Night Stage (Brasil, 2025)
Original title: Ato Noturno
Director: Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon
Screenplay: Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon
Main cast: Gabriel Faryas, Cirillo Luna, Henrique Barreira, Ivo Müller, Kaya Rodrigues, Larissa Sanguiné and Gabriela Grecco
Running time: 117 minutes
There’s a Brazilian saying that has even become a Carnaval costume: “liberal economy, conservative customs”, and unfortunately this is the reality for a large part of the country’s upper-middle class. What the new work by Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon seems to show us are the ultimate consequences of this saying in the lives of LGBTQIAPN+ people in the country.
The directing duo’s already a favorite at the Berlin Film Festival, having premiered most of their films there. In Night Stage we’re introduced to Matias (Gabriel Faryas), a theater actor who’s in a play with his roommate Fabio (Henrique Barreira), and with whom he’s also competing for a role in a TV series with national distribution. In his free time, he ends up going out with men he meets on dating apps, and that’s exactly what happens the night he meets Rafael (Cirillo Luna), who makes it clear that he only wants casual sex because he isn’t a ‘publicly homosexual person’. But the connection between them really happens when they discover they have a common fetish: sex in public places. We soon discover that Rafael is running for mayor of Porto Alegre, and that admitting to a relationship could make him lose popularity. But it’s too late for the two lovers, and a mix between drama and thriller begins while they continue to hide their relationship.
The directors once again show complete control over the audiovisual dimensions, managing to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat waiting for the next developments. With a script that gives small clues to keep us attentive to the events and scenes of tension – and excitement – that leave us equally tense with the possibility of them being discovered, we navigate this limit between desire and possibility, thinking about all the consequences if they are caught.
As in their previous works, photography plays an important creative role, with the play between light and shadow being particularly important to what they are doing. A queer touch is also incorporated with the colored lights, so present in the life of LGBT parties and which are also replicated in the apartment when necessary. The same goes for the entire set design, which manages to take advantage of the particularities of Porto Alegre, such as its grand staircases, but also always has a touch of modernity by adding costumes that stand out and even a completely fetishistic look.
With a well-known final speech, but which is nevertheless true, the work manages to maintain its element of tension from beginning to end and makes us like its characters, even though we know what their main flaws are. And now, we are left curious to know what the directors’ next project will be.
Translated by: Renata Torres
