Underage – Season 1
Director: Caru Alves de Souza
Screenplay: Caru Alves de Souza e Nara Marinho
Main cast: William Costa, Taciana Bastos, Carlota Joaquina, Giulia Del Bel, Grace Orsato, Benjamín Damini e Luan Carvalho
Season 1: 6 episodes
After the success of the feature film Underage (2013), which also won the Rio Festival, Caru Alves de Souza uses a new format to explore the absurdities that occur in relation to minors in the country. Having access to only two episodes, it’s clear that she’s creative in rethinking formats and creating a series with a unique and contemporary style.
At the beginning of each episode, the group of actors draws lots to see who will play each role in that scene, and there’s even an alternation between these roles. They then go on stage in a theater and, using only the resources available, create the scenes proposed by the creator and director. We, as the audience, know about all this preparation and sometimes even see the behind-the-scenes preparation for the scenes. In other words, part of her style is to make the recording mechanism clear and to make us join in the scene to follow the events.
The two episodes we watched play with the genre of a game show and a musical film, which adds another layer of distance from reality – making it clear that the proposal is not really naturalistic. So, the classic elements of these genres are used to generate humor, which brings the audience even closer. At the same time, the recurring character (who I imagine is in every episode) of the clerk brings real data about the Brazilian justice system that makes us reflect on this reality.
In other words, it’s a series that changes its language a little in each episode, but always brings a tone of humor and an important social critique. For a viewer who wants a series that will never leave them bored, this will be an excellent option.
Máquinas de Oxigênio (Não) Cairão Automaticamente – Season 1
Director: Marcelo Gomes and Carol Minêm
Screenplay: Patricia Corso e Leonardo Moreira
Main cast: Andréia Horta, Johnny Massaro, Bruna Linzmeyer, Duda Matte, Lucas Drummond, Ícaro Silva and Alessandro Moussa
Season 1: 5 episodes
Doing something that has already proven to be a success for Morena Filmes with the series The Endless Night (available on Netflix), the new proposal of the producer is to once again be inspired by a real story to create a fictional series. In this case, the story of a group of flight attendants who, upon realizing that the first AIDS medications had not been approved in Brazil, began to traffic them here. Under the command of Fernando (Johnny Massaro) and with the help of his best friend Léa (Bruna Linzmeyer), they begin to provide this service for the LGBTQIAPN+ community in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to this super interesting story that isn’t well known to the general public (I myself had never heard of it), something that is very surprising in the series is the adaptation of the time period, from the use of cars and clothes from the 1980s to exploring a little of the LGBTQIAPN+ universe at a time when this was not openly portrayed, due to a homophobia that was much less veiled than it is today.
But, even more importantly, the series manages to shed light on a very important subject: the HIV crisis in Brazil in the 1980s, which took the lives of many important people. Of course, the public remembers people like Cazuza, who used his status as a public figure as a platform for raising awareness, but unfortunately the data from the last few decades are haunting us again – especially considering infections caused by negligence in the health sector. Even though it’s much more treatable nowadays, it’s important to show the full impact that occurred here, as well as, even if fictionally, to give its victims a personality.
The two main actors are exceptional in the episodes watched, with the ability to charm the audience from the very first minutes. There’s a great alternation between more dramatic scenes and more fun scenes, making the overall atmosphere of the work not as heavy as one might initially think. Obviously, given the subject matter, it cannot be said that it’s light either.
With no release date yet, the series created great expectations for its premiere.
