Arts & Entertainment
Chicago Film Lovers Wait Hours for Three Minutes Inside the Criterion Mobile Closet
Harold Moore, 40, of Austin poses with a polaroid of him inside the Criterion Mobile Closet on Oct. 17, 2025. He picked out Mira Nair’s “Mississippi Masala” (1991), a Robert Downey Sr. film collection and a Melvin Van Peebles film collection. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
A dedicated crowd of cinephiles lined up for hours Friday at NEWCITY Plaza in Lincoln Park to experience three minutes inside the famous Criterion Mobile Closet.
Roscoe Village resident Sam Velazquez was the first person in line.
“It is a really cool and important effort to codify the art form of cinema and movies for a younger generation who is clearly out in force to support it,” Velazquez, 32, said after stepping out of the film closet. “All the sickos are out for the Criterion truck, so it’s really cool to see.”
The closet offered thousands of movies released by the film distributor Criterion Collection, which focuses on restorations, special features and physical releases — and has gained a cult following among movie lovers.
Velazquez ended up picking up copies of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” (1989) and Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” (1985) and “The Last Waltz” (1978).
The Criterion Mobile Closet’s first time in Chicago coincides with the opening weekend of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival, which runs Oct. 15-26. The mobile closet has made previous stops in New York City, Austin, Los Angeles and Toronto in the past year.
The Criterion Mobile Closet made a stop at NEWCITY Plaza on Oct. 17, 2025, in celebration of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival opening weekend. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
“It’s such an opportunity for film lovers to really unite and meet and talk about their love of cinema and just be united by the love of film,” said Vivian Teng, managing director of the Chicago International Film Festival. “They’re sharing their Letterboxd lists, they’re sharing their favorite films, they’re getting recommendations, too. It’s like creating friends out of strangers.”
Austin resident Harold Moore, who remembered taking out Criterion Collection releases from the library when he was a student at DePaul University, described his time inside the Criterion Mobile Closet as a “full circle moment.”
Moore, 40, had no idea what he wanted to select before stepping into the closet. He ended up leaving with Mira Nair’s “Mississippi Masala” (1991), a Robert Downey Sr. film collection and a Melvin Van Peebles film collection. He also connected with another fellow filmgoer while waiting in line.
“We were sitting here scoffing at the people who got here too early,” Moore said.
Those interested in going into the Criterion Mobile Closet were able to start lining up at 1:30 p.m. before organizers began letting people take turns inside the closet at around 3 p.m.
But it didn’t take long before organizers had to cut off the line, leaving people like Jacquelyn Delgado, 25, from East Chicago, Indiana, unable to go inside.
“It was kind of unclear where the line started because some people were here for the film festival and then some here for the Criterion,” Delgado said. “They did randomly let in a couple of people after, it was like a pick and grab, and so people got a little bit more hopeful, but then they came out and told us they’re at capacity for today.”
Sam Velazquez, 32, of Roscoe Village, left, and his friend Andrew Conroy, right, were the first people in line for the Criterion Mobile Closet stop in Chicago on Oct. 17, 2025. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
The Criterion Mobile Closet is a replica of the Criterion Collection’s product closet in New York City seen in the popular “Closet Picks” video series that have garnered millions of views, showing famous guests shopping the closet and talking about their film picks on camera.
In addition to the three-minute limit, visitors are also limited to three movies that they can purchase. Visitors receive a free tote tag and, similar to the “Closet Picks” videos, and a polaroid of themselves inside the closet.
Jingxing Gao, traveled from Champaign, to visit the Criterion Mobile Closet. Some strangers waiting in line were grouped up together for their turn inside for efficiency. Gao was grouped up with Ravenswood resident Matthew Waller, 24, and his mother Genevieve Waller.
By the end, Gao and Matthew Waller were exchanging contact information.
“For me, I’m a little bit nervous and also (excited) because I’m an introvert,” Gao, 28, said. “Getting to know other people who’s really into films is really a good thing. My experience with other people really bring up my memories and also my love to the films.”
Gao’s picks included a boxset of “Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons” and Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” (1979).
Criterion Collection President Peter Becker said he hopes that those who are able to visit the mobile closet are able to leave with a feeling of connection.
“A lot of the time people come into the closet and they’re suddenly reminded of films that they haven’t thought about for a long time or they remember who they saw them with,” Becker said. “Film is a mode of connection … There’s all these ways that movies are wrapped up in the stories of our lives.”
The Criterion Mobile Closet will be in Chicago through this weekend from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with lines beginning to form at 9:30 a.m.
Matthew Waller, 24, of Ravenswood visited the Criterion Mobile Closet with his mother Genevieve Waller on Oct. 17, 2025. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]
