Good Manners (film)

Good Manners (Portuguese: As Boas Maneiras) is a 2017 Brazilian film written and directed by Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas and starring Isabél Zuaa and Marjorie Estiano.

Good Manners
Directed byMarco Dutra
Juliana Rojas
Written byMarco Dutra
Juliana Rojas
StarringIsabél Zuaa
Marjorie Estiano
Release date
  • August 6, 2017 (2017-08-06) (Locarno)
CountryBrazil

The film is about a woman named Clara who takes a job as a housekeeper and nanny for a wealthy woman, only to realize that the job and the pregnancy are more complicated than she originally believed.

The film premiered at the 70th Locarno International Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize.[1]

Plot

Clara (Isabél Zuaa) interviews for a nanny job despite having no experience or references. Just as she is about to be turned down for the job, the woman interviewing her, Ana, experiences cramping. A sympathetic Clara guides her through the pain, and Ana decides to hire her as a live-in housekeeper and future nanny.

On her 29th birthday Ana gets drunk and reveals to Clara that she is estranged from her family. Originally engaged to one man, she cheated on him and conceived a child from her affair. Her parents sent her to the city to have an abortion, but after she refused to go through with it, they cut off contact with her.

Ana is ordered by her doctors not to consume meat. One night Clara finds her rifling through the fridge. When Clara tries to guide her to bed, Ana kisses her, but then scratches her hard enough to draw blood. The following morning Ana does not appear to remember the incident.

Clara realizes that the incident might be connected to the full moon. The following full moon, Ana passionately kisses Clara and the two have sex. Later that night Ana sleepwalks again. Clara witnesses her murdering a cat and eating it. The following day Clara tells Ana about her sleepwalking. She also puts some of her blood into Ana's meal in order to alleviate her desire for blood and her sleepwalking.

On the following full moon night, Ana's cramping worsens. Before Clara can call for help, Ana's stomach ruptures. Ana is killed, but her baby, a werewolf pup, survives. Clara initially decides to run away and abandon the baby, but then she changes her mind upon hearing the child's cries and decides to raise it herself, giving it the name Joel.

Seven years later, Clara works as a nurse and is raising Joel as her own. To protect him, she has raised him as a vegetarian and chains him up in what is known as "the Small Room" during full moons. After Clara's landlady gives Joel meat one day, he becomes aggressive with Clara and searches through her things, where he uncovers a photo of Ana. Clara reluctantly admits that Ana is his birth mother, but insists that she does not know who his father is.

Joel decides to look for his father, the only clue being a receipt from a shopping mall where Ana bought shoes. He and his friend Mauricio go to the mall, but they are locked in when they decide to stay inside past closing time. As it is still a full moon, Joel transforms into a werewolf, causing him to attack and kill Mauricio. He returns home alone but is seen by Clara's landlady, who discovers his secret and wants to perform an exorcism on him (as Joel's traits are affected by his transformation). Clara injects the landlady with an anasthetic and then decides to run away with Joel, but in a fit of confusion and anger (as he does not fully remember his actions as a werewolf), he locks her in the Small Room. Joel tries to attend a dance with his classmate Amanda, but once again transforms, not before realizing what he really is and asking her to leave. Clara, who has managed to escape, shoots him in the leg before he can kill again, but keeps him alive.

Clara takes Joel home and removes the bullet, healing the wound. Meanwhile, a terrified Amanda tells the locals what happened, leading them to hunt Joel down, tracking down his and Clara's apartment (though it is implied Amanda doesn't want them to go through with it). With a lullaby Ana sang earlier in the film, Clara manages to tame Joel so that he does not attack her. She finally decides that she can't keep him locked up and hungry. As the locals bang on the door, Clara and Joel prepare to face them together as Joel lets out one final howl.

Cast


Reception

The film received a score of 95% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and a 73 from Metacritic indicating positive reviews.[2][3]

References
  1. KESLASSY, ELSA. "Distrib Films US Acquires Locarno's Jury Prize Winning 'Good Manners' (EXCLUSIVE)". Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  2. "GOOD MANNERS (AS BOAS MANEIRAS)". Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. "Good Manners 2018". Retrieved 21 December 2019.
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