erotic drama that has maintained its controversial status over the years. Considering that, the latter film comes to mind while watching this film, directed by Andrea Pallaoro (“Hannah” and “Monica”), solely because, like “Tango”, it’s a story about a couple who primarily spend time in a flat – here it’s London, not Paris. The film is described as a “romantic drama,” yet its desperate, devastating conclusion makes it clear we were watching a melodramatic tragedy all along. Read more…
CIFF 2026: The Spiral
Around 10 minutes into “The Spiral”, things take a sharp turn that I just didn’t see coming. It was one of those “Oh, we’re going there” moments that definitely had me lean in a little closer. If you’re unsure whether this is a horror thriller, this moment will confirm it. That said, Italian director Paolo Strippoli offers something far from your average horror flick. It’s a Faustian family mystery, where secrets and lies weave through one family’s absorbing, if unexpected, drama. After debuting at the Venice International Film Festival last month, where it competed for the Golden Lion, “The Spiral” is now in the lineup at the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF), which runs from October 14th through 25th. Read more…
