Opiniones de usuarios

First of all, this movie is mostly in English so don't get scared off by it being Portuguese. The leads both do a commendable job with average dialogue and plot.

Those things really aren't the main reason to watch. It's the creep factor for me. Super freaky mother character with really good prosthetic make-up that steals the show.

The story is also very creepy and I believe is Portuguese folklore. About the witch mother - no more details here you'll have to watch it. You'll find out pretty quick that the house is not going to be a fun place to visit.

Overall it's a good film, not great. Enjoyable horror and well acted. 6.4/10.

I mean, what can I even say about this movie that I absolutely despised? Can I talk about the good elements of it, the parts I enjoyed, the parts that worked to create an interesting narrative? I wish I could, but I honestly can't think of a single redeemable quality in this entire film. The characters were unlikable, the story wanted to be grotesque but wouldn't show you anything to actually induce fear, and even the cinematography was basic and had no passion. The times the movie wanted to be creepy were so few and far between, that the only thing that ended up being truly nightmare inducing was Amelia's face after years of cosmetic surgery.

It's truly incredible how you have a movie about a witch that has children with her own sons and then eats them to regain her youth, a horrifying premise in and of itself, and you end up making the most mundane and least scary movie possible. I just don't understand how this even happened. It's like the creative team read the premise and then decided to not ruffle any feathers, not offend anyone, and not really create anything truly horrific, instead opting to alude to the witch and use dream sequences to sometimes show what she does, but never having the cojones to actually do it.

This is the worst kind of horror movie to me. A movie that uses a great premise but ends up yielding a tame, inoffensive movie where nothing really scary happens, everything is suggested and not actually shown, and the conclusion ties nothing together, leaving the viewer to wonder why he even wasted and hour and a half of his life on this movie. I really wish I would have read reviews for this film beforehand, as I would have wanted to be warned before investing my precious time on a film that wouldn't enrich my life in any way.

This is why I'm writing this review, to save as many of you from watching this movie as possible. Do not make the same mistake as I did, as life is way too short to spend it watching these types of movies that contribute nothing of value to your life. Read a book, take a walk, listen to your favorite album on repeat. Anything is preferable to watching this film.

In Portugal we trust!

For fans of European psychological horror films, this film is fresh meat.

The atmosphere of the film is really uncomfortable, and we are sucked in by the mystery of the plot, which remains easily fixed until the end.

Alba Baptista had little screen time, but listen to me, this woman deserves more roles in horror films.

It succeeds in delivering deeply unsettling imagery and ideas, and effectively utilizes its runtime well despite the film's very slow pace.

While the film does feel very slow at times, I can respect the fact that its attempts to tell a very complex and disturbing story, which it manages to accomplish with great precision.

As a Portuguese, I was afraid the film wouldn't be what I expected, but this is what we needed and what our COUNTRY needs.

After the crazy "Diamantino," Gabriel Abrantes opted for a conventional horror film. Kind of. As a horror fan, I can only thank him. And for a first work... it's not bad at all to start with one of the best works of the genre in the Portuguese language.

In the story, in New York, Edward (Carloto Cotta) lives peacefully with his girlfriend, Ryley (Bridgette Lindy-Paine). In search of his biological family, Edward ends up discovering he has a brother and a mother in Portugal, but soon realizes that uncovering his origins can be quite dangerous.

There's some excellent work here in introducing the plot and creating mystery. The film begins with a strong opening scene in the past (with Alba Baptista as the young mother) and then transitions to the present, initially presenting us with the main couple in a comprehensive yet not overly expository manner. These are the two best-developed, most well-rounded characters, greatly aided by the excellent performances of Carloto Cotta (who plays two very distinct roles) and Bridgette Lindy-Paine. Lindy-Paine, in particular, carries the film more than expected, always being the character who pieces together the plot. Anabela Moreira's outstanding work should also be highlighted; even covered in makeup, she manages to shine in the role of the most enigmatic character, the mother of the brothers.

The way Abrantes handles the genre is quite interesting, adding some dashes of humour (although some of the audience seemed to think it was purely a comedy) and blending in elements of traditional Portuguese folklore, as well as incorporating social commentary related to family and romantic relationships with a good dose of madness.

The soundtrack is excellent, as is all the work on the sound effects heightening the tension of the movie. From a visual perspective, the outstanding production design stands out (the interior spaces look like works of art), and the cinematography, especially in the darker scenes, is noteworthy. At times, the film leans into some genre clichés-several characters following voices in the dark, dreams within dreams, and more dreams-but it manages to rise above them by always keeping us entertained and engaged, concluding with a very strong third act.

=== Disclaimer! This is not a serious review. ===

Watched purely because crushing on Carloto Cotta :- )

Well, the wig and the w__ker hipster accent was quite funny. A lot of things seemed funny but I genuinely couldn't tell you where to draw the line on how much of it was intentional. I'm also easily scared so all in all, I was watching it like, okay, this is ridiculous but scary.

So the premise that it can be um.. tricky to get on with your family is nothing new - I do indeed have relatives, duh. But the film offered me another perspective: dealing not only with my own family but the family of my (hypothetical) partner. Currently single, I sometimes imagine what it'd be like in a new relationship. You know, you get a nice boyfriend (not with *that* accent but anyway). And he's good-looking, of Portuguese descent, and everything's fine but then, his weird bloody relatives enter the stage... And there you are, complaining to your friend on the phone how you're having trouble cos' they have too much influence over him, etc, etc. Say what you want, that IS scary to me!

Overall, if you don't take it too seriously it's a fun film for a one-time watch. Consider it a horror with the elements of comedy.

P. S. The accent is not real, as in they used a voice-over actor for it. And somehow the thought that my fave Carloto couldn't physically sound like that gives me comfort <3.

This is probably one of the best portuguese movies I've watched so far. Everything feels genuine - the chemistry between the characters is palpable and there are truly hilarious moments.

You can sense a constant shift between funny and spooky throughout the movie, and that felt like I was in a rollercoaster. It was very entertaining to watch and I'm curious to see how a non-Portuguese audience might react to this movie, since it has multiple references to our country.

The dancing scenes and the soundtrack fits just perfectly and the ending was solid. Can't wait to watch this again, hopefully soon.

While filmed well enough and looking at least somewhat polished, there is one element that make Amelia's Children more unintentionally laughable than scary.... While there is great cinematography and some great effects, the main antagonist has this laughably gross look that detracts more than it gives, especially during some of the more significant scenes. The bits of blood are at least done well enough and there is some polish to how scenes look. Night scenes almost have that sense of terror, with some selectively great suspense-building shots and just enough lighting to see what's going on, except again the laughably comical looking antagonist.

Acting is more miss than hit. Performances across the board were wooden, with only a few moments of true acting range during heightened tensions. I wish there was more to say here..... The story is, likewise, barebones and all-too-familiar. Once the bits of backstory come about, you've already guessed most of it and the rest is far too easy to predict..... The soundtrack is a bit too repetitive as well, with far too many similar sounding compositions popping up. Sound effects are only around for specific bits and don't add anything to the scene either.

If you really, really, want to watch a movie with a laughably bad looking antagonist, then I guess Amelia's Children would be the one to watch. Otherwise there isn't much going for it, aside from some great visuals.

Edward (Carloto Cotta) has been searching for his biological family to no avail. He does an online DNA test which connects to his twin Manuel in Portugal. He and his girlfriend Riley (Brigette Lundy-Paine) travel to the remote mountain home of Manuel and their elderly mother.

This is slow. It's a small horror from Portugal and it feels inconsequential. I thought they would do something with the twin aspect, but they leave it to the final reveal which is very anti-climatic. They need to reveal it sooner and have fun with the consequences. As for the mother, there is some janky makeup going on. I get the Benjamin Button idea, but she would be better as forever young. This is a poor effort.

No pun intended - and not even close to the "not without my daughter" I am riffing off. This is quite different from that - I mean this is a horror movie, so you got a major difference already! That said - let's focus on what the movie is actually about: family, aging, death and legacy. The movie made me think - about a possible future about the unstoppable ... row of time.

Not really a feel good sentimentality I am putting out there. But it is what it is - which is also true about the story the movie offers - as in predictable! I don't even think you have to have watched many movies to get where this is going.

The characters seem to need a bit longer to get the obvious I reckon. One of the actors doing double duty (well actually the mother in a way too, but differently, as in being only one character) ... and the one character he is playing is quite out there .... the main characters make fun of him - but not sure that is enough to make away the cringe you may feel.

A few good shockers, a few completely unnecessary scenes (a signing that really has no merit and no excuse being in the movie - unless there is some deleted footage that would tie or explain its existence) ... overall it does have the right themes and might give you a horrible feeling ... just maybe not the one you were looking for ...

Well to put it lightly this movie definitely isn't anywhere near as good as I was hoping it was going to be, and honestly just a whole lot freakier than I ever expected as well.. which probably could work for other people but the mixture of coming out of practically nowhere and also having very little of it in general, I was disappointed on pretty much every front here for what the movie was attempting to do. It wasn't scary enough to warrant anything more than mediocre remarks on that side, wasn't well acted enough either to make the slog of following these characters the least bit enjoyable in my opinion, and it also just wasn't nearly as freaky as it should've been to even make that aspect of it enjoyable.. it was somehow far too tame and boring despite having some really insane moments and one wild storyline... and that is the biggest disappointment of all here. Although; if I was to give this movie one singular positive note, it would be that I do really like what they were TRYING to do here, director Gabriel Abrantes clearly had a vision and I applaud him going for it and I presume trying his best.. and despite their execution falling incredibly flat in my eyes I can still give them their props for at the very least attempting to do something new and interesting in the horror genre. I feel like this movie wasn't at all marketed like what it turned out to be, from the one trailer for it that I saw it really did seem to be a possession type story but ended up instead being based upon a Portuguese fairy tale that gets unbelievably freaky with the way it is depicted, and that's both a good and a bad thing here. The good is that the premise is at the heart of it all very compelling, while the bad is that like I mentioned not too long ago... it's not executed all that well in the end. Another thing that this movie did slightly better than the rest, although definitely not something that I feel very confident giving the role of a 'positive', is the acting. For the most part I would say that this movies acting is pretty much serviceable and not horrendous at any notable point in time, however it's still not the best and there are many many moments here where I could easily tell that either the script or the actors themselves weren't the greatest and it certainly dragged the quality of the movie itself down quite a bit for me. Obviously the most notable person in the entire cast here is our main lead, who is played pretty wonderfully by Brigette Lundy-Paine who I have seen prior to this film but for some reason just instagram, great acting from them and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance even if it wasn't outstanding or anything. The next actress here who I utterly adored, was of course the titular Amelia played by Alba Baptista who is phenomenal in the role and easily the best actor present here, also the makeup goes insane and I loved it.. which is another reason why she has the best role - creepy as all hell both in mannerisms and also just visuals which is a great pair. Finally, Carloto Cotta was okay in his dual roles, impressive I'll give him that but it was for sure the weakest performance in the whole thing sadly. Now it's time to talk about what I can easily consider to be the worst part of this movie which I somewhat touched on earlier, and that's the fact that it's just so unbelievably boring to watch and I really wish I could say otherwise but the process of watching this movie is genuinely somewhat painful due to just how little of actual intrigue happens throughout the first hour and fifteen minutes of it; albeit there are moments here and there that kind of lean more toward being good like the actual 'horror' elements of the film and the aforementioned makeup, but again the biggest problem with these things is that even though I do like them.. they either aren't on screen nearly enough in this thing, or are entirely useless to the story. The actual tense moments of this film almost entirely happen within dream sequences of visions of things that never actually happen, and to top it off we can barely even get to see anything occurring even within these moments.. which is truly just disappointing to me, especially when the structure of this film should have been an easy home run to make something at the very least stupidly entertaining. Though; they do the one thing here that has killed more horror movies as of late than anything else I have witnessed, and that is being utterly boring and sluggish to watch.. despite only being just around ninety minutes this movie sometimes feels like it goes on for an eternity, and that wouldn't be such a bad thing if the stuff within it was at all engaging or even scary to watch... sadly it's not. I really had high hopes for this movie to be something great but like I should seriously come to expect by now, especially from horror movies, it didn't reach those expectations in the slightest... if I'm being entirely honest here both the trailer and the poster for this movie are far far better than the actual movie itself which is depressing to say. Although; despite not really liking this movie really all that much and just viewing it as a fairly watchable and overall adequate project, I do still think there are some phenomenal things to take away from a movie such as this; obviously the actors for one clearly have the ability to do much better and I would wholeheartedly like to see them in more things to fully appreciate their talents, also the premise here itself is very interesting and has clear potential to be something outstanding but with the direction and writing here it just didn't get to fulfill that vision so I do hope someone else can take a jab at something similar and hopefully do a better job in the end. All in all, while I don't hate this movie by any means, I just don't really think it's worth spending over an hour of your life on unless you are in desperate need of a horror film (this honestly leads much more into psychological thriller), like freaky premises which this most definitely has, or are unbelievably bored. If you're not falling under those categories, don't watch this, I don't recommend it.

If you like films by John Waters, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, and David Cronenberg, you will love this film. But you have to like all of those directors in combination to really appreciate this film. If you fall into that category, I would stop reading any further reviews and just watch the film and enjoy the ride.

In those 90 mins I found myself creeped out, laughing out loud, and jumping out of my seat., Despite all its creepiness, the story is well written, poetically balanced, and well filmed. And that MOTHER is one hell of a character! I still can't get her out of my mind.

The acting, especially from the female cast, is also good.

If you need a reference, one film which can compare to this films creepiness, is: Baker, Butcher, Nightmare Maker (1981)

For some reason, I was really excited to see this, even though I had no idea what the movie was about going into it. We follow Edward, who is searching for his biological family in Portugal. Along with him is his girlfriend, Riley, and soon they arrive at Edward's long-lost mother Amelia's villa. While Edward seems to adjust to his new family, Riley starts noticing questionable things and begins digging deeper into Amelia's history.

The movie has a rather simple setup, and it chooses to stick to that path. There are no real surprises, as it's clear early on that either something is wrong with Amelia, or Riley is worrying for no reason at all. The narrative just drags on, and while the production value looks solid and the movie looks fine in a technical sense, it's simply dull. If you're a seasoned horror fan, you've likely seen movies like this a hundred times. This one doesn't do much to stand out in the pile of average horror films, which is disappointing because I was expecting more.

There's not much else to say, except that the result turned out average at best. While it's not a complete disaster, you could easily skip this one. [4.8/10]

I have it 3 stars because Carloto Cotta plays 2 or 3 people which I thought was cool. And as much as I hate Brigette Lundy Paine (simply because I cannot get on board with the they them movement while I'm referring to 1 single person) I do have to admit she is a great actress and has done some good things as an activist. So as far as casting they got a star and the story line was okay. But that's about it, I feel like the movie could've been titles "A few Dumb Decisions in Portugal" and it would've spoke to the movie more... "Let's fly to Portugal to meet people we don't know" dumb decision

"The cars gps in Portugal isn't working... do you know where you're going?" A dumb question

"This contract is in Portuguese so I can't read it but, where do I sign? Do you have a pen?" Mind blowing

"I saw a weird creature in the garage I won't run away instead of run away I'll crouch down" why?

"Your moms doing your brother and u have crazy information about what I saw but I'll wait until tomorrow night to tell him" why not tell him immediately...

"She also went jogging through the woods in Portugal when she's American which isn't safe by any account. Another dumb decision

That's just a few of the dumb stuff I saw in the movie but you get the picture... nothing new and not executed well either...

How people don't love this film is beyond me.

Because, for a year that saw When Evil Lurks pop off...I just don't understand how this ultra creepy, explosive, darkly magical, wild ride hasn't done the same.

Because it is definitely wild.

The whole thing starts off with a child snatching...that has you questioning the intentions of the snatchers...when you see that they have left the child abandoned on the steps of a church.

At first, you think it has something to do with a cult...and, well...maybe it does in a sense...but not remotely in the way you are led to believe.

Because what ensues delves deep in the taboo, in the way that films like Max Mon Amour, The Baby, and Last Stop On The Night Train have in the past...in that they exploit dark and bizarre fetishes that some people clearly can't handle engaging with.

With the plot of this film revolving around mother-son incest.

In a way, you can't help but think about it's affinity with Barbarian...though, in reality, it is a different sort of animal entirely.

Whose truth is unlocked via an engagement with the obsessive art of Spanish painter Francisco De Goya.

Who is considered to be the "Last of the Old Masters, and First of the Moderns"...which, one might argue, acts as a metaphor for this film as a whole.

As we watch the "stolen son" track down his long lost family, in Portugal, after having been raised as an adoptee in America.

He travels, with his girlfriend, to the stately mansion of his forebearers, to meet his aging mother, and the brother he never knew.

Only for things to get, well...quickly weird...to say the least.

As he gets, unwillingly, sucked into a world he never wished for.

While his girlfriend tries to help them escape from a situation she senses isn't quite "right".

With, what ensues being as weird, creepy, and explosive as you could want in a slow burn horror film.

I don't want to give too much away here...because...unlocking it's secrets, yourself, is half the fun!

But I assure you, you won't be disappointed.

That is, unless you have an aversion to the taboo.

But then...why are you even watching horror movies, anyways!?

This is such an underrated film.

And certainly one of the best horror films that 2023 had to offer.

8 out of 10.

I hope you like to hear crying babies if you want to watch this garbage. You'll hear a lot of crying babies. This movie is so boring it beyond dull. For the longest time nothing at all happens and then it's over. What is wrong with you screen writers. Do you really think people want to hear babies screaming and crying. How could you watch this and think this was good enough to release? You are either blind or get entertained by watching grass grow if you thought this was ready to be released. And that's all besides the fact that this story has been done a hundred times and done much better than this.

Ok so I usually don't write a review but I love to read them. Most of the time I read people's reviews mainly for entertainment purposes but after watching this movie I believe it is my duty to write this.

This is one of the weirdest movies I have watched in a long time. Weird in the sense of unwatchable dumpster fire but I'll stop myself there first. They made a good looking trailer that caught my attention like it was supposed to. As I watched the movie I started to wonder how it am I going to give it 2 stars if it is so bad, the location for most of the movie was beautiful.

Then you get to the acting, script, and plot, just no good, not even a good attempt accept the main character I'll kind of give a minor pass for trying to play two characters at the same time.

Look I watched it, I can't give it back, all I can say is you have been warned.