I ONLY REST IN THE STORM

[O RISO E A FACA]
Pedro Pinho’s (THE NOTHING FACTORY) provocative, sprawling drama follows Sérgio (Sérgio Coragem), a Portuguese NGO worker sent to Guinea-Bissau to complete an environmental impact report on a proposed new highway. But Sérgio seems to spend most of his time and energy partying in the city with his new acquaintances Diára (Cleo Diára, who was named Best Actress in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival), who runs a bar, and Guilherme, or Gui (Jonathan Guilherme), a femme nonbinary Brazilian expat, both of whom Sérgio is smitten with. Sérgio’s work requires him to meet with a wide variety of stakeholders — from worldly, powerful business interests in the city to resilient villagers in the mangrove swamps — and to visit places where the globalized economy intersects, however problematically, such as a Chinese-run discotheque and brothel, staffed by West African women and catering to Portuguese and Brazilian workers. The Candide-like Sérgio is always affable in his explorations and interactions, though slow to comprehend the bigger picture, as several memorable local characters make him aware in witheringly delivered monologues. The resulting film is a trenchant and often surprising contemplation of neo-colonialism. –Todd Hitchcock

DIR/SCR/PROD Pedro Pinho; SCR Miguel Carmo, Paul Choquet, Luís Miguel Correia, José Filipe Costa, Luísa Homem, Marta Lança, Leonor Noivo, Miguel Seabra Lopes; SCR/PROD Tiago Hespanha; PROD Ioana Lascar, Filipa Reis, Radu Stancu. Portugal/Brazil/France/Romania, 2025, color, 211 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Note: contains images of explicit sexuality.

Run Time: 211 Minutes

Opening Date: Thursday, October 09, 2025

Genre: Adventure

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