The Chicago Latino Film Festival returns to the AMC River East tonight. My best bets for the fest’s first week are a pair of thrillers from Mexico and Ecuador, respectively: Joe Houlberg’s Thirst and Isaac Ezbek’s The Similars. I had fun reviewing these films in my latest Time Out Chicago blog post and I had even more fun editorializing in the opening paragraph that “genre films” on the festival circuit rarely find the audience they deserve due to the popular misconception that attending a film fest is somehow akin to participating in the driest of academic conferences. I’ll have another post about my best bets for the fest’s second week next Friday.

The Similars screens Saturday, April 9 and Monday, April 11. Thirst screens Sunday, April 10 and Wednesday, April 13. All screenings occur at AMC River East. For more info and exact showtimes, visit the Chicago Latino Film Festival website.