Oscar 2025 Contenders: I’m Still Here: Quiet, Intense & A Better Movie than the One that Won

2025-02-26 I'm Still Here — 2025-02-26 I’m Still Here

This was the second Best Picture movie of the day and the fourth in two days and the movie I had just seen, The Substance, was so over the top that I was looking forward to something a little more serious and a lot more understated. That very much describes “I’m Still Here,” a family drama set in Brazil in the 1970s. The film begins with a warm glow, almost sepia-toned, with idealic days on the beach shared with family and close friends. But the tranquility is slightly marred with the increasing flight of military helicopters overhead while the mom, Eunice, swims in the ocean, or convoys of military trucks speed down the highway adjacent to the beach where the family is taking a group photo. Then the oldest daughter, Vera, is stopped at a military checkpoint on the way back from the movies. They are forced from their car and the teenagers are roughly treated before being released to continue home. Life goes on, but there is growing tension with news on the TV about a Swiss ambassador being abducted by Leftist rebels, an increase in military patrols on the streets and the adults whispering their concerns to one another about whether it’s safe for them to stay or whether now might be a good time to be somewhere beyond the reach of the military police.

That’s one thing about this movie and its tone, it moves very slowly and everything is communicated in small gestures and quiet decisions. No car crashes, explosions or gun battles… this is definitely NOT a Hollywood movie. When the plain clothed police show up at the family doorstep they say they are there to take the father, Rubens, away to get a deposition from him and leave officers in the home, with all the window shades drawn, staying in the house for more than a day. The privacy and safety of the home is broken by the unwelcome presence of these strangers with guns, who showed no warrants or documentation when they took Rubens away and took over the home. The occupiers have no information where they have taken the father or when he will be coming back. Then the mom and next eldest daughter, Eliana, are arrested and taken a military prison for questioning. Eliana is released after 24-hours and the mom stays in captivity for 12 days.

When she’s released from prison, the government offers no explanation or statement and has no information about the status or condition of her husband. Because he is considered “missing” the mom, Eunice, has no access to the family financial resources and is forced to leave the family home and move herself and her kids back to São Paulo to move in with her parents; while she returns to college to become a lawyer and to continue to pursue an official response to what the government did to her husband and her family.

Fernanda Torres, who plays Eunice Paiva, is nothing short of spectacular and was my first choice for Best Actress of the Year and the film should have gotten Best Film of the Year. It is so well done, nuanced, intelligent and quietly heartbreaking. I understand that not being an English language film that never showed up in any of my local multiplex theaters, it was a long shot. Besides the Week-long Oscar marathon at Cinemark, the film did show up for five showings beginning last Friday and ending tomorrow at my favorite local independent theater, The Beverly. I wasn’t too surprised but disappointed that it didn’t win Oscars for either Best Actress or Best Picture.

After this movie, Oscar movie marathon continued… 👍👍👍👍 four down, four to go!

[Movie viewed on 2025-02-26 at Suncoast Cinemark with Deb].