“Socrates” director Alexandre Moratto returns with “7 Prisoners,” a lean and intense moral thriller about a smart kid who finds trouble in São Paulo. The Brazilian hostage film world-premiered to acclaim at the Venice Film Festival and is now set to be released in theaters and on streaming globally from Netflix this November. The streaming giant is eyeing an Oscar push for the film as a strong contender for Best International Feature out of Brazil. Exclusive to IndieWire, watch the trailer for the film below.
Here’s the synopsis courtesy of Netflix:
18-year-old Mateus (Christian Malheiros) hopes to provide a better life for his working-class family in the countryside. Accepting a new job in São Paolo, he is shuttled into the city with a handful of other teenage boys from his town, unaware of what awaits them: exhausting work in a scrapyard and their identity cards seized by a vicious taskmaster and exploiter,...
Here’s the synopsis courtesy of Netflix:
18-year-old Mateus (Christian Malheiros) hopes to provide a better life for his working-class family in the countryside. Accepting a new job in São Paolo, he is shuttled into the city with a handful of other teenage boys from his town, unaware of what awaits them: exhausting work in a scrapyard and their identity cards seized by a vicious taskmaster and exploiter,...
- 9/15/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
, the second feature by filmmaker Alexandre Moratto (“Socrates”) hinges on the moral dilemma that confronts a poor 18-year-old farm worker after he trades the outskirts of Catanduva for the big city of São Paulo in order to send money back to his ailing mom.
The kid’s name is Mateus (“Socrates” lead Christian Malheiros), and he’s a rock-solid human who would do anything to support his family. It’s with evident reluctance that Mateus has agreed to leave home, and he winces when his mom presents him with a new shirt for the occasion — she could’ve bought an entire month’s worth of groceries for the same amount. Mateus is more accepting of the protective necklace she gives him for good luck, and the aviation magazine that his little sister offers with a similar degree of ceremony; with big dreams and a good head on his shoulders, there...
The kid’s name is Mateus (“Socrates” lead Christian Malheiros), and he’s a rock-solid human who would do anything to support his family. It’s with evident reluctance that Mateus has agreed to leave home, and he winces when his mom presents him with a new shirt for the occasion — she could’ve bought an entire month’s worth of groceries for the same amount. Mateus is more accepting of the protective necklace she gives him for good luck, and the aviation magazine that his little sister offers with a similar degree of ceremony; with big dreams and a good head on his shoulders, there...
- 9/7/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
An imprisoned teen tries to escape in 7 Prisoners, Netflix’s powerful addition to the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra category. But 18-year-old Mateus (Christian Malheiros) isn’t in a conventional prison: he’s working at a junkyard in Brazil’s São Paulo when his new boss, Luca (Rodrigo Santoro), locks him and his co-workers into the complex, playing mind games and demanding long hours. While some try to run for it, Mateus develops a strategy which involves impressing the boss and becoming his right hand man. But will the plan work, or will he be sucked into the other side of human trafficking?
It’s a gripping premise from director Alexandre Moratto, who co-wrote the screenplay with Thayná Mantesso. The writers take time to establish the characters, introducing Mateus as an ambitious young man who’s keen to send money home to his family in the country, before heading onto bigger things.
It’s a gripping premise from director Alexandre Moratto, who co-wrote the screenplay with Thayná Mantesso. The writers take time to establish the characters, introducing Mateus as an ambitious young man who’s keen to send money home to his family in the country, before heading onto bigger things.
- 9/6/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
Contrary to what its title might imply, director Alexandre Moratto’s sophomore feature “7 Prisoners” isn’t set in a correctional facility or during an armed conflict, but in the underbelly of urban Sao Paolo, Brazil. A lean, unflinching and acutely topical peek at modern-day slavery sold as an opportunity for economic advancement, this naturalistic thriller concerns a victim coerced into becoming a victimizer for survival.
Ripped from their rural hometowns with the promise of steady and well-remunerated work, a pack of young men without avenues for education head to the big city. They are neither the first nor the last, but merely part of a large operation. Mateus (Christian Malheiros), a Black 18-year-old, and three others arrive at a scrap-metal junkyard. A scruffy Rodrigo Santoro, a Hollywood regular back in his home country, plays the callous Luca, who welcomes them to their live-in positions stripping copper and sorting steel.
Ripped from their rural hometowns with the promise of steady and well-remunerated work, a pack of young men without avenues for education head to the big city. They are neither the first nor the last, but merely part of a large operation. Mateus (Christian Malheiros), a Black 18-year-old, and three others arrive at a scrap-metal junkyard. A scruffy Rodrigo Santoro, a Hollywood regular back in his home country, plays the callous Luca, who welcomes them to their live-in positions stripping copper and sorting steel.
- 9/6/2021
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
Driven by the sort of passion that is the province of the young and a finely worked central performance from Christian Malheiros made all the more remarkable by the fact that it marks his screen debut, Socrates sees a young man struggling to cope with grief and poverty.
Made by director Alexandre Moratto (writing with Thayná Mantesso), with a teenage crew from the Unicef-supported Quero Institute, which aims to improve social inclusion for youngsters but like the acting performance from Malheiros, there's barely a trace of inexperience on display. It's a lean slice of life, shot through with the sort of humanism the Dardennes brothers have made their stock-in trade, which wastes little time, beginning, as it does, with the death of Socrates' mother - a moment of shock for him and for us.
The youngster may look older than his 15 years and be willing to work at his mother's old.
Made by director Alexandre Moratto (writing with Thayná Mantesso), with a teenage crew from the Unicef-supported Quero Institute, which aims to improve social inclusion for youngsters but like the acting performance from Malheiros, there's barely a trace of inexperience on display. It's a lean slice of life, shot through with the sort of humanism the Dardennes brothers have made their stock-in trade, which wastes little time, beginning, as it does, with the death of Socrates' mother - a moment of shock for him and for us.
The youngster may look older than his 15 years and be willing to work at his mother's old.
- 9/2/2020
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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