Good Manners

I'm a bit of a Ryan Gosling fan - so when he disappeared half-way through TPBTP, I felt that the film completely lost momentum. It did recover a bit, but not enough for me. I felt the same with this film. I really enjoyed the first hour, and I felt that the mother was the most interesting character. Therefore, after the "birth" it was almost as if the film started again, and I really didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much. The nanny/nurse is pretty good throughout, but that wasn't really enough for me. On the positive side, it's a nicely bonkers story - if pretty familiar by werewolf standards - and there are some deft touches from the supporting cast, such as the organ-playing landlady who of course knows what's going on... but I could have done with a lot less of part two.

Mubi's "our take" on this film reads: "Springing from an urban legend, this ferociously inventive Brazilian "creature feature" combines sharp social observation and lesbian desire with unsettling fantasy elements. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Locarno, Good Manners is a visually exciting and boundary-pushing gem of genre cinema." Whoever wrote this probably didn't watch the film and merely skimmed the synopsis. This is a captivating fantasy/drama/horror film, a French-Brazilian co-production, with a unique take on the werewolf mythos that blends the cinematic languages of both countries into its narrative and execution. This film came onto my radar due to its inclusion in the BFI selection, and it has also competed in the Locarno International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and São Paulo International Film Festival, even winning an award at Locarno. If you have the time and an interest in genre-bending cinema, you definitely shouldn't miss this one.

Sweet, dreamy fairy tale about a boy werewolf and his mom. This movie is immediately engrossing and unique. It's all about love, the love of the mother for her unborn child that she was supposed to abort, the love of the two women and the love for the child. Even the neighborhood was loving. The Brazilian environment is most lyric.

Well, there's a big plot hole after Ana dies: nobody talks about it in the rest of the film.. and a few inconsistencies like: the shopping scenes -i mean, when shoppings close, those soda machines are locked up. it felt like the Bosque Cristal mall it's really not a safe place lol- , the fact of Joel having a costume in the party -i mean, he stayed the whole day at school?- , and the little militia at Joel's house -why didn't they just unlocked the door? there was a big latch outside the door, they could've just opened it lol-.. also the CGI and makeup here are median.

If they could try little bit harder, they would make a mini-series for Netflix. It's so long that make you feel you are watching 3 movies in a row. Yes, there are 3 main plots that each can be separately filmed as full feature. Or as i said, it could turn out to be a good mini series for VOD platforms. These different tones in the movie makes it difficult to comprehend what movie is trying to tell which is also shallow and mainstream. 6 points goes for cinematography and courage to make such a film.

Very well done film that switches genres and perhaps leading characters as it advances. Isabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano and the boy Miguel Lobo have great performances. It is very surprising; therefore, the less I say, the best it is for you. Congrats for directors/writers Juliana Rojas and Marco Dultra. Social issues, LGBT, horror, fantasy, musical, Brazilian culture and folklore... there are many ingredients in this unusual film which worked quite wel despite the risks.

MAJOR SPOILERS ahead, so beware... There are some truly wonderful ideas in this film. It's got excellent performances by everyone. Stunning, colorful and very moody cinematography. There are also songs. It's not really a musical, but somehow structured like one. It has things in common with Rosemary's Baby, Alien, and I think it's a variation on Ginger Snaps, which was about a female coming of age story welded into a werewolf yarn. In Good Manners (SPOILER), it's a coming of age story about a woman learning the ins and outs of how to raise a child werewolf and teaching him good manners. Like Rosemary in Polanski's film, the mothering instinct is strong in the lead character, Clara. It's what motivates the plot. The visual fx range from practical to CG. They are passable, but clearly look like what they are. Even so, they work within the story. Where the film falls down, in my opinion is in structure. It's clearly divided into two parts. START SPOILERS... The first part is about Clara taking a job as a nanny for pregnant Ana. They become romantically involved and Clara soon finds Ana has odd behaviors, walking in her sleep, for example, and eating cats. As the baby comes to term, Ana keeps having severe pains (ala Rosemary), until finally, the werewolf offspring bursts through her stomach (like Alien), killing Ana. Clara unwraps the umbilical cord, saving it's life, but cannot bring herself to abandon the creature by the river. End of the first part. Seven years pass and the child is a boy, Joel, raised by Clara. During full moons, she locks him in a small room, chained to the wall. The director has said the visual look of this film was inspired by Disney's Sleeping Beauty. I don't see it, but the chained to the wall idea seems to come from the Disney witch Maleficent visiting the Prince Philip chained to the wall of his cell. I won't spoil the rest of the film, only to say, the story goes on much longer, with Joel learning of his origin and rebelling against Clara. There is a touching, if abrupt ending. ...END SPOILERS The second half felt very slow. In fact the whole film was paced too slowly, but structurally, we didn't really need part one. That part of the story could have been told in flashbacks, memories, verbal and visual. That way the story would have started in high gear and gotten fleshed out as we progressed and learned how this all came about. That would have been more dramatic I think, and could have cut the film down by 30 min. Nevertheless, this is yet another interesting take on the werewolf mythology and may not be for everyone, but if you liked Ginger Snaps and Rosemary's Baby, this is well worth checking out if it roars into your neighborhood.

Sunk cost. Forced myself to sit through this entire movie after my husband fell asleep during first hour. The pacing was sooooo slow. Kept thinking it HAS to get better and surely the Werewolf will be cool. I LAUGHED so loudly when the baby werewolf finally appeared that I woke up my husband. He left the room when he saw how ridiculous the CGI was. Not sure what direction the Director was trying to go. Soap novella, study on classism, love story, horror, musical. Really, why were there musical interludes inserted at random? Maybe those who like artsy movies will enjoy this, but if you're looking for a scary Werewolf movie, take a pass on this one. Snooze fest.

When watching the movie you can see what they are trying to do but the execution sucks. And i'm not sure if having more money would solve anything cause the plot itself is shallow. It's like the movie came from the mind of a 10 year old trying to impress adults.

Great acting by Isabél Zuaa and Marjorie Estiano, good practical effects, a lot of creativity in the narrative, nice design. One of the best in the recent "wave" of Brazilian horror flicks.