The romantic comedy “Materialistic Loves” is the main release this Thursday (7/31) in Brazilian cinemas, featuring Dakota Johnson torn between two famous actors who play Marvel heroes. The schedule also includes titles such as “The Death of a Unicorn,” “The Ritual,” “Children,” and “Bulletproof Family,” ranging from horror to humor, as well as five Brazilian productions, with highlight on the thriller “Athena,” in which Mel Lisboa plays a vengeful woman. Check the complete list.
🎞️ MATERIALIST LOVES
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After enchanting the world with the romantic drama “Past Lives,” the Chinese-Canadian director Celine Song turns her gaze to the dilemmas of love in the modern era. This romantic comedy takes place in New York, where human connections compete with financial ambitions. Dakota Johnson (“Fifty Shades of Grey”) stars as Lucy, a professional matchmaker who helps wealthy people find their perfect partners, while trying to establish herself as a visual artist. Irony of fate, Lucy experiences more romance by arranging meetings than in her own love life. But this soon changes.
The song uses tom, levé, and smart dialogues to place this “Emma” in the peak of a love triangle with two suitors: Nick, played by Chris Evans (“Captain America: The First Avenger”), ex-boyfriend from college days, and Theo, portrayed by Pedro Pascal (“Fantastic Four: First Steps”), a wealthy and tech magnate. When Lucy is torn between these two suitors, “Material Girls” goes beyond the cliché of “which man to choose” to dissect the expectations and values of contemporary relationships, where money can be considered a romantic component. With an elegant aesthetic and a soundtrack ranging from jazz to pop, the film captures the spirit of relationships in 2025, inviting the audience to cheer, laugh, and reflect in a world obsessed with status and appearances.
🎞️ THE DEATH OF A UNICORN
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An unusual mix of dark fantasy and sharp humor, the first feature film directed by Alex Scharfman features Paul Rudd (“Ant-Man”) and Jenna Ortega (“Wandinha”) as father and daughter whose trip turns into a surreal nightmare after they hit a unicorn on a remote road. The unusual premise gained notoriety since its world premiere at the SXSW 2025 festival, solidifying A24’s reputation for betting on bold stories and new filmmakers. Behind the scenes, attention was drawn to the use of practical effects to create the mythical creature and the visual atmosphere that moves between the charm of a fairy tale and satirical gore horror.
After the fatal incident with the rare animal, Elliot (Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Ortega) hide the body, but soon discover miraculous properties in the unicorn: its blood heals wounds and diseases, attracting the greed of Elliot’s boss, an unscrupulous magnate played by Will Poulter (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”). While scientists explore the mystical carcass in search of pharmaceutical profit, two adult unicorns—parents of the slain creature—appear in the forest, thirsting for revenge. The rural idyll turns into a massacre when these legendary beings, of colossal size, begin to hunt the humans involved.
Directed with irreverence by Scharfman, “A Death of a Unicorn” subverts conventions by mixing horror and fable. The supporting cast reinforces the satirical tone, with Téa Leoni (“Deep Impact”) and Richard E. Grant (“Logan”) portraying elite figures willing to do anything for the promise of a “youth elixir.” Visually, the film contrasts the ethereal beauty of the creatures with bloody scenes, playing with the shock between innocence and violence. Many consider it a cult film, but the critics were divided between praise for its creativity and complaints about the “overdone tone.”
🎞️ The Ritual
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Inspired by real events that haunted the United States in the 1920s, “The Ritual” introduces Al Pacino (“The Irishman”) in an unprecedented way to the religious horror genre. At 85 years old, the veteran actor takes on the role of an exorcist, portraying Father Theophilus Riesinger, a real figure who led one of the most famous demonic possession cases of the 20th century. Directed by David Midell (“The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”), the film faithfully recreates the 1928 Exorcism of Emma Schmidt — an American girl supposedly possessed, whose case was described in the pamphlet “Begone, Satan!” and served as inspiration for the novel “The Exorcist” (1971), which became the famous 1973 film.
This historical connection gives the film significant cultural weight, but from a different perspective: here, the plot delves into the rural context of Iowa in the interwar period, emphasizing the religious roots of the American Midwest and the tensions between faith and skepticism. The narrative follows two Catholic priests with opposing profiles. Riesinger (Pacino) is experienced and devout, a clergyman known for performing official exorcism rituals, while the young priest Joseph Steiger, played by Dan Stevens (“Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire”), faces a crisis of faith and carries personal traumas.
When Emma (Abigail Cowen, “Redemption Love”), a devout family girl, starts displaying violent and inexplicable behaviors, the Church authorizes an exorcism and sends Riesinger to the small town. Steiger, reluctant, accompanies him as an assistant – skeptical about possession and marked by the recent suicide of his brother, he embodies the modern perspective facing the supernatural. Confined in a convent, the priests begin an exhausting ritual that lasts several weeks, during which Emma manifests distinct voices and terrifying phenomena that defy rational explanations. The situation revisits all the clichés of the genre established by “The Exorcist,” without bringing anything new. Due to its lack of creativity, it received predominantly negative reviews in the US, despite Pacino’s magnetic performance.
🔫 FAMILY UNDER FIRE
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Typical example of B-grade Hollywood cinema, “Bulletproof Family” is carefree entertainment, mixing a clichéd story, over-the-top humor, and low-budget explosive scenes. Comedian Kevin James (“Shopping Mall Security”) plays Raymond “Ray” Hayes, a former police officer and devoted family man who secretly leads a second life as a mob enforcer. The film directed by Edward Drake (“Explosive Conspiracy”) presents this premise in a light-hearted manner: by day, Ray is the caring husband of Alice (Christina Ricci, from “Yellowjackets”) and a present father; at night, he serves a crime boss, balancing school reports and violent “jobs” for the criminal organization.
This double life sustained Ray’s stability for years, but now he wants to leave the criminal life behind and open a diner with his wife—a dream threatened when the mafia forces him to do one last job before “retirement.” When this final mission goes terribly wrong, he has only one night to get his family out of town and escape the fury of his enemies. From there, it’s scenes of chases and shootouts, interspersed with Kevin James’ characteristic comedic timing. Lacking any originality, the story at least recalls a dozen films released between “True Lies” (1994) and “The Family Plan” (2023).
🎞️ CHILDREN
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The intense psychological drama marks the return of Danish filmmaker Gustav Möller, following his highly praised debut with the minimalist thriller “Culpa” (2018). This time, Möller tells a claustrophobic story set within the Nordic prison system, proving his ability to extract tension from limited situations. Selected for the official competition at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear, the film confirmed the director as one of the new representatives of European suspense.
Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Borgen”) stars in the play as Eva Hansen, an idealistic prison officer whose life turns upside down when she discovers that the murderer of her son will be transferred to the prison where she works. The premise immediately establishes an extreme moral and emotional dilemma, with the usual narrative economy and focus on deeply restrained performances that made “Culpa” famous. By choosing to work in the most dangerous wing – where the criminal played by newcomer Sebastian Bull is located – Eva decides to secretly confront the man responsible for her loss. Dar Salim (“Game of Thrones”) plays Rami, Eva’s colleague and a pragmatic figure who notices his friend’s transformation as she becomes involved in the risky situation.
At every meeting in the corridor or cell, the protagonist tests the boundaries between her humanity and the darkness of hatred, in a spiral of increasing tension where any wrong step can trigger violence. With an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, “Children” maintains the tradition of Scandinavian cinema to dissect ethical dilemmas within engaging plots.
🎞️ ATENA
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Starring Mel Lisboa (“Presence of Anita”) and Thiago Fragoso (“The Prophet”), the Brazilian police thriller directly addresses the theme of sexual violence and vigilante justice. The film presents the title character as a survivor of abuse: as a child, she was raped by her own father, who fled without being caught and was never found. Marked by this trauma and angered by the recurrence of similar cases, Atena grows up determined to punish offenders who escape the law. As an adult, she becomes a secret vigilante, an urban avenger who lures rapists and violent men into traps, where she carries out cruel revenge.
Director Caco Souza (“400 Against 1”) creates a growing sense of suspense and dark action scenes. The plot gains a new dimension with the entry of journalist Carlos (Fragoso), an investigative reporter who follows the wave of crimes and suspects the existence of a “vigilante.” The film does not spare the viewer from impactful scenes, showing the consequences of the protagonist’s crimes and actions with cold photography and shaky camera work, intensifying the brutality. However, it falls into traditional conventions of the genre and rushed resolutions.
🎞️ Akin’s Desert
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The Brazilian intimate drama addresses migrations amidst recent political turbulence. Directed by Bernard Lessa (“A Mulher e o Rio”), the film follows Akin, a Cuban doctor played by newcomer Reynier Morales, who came to Brazil in 2018 as part of the federal Mais Médicos program. Dedicated and charismatic, Akin works in an indigenous community in the interior of the country, where he gains the trust of the residents and builds deep emotional bonds—especially with Érica (Ana Flávia Cavalcanti, “Os Outros”), a local nurse, and Sérgio (Guga Patriota, “Salomé”), a young man from the village with whom he shares moments of intimacy and friendship.
The protagonist’s routine is presented with sensitivity, highlighting the initial cultural shock and the gradual integration into local customs, which gives rise to a strong feeling of belonging. Paradise, however, is shaken by the election of Jair Bolsonaro, who abruptly ends the cooperation agreement that had brought Cuban doctors to Brazil. Overnight, Akin and his colleagues face an impossible choice: return to Cuba immediately—leaving behind patients and relationships—or stay in Brazil, where, without a valid registration, they will no longer be able to legally practice medicine.
The country also becomes more hostile, reflecting the growing atmosphere of intolerance and ideological regression. The cast also includes Welket Bungué (“Berlin Alexanderplatz”) as an African doctor colleague of Akin, expanding the debate on displacement and solidarity.
🎞️ NOTHING
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The cinema debut of Brasília-based visual artist Adriano Guimarães explores memory, absence, and the boundaries between reality and imagination, with the setting being serene landscapes and the architecture of old countryside farms in Pirenópolis (Goiás). The protagonist is Ana, played by Bel Kowarick (“Love in the Time of Cholera”), an middle-aged visual artist who returns to the farm where she grew up to deal with a family crisis. Her older sister, Tereza (Denise Stutz), suffers from a mysterious neuropsychological illness, alternating between states of consciousness. When arriving at the farm, Ana finds Tereza in a catatonic state, cared for by former employees. The unexplained illness of her sister, described as a psychosomatic disease, serves as a catalyst for Ana to dive into her childhood memories.
Guimarães translates this on the screen in a sensory way: objects from the house, photographs, and songs trigger fragmented flashbacks, some real, others possibly imagined or distorted by memory. The narrative is deliberately elusive, while the photography creates a sense of confinement even in open spaces, suggesting that the characters are trapped inside their own minds.
Winner of the Best Direction, Art Direction, and Sound awards at the 2022 Brasília Festival, “Nothing” is a work that combines plastic arts and cinema, valuing sensory experience over a linear narrative.
🎞️ LISTENER
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First-time director Matias Borgström documents the vibrant experience of the Ouvidor 63 artistic occupation, a 13-story building in the center of São Paulo that became the largest cultural occupation in Latin America. There, about 120 artists from various Latin American countries live in community, transforming the abandoned building into studios, improvised galleries, and a bustling collective space for creation.
Filmed over several months with privileged access to the inside of the community, the documentary presents a mosaic of real characters, such as young photographers from neighboring countries, refugee dancers, and veterans of the São Paulo cultural scene, all united in that unique space. The images emphasize direct recording, with assemblies, performances, contemplative moments, as well as footage of installations set up in empty apartments, dance performances on the terrace, and giant murals on the walls.
Awarded at socio-environmental film festivals (such as Ecofalante Show) and screened internationally, the work adopts an immersive approach to the daily life of the microcommunity, while also denouncing the constant threats of eviction by the São Paulo state government, which tries to dismantle the occupation, showing how the struggle for housing intertwines with the search for artistic freedom.
🎞️ ALDO BALDIN – A LIFE THROUGH MUSIC
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The documentary celebrates the remarkable journey of the Catarinense tenor Aldo Baldin, revealing how a talent born in Urussanga (interior of Santa Catarina) conquered the stages of the academic world. The production was born from a curious discovery: in 2009, director Yves Goulart (“Francisco de Assis: A Lesson in Life”) came across a Villa-Lobos LP with the image of the church from his hometown on the cover – recorded by Baldin – which motivated him to investigate the story of this illustrious compatriot.
The heart of the film is Baldin’s journey from humble origins to international stardom, from the discovery of lyrical singing to his rise as an icon of European classical music in the 1970s and 1980s. Excerpts from operas and concerts highlight the tenor’s vocal power, while interviews—including those with his widow, Irene Flesch Baldin—reveal the man behind the voice. With access to rare archives and heartfelt testimonies from friends, family, and fellow musicians, Goulart builds a rich mosaic about the singer, who died prematurely in 1994 at the age of 49.
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