Time: 138 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Violence, offensive language & nudity
Cast:
Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva
Fernanda Montenegro as Eunice Paiva (older)
Selton Mello as Rubens Paiva
Director: Walter Salles

I was interested in watching I’m Still Here. I knew that it was an awards contender, mainly for lead actress Fernanda Torres, but the film itself got some attention too, even getting a Best Picture nomination. It lived up to all the acclaim.

I did know that I’m Still Here was based on true events and a true story about a family’s life affected by the military dictatorship of Brazil, but I wasn’t familiar with this period of history. However, I do really think that the movie really captured the suffering of being there at that time. In the first act, it really immerses you in the life of the main family, establishing them before the story takes a turn. It is an honest, raw, riveting, and powerful true story about love, loss, grief and hope, and is a story about a family’s strength and resilience during a dictatorship. For me the biggest issues come towards the end. Much of the movie takes place in the 1970s but due to some necessary reasons it jumps forward a couple of times. Those jumps were a little jarring and there’s some context and details that are skipped, in contrast to what came before in which the movie really took its time with things.

The acting is incredible from everyone, but it mainly comes down to Fernanda Torres as Enuice Paiva, all the acclaim surrounding her work here was more than deserving. You are right there with her through the whole story, and Torres is a force of nature. Through her understated, naturalistic, and devastating acting, you really feel all the pain the real life person went through. One of the very best performances of 2024.

Walter Salles’s direction is very strong. It is visually beautiful, and the cinematography, editing and score do really well to make so many moments hit even harder.

I’m Still Here is among the best movies of the year; powerful, greatly directed and with an incredible performance from Fernanda Torres.