Movies

Brazil, 1977: Marcelo, a technology specialist in his early forties, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival. However, he soon realises that the city is not the safe haven he had expected. After receiving threats from a powerful businessman, Marcelo is forced to live in hiding in this hostile environment. The danger he faces is briefly alleviated by his relationship with his son, whom he left in the care of his grandparents. Yet he lives with the constant fear that he may never see his son again. Their only option is to try to leave the country.

The film is structured around three different time periods, framed by the present day, in which a historian attempts to uncover the truth about Marcelo’s fate by listening to old audio tapes.

This political neo-noir thriller with elements of dark comedy is marked by a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere, as well as masterful use of sound (carnival noise, whispers) and the architecture of Recife to create an all-encompassing sense of paranoia.