CHILI FINGER

(directors: Edd Benda, Stephen Helstad; screenwriter:
Stephen Helstad; cinematographer: Cristina Dunlap; editor:
Todd Zelin; music: Dan D 1)eacon; cast:Judy Greer (Jess), Sean Astin (Ron), Bryan Cranston (Dave), John Goodman (Blake Jr.), Madeline Wise (Blake Jr. II), Paul Stanko (Trevor), Sarah Herrman (Nia), Sara Sevigny (Jackie) Dann Florek (Carl), Shaya Harris (Kris); Runtime: 100; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Sam Sandweiss, Jo Henrique; Yellowhouse Entertainment; 2026)

“It has some laughs.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Edd Benda (“Superior”) and Stephen Helstad (“The Kids Table”) are the co-directors of this true crime story that hit the tabloids. Helstad is the screenwriter. It has some laughs, which makes it tasty.


In 2005, a San Jose woman said she found a human finger in her Wendy’s chili. Later it was revealed that she planted the finger in the meal to make a monetary claim. She was sentenced to nine years in prison for the scam that cost the fast-food chain millions.

The filmmakers recreate the story in the following way:
Jess (Jane Greer) is a small-town Wisconsin divorce lawyer married to the loser Ron (Sean Astin). After paying college  tuition for their daughter (Shaya Harris) they are left absolutely broke.Thereby she pulls her restaurant scam.

Blake Jr. II (Madeline Wise), the daughter of the restaurant’s owner,  offers the couple restaurant coupons, which Ron is happy to accept. But Jess wants more, finally receiving an offer of $10,000. And then Ron gets the number to $100,000 in return for their silence.

Blake Jr. (John Goodman), the restaurant owner, takes charge from his daughter. He has the motto, “It’s not fast food, it’s good food!,” smells a rat and calls in for help his kooky gun-toting, ex-Marine buddy Dave (Bryan Cranston ), to get to the bottom of things.

The story gets violent, as numerous characters are either shot, pierced by arrows, gored by a deer, or nearly burned to death in a barn fire.

The black comedy needed a funnier script and less contrivances. The running gag about Ron getting more upset about the possibility of being banned from the fast-food restaurant than getting the bag, was overused. But Greer is marvelous, her performance captures the strangeness of it all in a thoroughly human way.

It played at SXSW Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 6/3/2026  GRADE: B-
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