Good Manners
December's Top 30 Films
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2h 15m
Directed by Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra • Drama • With Sabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano, Miguel Lobo • 2017 • 135 minutes
Filmmakers Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra’s second collaboration (after the acclaimed Hard Labor) deftly integrates art-house and genre cinema to create a thrilling and dark gothic fable with sharp social commentary.
Set in São Paulo, the film follows Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of the city who is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana to be the nanny of her soon to be born child. Against all odds, the two women develop a strong bond. But a fateful night marked by a full moon changes their plans.
With powerful visuals and impeccable cinematography by Zama’s Rui Poças, Good Manners is Disney meets Jacques Tourneur. The film becomes an unexpected and wild werewolf movie unlike any other, and a poignant social and racial allegory on modern-day Brazilian society.
“An unnerving werewolf tale that explores themes of motherhood and otherness, sometimes suggesting a retelling of Frankenstein. But with a werewolf. Yet for all the blood and gore, this is a quiet, gentle story…” —Village Voice
“Good Manners” is an ambitious work not only in scope but design, influenced by Jacques Tourneur’s psychological horror noirs.” —Variety
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