Tags: blog, film, thriller, recommended, 2026

Author: KickingK

Date: Sunday March 01st, 2026

Butter the MacGuffin

This review will container mild spoilers. If you want a review without spoilers then: watch this, it's great.

I've been wrestling with this review for a week now as I'd much rather talk about films without giving away anything that would spoil the plot. But it's not possible to talk about what makes this film great without talking about what the film lacks: This is an espionage story without a MacGuffin. At least I mean that there possibly is one, there are regular teases and hints as to what might be driving everything. There are flash backs and a terrific framing device¹ but nothing definitive or conclusive. Even the main characters themselves don't seem entirely certain why it's all happening.

But then, they don't need to know. They know what's at stake: money, lives, power, principles, family and that's enough to give them something to fight for. And it's enough for us to understand why everything is playing out and to feel the rising heat from the stakes in play.

Oh yes, the heat. If The Balconnettes sizzled, this positively sears as we slowly crank up the temperature in 70's Brazil. The period detail is gorgeous, the cigarettes endless, the fashion far too much and worn sparingly and there's a sense that if you ran your finger over any surface you'd pick up a sheen of sweat. There's a sense of time and place that is almost physically palpable.

And then there's the music, oh the music. I could drown in this film's soundtrack. It makes a very strong argument that popular music absolutely peaked in Brazil in the nineteen seventies and never returned to those glories. I don't necessarily agree with that argument but it's impossible to come away from this film without thinking that the makers do have a point.

And so how does that leave the viewer, dangling a central mystery in front of us without ever resolving it? It's a very deliberate choice being made here, so what are the film makers trying to say?

I'm honestly not sure. My feeling is that this way the viewer can insert their own reasons. People who lived through, or were affected by the right-wing, military dictatorship of the time can put their own experiences into the film. Or maybe they don't need reasons either. The tenor of the film is such that these scenarios of corruption and subterfuge were completely normalised.

This isn't a spy thriller, It's a kitchen sink drama. Which is terrifying.

Poster Credit Where to Watch

1. The reveal of which is a magnificent, ice-cold glass of water thrown right in your face.

 ↩