Directed by: Guto Parente
Distributed by: TBA
Written by Alexander Reams
70/100
Throughout the pandemic, the motif of “coming home” permeated nearly every single social media post, text, or interaction. Being at home is safe, and when filmmaker David (Lucas Limeira) hears news of a virus infecting Brazil, he makes his way home to his village. Parente’s early sequences with David as he catches up with his friends carries a raw sensibility. This leads to some of the more effective scenes, the world crumbles and they sit on a beach and talk about David’s newest film. It’s an impactful moment while the quietness of small-town life colors each frame with a sense of life that only someone with real knowledge of the environment could capture and Parente does this in a wonderfully sensitive way.
Parente has concocted a film that is reminiscent of southern culture in America while being a whole-heartedly Brazilian tale. The thematic arc between David and his father is one of the strongest aspects of “A Strange Path” and the performance from Limeira as he reconnects with his father is uncomfortable to watch, but his thoughts that we are privy to allow for two versions of his father to emerge. Parente explores the facets of father and son in excruciating detail. This leads to a slowness within the film, breaking the trance that the film had set. The moment this culminates in is when David is finally out of options and his visceral response is enough to shatter Parente’s vision for a moment, but its effects are felt until the credits roll. “A Strange Path” is a strong film that is ultimately disconnected from the audience it wants to draw in.
“A Strange Path” was screened as part of the 2023 edition of the Tribeca Film Festival.
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