We first meet Eunice, her husband Rubens, a former congressman, and their five children, at a beachfront house in 1970 Rio de Janeiro. Their world is full of friends and laughter; books and art; cigars, whisky and celebration.
Then one afternoon, men with guns and sour faces arrive at the door. They’ve come, they say, for Rubens. Who they are and where they take him remains a mystery.
Hours turn to days and we witness a woman realising the world has changed for ever. For the sake of her family and her own sanity, Eunice puts on a brave face and one of her many immaculately chic trouser suits and campaigns for Rubens’ safe return.
I’m Still Here won the OSCAR for Best International Feature Film.

Mark says:
One of the many successful things about I’m Still Here is that it places you in the eye of this agonising storm; where the everyday continues, but life is not the same.
In a “Whodunnit” you have a body and a puzzle to solve; with a thriller, there’s Hitchcock’s “MacGuffin” – the fancy electronic device that’ll blow up the world unless our hero can stop them; in a romcom it’s “will they, won’t they,” against all the odds.
In this scenario, Eunice has just seen her husband taken away, then nothing.
What happens next is up to her. Can she fight an entire government? A chilling, fact-based lesson from the past that feels frighteningly relevant today…

Reviews:

“As Eunice, Fernanda Torres turns in an outstanding performance marked by restraint, all the rage and grief she can’t openly express.” Wenlei Ma, The Nightly.

“Walter Salles’ superb factually-based film – he was a real-life friend of the family as a teenager – is an engrossing, affecting tribute to a formidable woman and her family.” Wendy Ide, Screen International.

“Masterfully layered and confidently executed, I’m Still Here swivels between intimate family drama and sweeping political thriller, parsing countess societal horrors to land as an homage to the fearlessness of women…” Ana Yorke, Pop Matters.