O Animal Cordial

A restaurant robbery goes wrong in this unpredictable and violent thriller, if you're expecting a more crowd pleasing movie maybe this won't be the best recommendation since this is an often slow and uncomfortable experience (it has one of the most bizarre sex scenes I've seen in a while) but, if you're looking for something less conventional it may surprise. I like how it handles social commentary and the cast is strong, however, the script kinda stumbles at the last act with a rushed and full of holes conclusion that may annoy more than disturb. Still liked it, but with caveats.

A delicious carnage, not that I expected it, definitely a pleasant surprise, to the sound of an intense soundtrack, which alternates terror, mystery and irony, magnificent direction by Gabriela Amaral Almeida, the sex scene was one of the most bizarre, bloody and practically perfect I have ever seen, pure poetry, an absurd casting, adorable dialogues, some plot holes (we overlooked) impeccable performances by Luciana Paes and Irandhir Santos and everyone involved, absurd, dramatic and intriguing...

A restaurant owner goes beyond when an armed robbery is attempted in his establishment. He holds everyone at gunpoint - criminals and customers - and the situations erode into a nightmarish state, guided by manipulation and raw compulsion.

I wanted to like it more. Regardless of my opinion, if you are a big fan of one location/psychological drama thriller movies, you will probably like it. I did like it up to a point, unfortunately some things didn't make much sense and the ending was definitely a failure. I can't be more specific because i don't wanna give a spoiler : The problem here is that this movie is simultaneously realistic and non realistic at all. I would be ok if the director had chosen a direction but he didn't. On one hand, this is a thrilling drama, tough to watch and the viewer can understand a thing or two about their motives and why some of them lost their mind . One the other, it plays like an arthouse drama during the last 20 minutes, movie lost its plausibility, there is no common sense anymore and the characters are too bizzarre and weird. It ain't real anymore, it's like an art/dream- like movie.

I could live with either direction, however that didn't happen and the movie was not cohesive anymore but chaos and mess.

Still, this is definitely not bad and if you don't mind violence and morally gray characters, you will like it, if you like this genre.

Bear in mind that this is low budget, this is quite crazy and characters may not act as you would want them to. There is violence, there is terror, there is nudity! There are quite a lot of crazy things going on and even if you listen to the directors commentary, you may not agree or get all the reasons for the things that are happening here.

Having said that and having a heart for movies with a low budget, this is quite interesting. Well made overall, even with the flaws that may or may not interest you or bother you one way or the other. The disc I had, also had some shorts from the director which gives us even more insight to her work and what she tries to tell and how she entertains an audience. Overall shock value is given, but it also has an interesting story

This was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Screenplay very unrelated, only studio scenes, caricature characters and unnecessary violence. A terrible option.