Zachary Lee

At the 59th Chicago International Film Festival, actor David Dastmalchian shared: “… Chicago isn’t a good city to start your journey as an artist or storyteller … I think it’s the only city to start and live out your journey as an artist [and] as a storyteller.” While Chicago itself is no stranger to being featured on screen, rarely has it been depicted as the galvanizing and inspiring force for creatives the way cities like LA or NYC have. That’s what makes directing duo Kelly O’Sullivan’s and Alex Thompson’s Chicago-set indie film Ghostlight, which opened to critical acclaim at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, so special.  The film centers on a family living in the Chicagoland suburbs who are processing a tragedy to varying degrees. The patriarch, Dan, is a construction worker who has distanced himself from his wife, Sharon and his daughter, Daisy. By happenstance (and to his chagrin) Dan is roped into joining an amateur theater troupe that’s getting ready to put on a production of Romeo and Juliet. As he enters his thespian era, he experiences the catharsis that comes with processing his trauma through participating in the play. Dan, Sharon and Daisy are played by a real life family of actors (Keith Kupferer, Tara Mallen and Katherine Mallen, respectively) and their chemistry is palpable on-screen. The film powerfully depicts the ways art can help address buried emotions and is ultimately a tender love letter to the Chicago arts scene (particularly the theater community).