Synopsis
Sergio is a brooding, alienated man who works as a trash collector in Lisbon by day and roams the city streets by night seeking rough, anonymous sex with men. One night he meets a man who seems to be the embodiment of his tormented fantasies, and he becomes obsessed with the stranger until loneliness and unfulfilled desire propel him finally into a dark and dangerous animalistic state.
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Cast
- Ricardo MenesesSérgio
- Beatriz TorcatoFátima
- André BarbosaJoão
- Eurico VieiraVirgilio
- Joaquim OliveiraMário
- Florindo LourençoMatos
- Rodrigo GarínYoung man in bathroom
- Jorge AlmeidaPolice 1
- Maria Paola PorruJoão's mother
- Luis ZorroYoung man in Sérgio's room
Recommendations
- 90
Los Angeles Times
As audacious as it is compelling and as dark as it is erotic. Its sexuality is explicit, alternately teasing and brutal, and one that is ultimately a cautionary tale. - 50
New York Post
An interesting addition to a genre that tends too often to disregard artistic technique. - 50
Chicago Reader
Reminded me most of Jean Genet's "Un chant d'amour," with bondage and latex replacing incarceration and cigarettes. This is not to say that it's equally good or poetic, but the eroticizing of a whole universe is no less apparent. - 50
Chicago Tribune
A muddy, dreamlike Portuguese offering. - 50
Village Voice
Easily the artiest queer stroke movie of the year. - 40
TV Guide Magazine
While the transgressive trappings (especially the frank sex scenes) ensure that the film is never dull, Rodrigues's beast-within metaphor is ultimately rather silly and overwrought, making the ambiguous ending seem goofy rather than provocative. - 38
New York Daily News
With little dialogue, a murky night setting and the slowest of plots, this Portuguese fantasy only comes alive when it conforms to its true nature as arthouse pornography. - 30
L.A. Weekly
First-time director João Pedro Rodrigues' unwillingness to define his hero’s background or motivations becomes more and more frustrating as the film goes on.
