Columbia College Chicago Theatre Dept. Alum Joseph Sikora Stars in New Horror Film ‘Fear,’ Opening Jan. 27

Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumnus Joseph Sikora ’98, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, stars in the new film Fear, which opened in movie theatres around the U.S. on Friday, January 27, 2023. To see the trailer for the movie, click here.

Deon Taylor and Joseph Sikora

Fear – originally titled Don’t Fear and shot during the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020 – is directed, co-written, and co-produced by Deon Taylor, who, like Sikora, is a Chicago native. “Taylor is a fascinating figure, having forged his own path as a Black filmmaker in Hollywood, independently producing, and now distributing, his films. He also seems to be single-handedly keeping the mid-budget adult thriller alive,” according to a  Los Angeles Times review published January 26. “He is rigorously focused on the craft of filmmaking, but he’s also obsessed with serving a multicultural audience that goes largely underserved by certain swaths of the industry. A global pandemic was certainly not going to derail his mission, and in his latest film, the horror flick Fear, Taylor takes the pandemic head-on, utilizing our collective anxieties as the grist for his storytelling mill.”

Joseph Sikora

According to the Los Angeles Times review: “Fear is a COVID movie, and a contagion film, and a haunted house story rolled into 100 feverishly stylized minutes. Joseph Sikora stars as horror novelist Rom, who takes his girlfriend, Bianca (Annie Ilonzeh), on a weekend getaway in Northern California as a reprieve from the pandemic lockdown. They arrive at the rustic Strawberry Lodge and as he’s about to propose, he blanches and falters, instead revealing that he’s invited their group of friends to celebrate Bianca’s birthday. They’ve got the lodge to themselves for the weekend, and seriously, don’t worry about the incredibly creepy innkeeper who leaves them a terrible bottle of wine, or the detailed stories that Rom tells about the miners who tortured and killed Indigenous women thought to be witches. Nope, nothing to worry about at all.”

Joseph Sikora

As previously reported in this blog, Sikora’s acting career began when he was a child in Chicago and played the title role in Touchstone Theatre’s production of The Little Prince. As an adult, he has appeared on Chicago stages in productions at Goodman, Lookingglass, Chicago Shakespeare, and Shattered Globe theatres. He was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago’s top theatre award) for Actor in a Principal Role for his performance in Shattered Globe’s 1999 production Frozen Assets. He also costarred with fellow Chicago actor David Schwimmer in a 2006 Broadway production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Besides the Power franchise, his TV credits include OzarkLaw & Order: SVUChicago P.D.The Good WifeGrey’s Anatomy, and Monk. His big-screen credits include roles in RudyMy Best Friend’s WeddingCharlie Wilson’s WarShutter IslandJack Reacher, and Jacob’s Ladder.