2026 Chicago International Film Festival Movie Review: Ana the Cleaner, Sanguine

Here are my reviews of Ana the Cleaner and Sanguine from the 2026 Chicago International Film Festival.

Ana the Cleaner is an indie comedy thriller set in the suburbs of Chicago. The film follows Ana (Yana Roykhman), a Ukrainian immigrant who loves murder-mystery podcasts and spends her days as a cleaning lady for upper-class suburbanites. When her newest client’s wife mysteriously goes missing, Ana starts doing her own investigation based on everything she has learned from listening to her favorite murder podcast, Killer Wine. As more clues and suspicion arise during her investigation, Ana soon becomes fully invested in what happened to the missing wife, though her friends and family are constantly questioning if any of it is actually real

Director Guy Bauer’s feature film debut is like an extended episode of Only Murders in the Building. Working from a script by Katie L. Fetting, Ana the Cleaner plays the hits of a classic murder mystery: an unofficial detective, a rich family who seemingly has it all, an unsettling husband, scenes of exciting tension, and plenty of twists and turns. It’s a relatively straightforward and mostly predictable murder mystery, but it is always engaging and fun. Fetting sprinkles in elements of the immigrant experience and the presence of ICE around Chicago, making the film feel timely, but the film never loses focus on the mystery at hand.

Roykhman gives an excellent performance as Ana. Watching her go from bored house cleaner to professional sleuth is a real delight. What impressed me most about the film was Bauer’s confident filmmaking. Ana the Cleaner is a tightly constructed film, and Bauer knew he didn’t have to extend the script any more than he needed to. There were hints of David Fincher in the film, from the cynicism towards immigration and the rich to how the film looked aesthetically and moved. Some scenes were lit and scored in a way that reminded me of Gone Girl. I’m not saying Bauer is the next Fincher, but I can see the sprinkles of inspiration.

Ana the Cleaner is a fun, breezy murder mystery, and an impressive debut for Guy Bauer.

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Director Marion Le Coroller sets the tone for her latest film, Sanguine, from the opening scene. Set in a hyper-stylized fast-food restaurant, a cashier with an ear-to-ear smile takes the order of two social media influencers. When one of the influencers starts giving the cashier attitude, his smile vanishes, and he begins to viciously attack him. It’s a scene of pure chaos and over-the-top violence, giving us a taste of what is to come from the rest of the film.

Sanguine takes place in a competitive ER hospital in France. Margot (Mara Taquin) is one of the young, new interns hoping for a spot on the hospital floor. It is a high-pressure environment run by Dr. Helene (Karin Viard), with stories of people crashing out during the program. Margot struggles to keep up with the pace Dr. Helene demands, and starts showing strange symptoms, like randomly bleeding without a cut or wound. When she starts noticing other patients her age showing the same symptoms, she begins investigating what could be causing them.

Playing like a second cousin of The Substance with sprinkles of Limitless and Whiplash, Sanguine is a visceral body-horror movie about the pressures of perfection. It features tons of blood and bodily fluids, skin pulling, face smashing, and burning, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Le Coroller uses a pulsating score, speedy editing, eye-popping sets, and excellent practical effects and prosthetics to elevate the film’s visceral and kinetic energy.

I wish Sanguine cut down some of the second-act subplots and added more to the third act. Most of the second act focuses on Margot’s investigation into what could be causing these unexplainable medical symptoms, but there are also some one-off romantic scenes. Those scenes don’t go anywhere and take away from the film’s climax, which is awesome and gnarly as hell, but also feels abrupt. I wanted more of the third act, and less of the filler from the second act.

Regardless, Sanguine is a well-made, chaotic, gory good time.

Rating:

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