I'm Still Here (Walter Salles, 2024, Brazil/France)

The latest film from Walter Salles, perhaps the most internationally renowned director from Brazil, I'm Still Here tells the story of a woman in 1970s Brazil whose husband is "disappeared" by the military regime. This happens relatively early on in the film, and the rest of the film is her reckoning with an adaptation to what has happened - particularly as it relates to her many children. This is a sensitive, moving drama, drenched in period detail. The music, clothes, and other aspects of the era inform the first segment of the film, where the father Ruben (played by Selton Mello) is still present in their lives. Yet there are signs of danger early on, and the film in fact opens with the police stopping his daughter and her friends on a joyride.

Ruben's disappearance quite early in the film leaves a narrative hole that is left to be filmed by Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva - his wife. Torres's performance has received universal acclaim, and for good reason. She truly carries the entire film, effectively showcasing the entire process of this woman's grief - from hope to the loss of hope, to a sense of redemption in the film's finale.

The ensemble of her children is also fantastic. This film is also about the passage of time, and it is rare these days to find a film that feels so lived in - we feel that we are following these children into their adulthood. In reality, we do - there is an epilogue where we see them as adults. The final moments of the film are certainly some of the most memorable of 2024 and are unlikely to leave a dry eye in the house. Walter Salles has made one of the best films of 2024 and a film that should be seen by more people.

8/10