Chicago Critics Film Fest 2025 Interview: Director Angus MacLachlan, actress Jane Levy for "A Little Prayer"

The Chicago Critics Film Festival finished off it's 2025 edition with "A Little Prayer" as the closing night film. To help cap off a another year at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, the film's director Angus MacLachlan and star Jane Levy were in attendance to help present the film (co-star David Strathairn was originally announced to attend but unfortunately had to cancel). Prior to the film's presentation and subsequent Q&A with CFCA Board Member Steve Prokopy, the pair walked the red carpet inside the famed north side movie palace and spoke with the press, including this lucky Snitch.

"A Little Prayer" actress Jane Levy at the 2025 Chicago Critics Film Festival on May 8, 2025 at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, Ill.

Q: My first question for Mr. MacLachlan. What I really appreciate about the film is the simplicity of it all with its complex subject matters. How did you approach that execution while keeping the film timely and relevant?
​MacLachlan: I don't know how I can actually answer that. In the way it was shot, we had a very short shooting schedule, and I really love actors. So I think just putting the camera on two actors is fascinating and you don't have to do a lot of cross cutting, so you it makes it more simpler. But in terms of the storytelling, I worked on it for a long, long time. I come from the theater where the text is set when you actually do a play. And I feel that way about screenplays too. There's almost no improv in the film: the text is set. So a lot of thought goes into that.

Q: For Ms. Levy, you've made this great mark on the horror genre and for me, horror is always about the reality that's around the corner, trying to avoid it while also still curious and being pulled towards it. This film has a lot of reality that the characters are trying to approach, but then also avoid. Did you bring anything from your experience in your horror performances to this work here? 
Levy: You have such a beautifully worded question, but I don't really think that my experiences as an actor in a horror had anything to do with this. It's interesting hearing you ask the first question to Angus. I find it hard to talk about the process of making this film because in some ways it was so simple. It was just the script and then my job is to be a vessel for the words. So you don't often get to work with a play that's this full of nuance and humanity. This job, I had to show up and fill what Angus had written.

Q: David Strathairn is one of my favorite character actors, from The Firm, LA Confidential and my personal favorite Sneakers. What's your memory for each of you working with the veteran actor?
​MacLachlan: He's everything you imagine him to be. He's the greatest and such a mench. He was available to everybody. He really thinks of himself as a journeyman actor. He really is there to do the work. And we had to have these actors who could create lifelong relationships, a family, and they all, everybody sort of did that. It's a testament to them. 

Levy: Really, most of the actors you meet, they suck some of the air out of the room, and that's what makes them so talented and charming and and attractive and fun. But David is a true human person. He doesn't seem like an actor at all. He's just so lovely. [ 3m 19s ]

---

"A Little Prayer" opens in select theaters on August 29, 2025.

​Stay tuned for the Snitch Review, coming soon!

"A Little Prayer" Actress Jane Levy (center) and director Angus MacLachlan (right) during Q&A with Steve Prokopy at the closing night of the 2025 Chicago Critics Film Festival on May 8, 2025 at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, Ill.