A mother is forced to reinvent herself when her family’s life is shattered by an act of arbitrary violence during the tightening grip of a military dictatorship in Brazil, 1971.

The last of the Best Picture Oscar nominees to be released in the UK is ‘I’m Still Here’, a superb Brazilian drama about one families quest for truth and justice during the 1970s military dictatorship. It comes from director Walter Salles, who has previous pedigree with the likes of ‘Central Station’ and ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’, and this is right up there with his very best. Based on a true story, it focuses on the forced disappearance of former congressman Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), and the impact this has on the rest of his family, led by a brilliant performance from Fernanda Torres as his wife Eunice Paiva.

‘I’m Still Here’ begins by introducing us to Eunice and Rubens and their five children, who live a happy bohemian life by the beach in Rio de Janeiro, where their lives are initially largely untouched by the military regime. That changes one day, when armed men turn up at the house and take Rubens in for questioning, which will turn out to be the last time Eunice or her children see their father. The movie can broadly be split into two parts (or maybe three), before Rubens disappearance, and after. The ’before’ sequences are incredibly important for setting the scene and giving us time to get to know the family, all the more powerful for the foreknowledge of what is about to come, and the ‘after’ sequences are as crushing and heartbreaking as you can imagine. There’s a beautiful pair of contrasting scenes in a local ice cream restaurant, the second of which in particular is a phenomenal piece of cinema and a brilliant showcase for Fernanda Torres brilliant performance.

There is a lot to love about this movie, not least Fernanda Torres remarkable performance, who is its undoubted biggest asset, but I think its core power comes in how it manages to tell an important political and historical story through a personal lens with such skill. ‘Disappearances’ are one of the cruelest acts that have been carried out in wars or under military regimes, as not only does it kill the person, but it denies the family closure and restricts the ability to grieve and consider moving on. ‘I’m Still Here‘ shows that impact acutely on the Paiva family, with Torres subtle performance depicting a woman who must hold back her fear, anger and despair for the sake of her young family.

I mentioned it’s a movie in 2 or 3 parts, and the 3^rd part is a couple of sections that take place many years later as Eunice and the family are older and are living in a new and more open Brazil. Did we need these sections to continue the story? Possibly not, but I was so invested in these characters that I wanted to continue their story, and it also allowed space for a brief appearance by Torres mother in real life, Fernanda Montenegro, as the older version of Eunice. ‘I’m Still Here’ is an intensely profound and moving film that finds deeper meaning in Brazil’s past through the experiences of one family, and it is the best film of 2025 so far.

Rating: 5/5

Directed By: Walter Salles

Starring: Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Guilherme Silveira, Valentina Herszage, Luiza Kosovski, Barbara Luz, Cora Mora and Fernanda Montenegro

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt14961016/