This paper is dedicated to studying the Choquard equation −∆u + V (x)u = (Iα * |u| p)|u| p−2 u + g(u), x ∈ R N , u ∈ H 1 (R N), where N ≥ 4, α ∈ (0, N), V ∈ C(R N , R) is sign-changing and periodic, Iα is the Riesz potential, p = N +α N −2 and g ∈ C(R, R). The equation is strongly indefinite, i.e., the operator −∆+V has infinite-dimensional negative and positive spaces. Moreover, the exponent p = N +α N −2 is the upper critical exponent with respect to the Hardy-Littlewood-Sobolev inequality. Under some mild assumptions on g, we obtain the existence of nontrivial solutions for this equation.