Brazilian movies you should watch (just sayin')

27 Aug, 2025

I've been getting back into watching movies, and for the first time, I'm considering rewatching stuff more frequently. I'm not a big fan of this, but now there are a couple of favorites that I'd really like to experience with a more mature perspective. That of course means revisiting a few of my favorite Brazilian movies, and since they don't get half the love they deserve (not even nationally, save for a few exceptions), I thought I might as well put this list out there for the (anglophone) world to see.

For some of the trailers I've linked you're gonna need to turn on auto captions and auto translation for them, but whenever I could, I included ones with quality, human-made subtitles.

So without further ado, here's a list of Brazilian movies you should watch (in no particular order):

• Bacurau (2019): One of my favorite recent movies. It's tagged as contemporary western by IMDb, and I wouldn't disagree much on this front. But it's also a sci-fi movie. And a mind-fuck. And it's like they say in Bacurau: if you go, go in peace. Trailer here.
• White Out, Black In (2014): the most awesome, wildest low-budget sci-fi you'll ever watch. It deals with racism and race dynamics in Brazil, but with time travel and a lot of 1980s vibes and a great soundtrack. Trailer here.
• The Second Mother (2015): in Portuguese, it's titled "At what time does she come back?", it's a masterful portrayal of social class dynamics in Brazil. There are so many subtleties in the dialogue, the way the characters move and interact with each other, but hopefully this isn't lost to a foreign viewer. Trailer here.
• Lisbela and the Prisoner (2003): a national favorite, and I must agree. This is a whimsical tale about love, set in the backlands of the Brazilian sertão in the 1950s. It's camp and brega and beautiful and you should watch it and thank me later. Trailer here.
• Divine Love (2019): a hidden gem of Brazilian cyberpunk-ish sci-fi. I love this kind of mundane dystopian future where everything is the same but not -- it shows that we're already living it, the so-called dystopia. Trailer here.
• Good Manners (2017): here's some dark, urban, Brazilian fantasy for you. It's folk horror done right, if you ask me. I love the reduced cast and setting of this one. Minimalist in narrative, huge in impact. Trailer here.
• Friendly Beast (2017): this I don't recommend for the faint of heart. It's hardcore horror, gruesome and violent. Not usually my cup of tea, but I kind of enjoyed it and it's a really unique one in the roster of Brazilian movies. You'll either hate it or love it, so watch it at your own risk. Trailer here.

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