The Senator [O Senador] **½ (2024, Sergio Harger, Johnny Alcántara, Juliana Zancanaro, João Cury) – Classic Movie Review 13,212

Sergio Harger stars in writer/ director Mauro Carvalho’s 2024 Brazilian LGBTQ thriller film The Senator as influential Brazilian closeted young right-wing senator Arthur Alencar, a smug, nasty piece of work who leads a hypocritical double life.

He poses as a family man and a defender of traditional morality and uptight right-wing values in the media and to his constituents. But he is involved in corruption schemes and is enjoying an illicit affair with a toy boy, hot young Renan (Johnny Alcántara). All seems to be running smoothly for ambitious Arthur Alencar. However, everything changes when Renan is introduced to Victor (João Cury), a daring gay investigative journalist who is apparently hell bent on exposing the senator, and a love triangle begins.

It starts when Renan and Victor hear on their car radio that Senator Arthur Alencar has been shot dead, cue noir-style multiple flashbacks.

Writer/ director Mauro Carvalho’s The Senator (2024) is a quite fun gay mystery thriller, though a larger cast with more suspects would be better, but it is still entertaining. The actors are well cast for their roles, and their acting is OK, with Sergio Harger, the actor playing the villainous senator coming off best, smooth and slimy, and nice and nasty, and then next comes Juliana Zancanaro in an amusingly campy turn as the journalist Victor’s selfish, manipulative boss Teodora. Johnny Alcántara looks just right as the toy boy, and João Cury is anxious and earnest enough as the surprisingly nice and honourable journalist who’s mad about the boy.

It doesn’t push too hard, or aim too high, and seems to know its place as mildly engaging but engaging enough entertainment. It is sufficiently diverting throughout, while slightly teasing and titillating, but only very slightly. Direction and writing are clean, clear and slick enough, with the multiple flashbacks clearly handled so everyone knows where they are in the story and everyone can follow it. It is reasonably credible while it plays on screen, but afterwards you realise you shouldn’t have believed a word it it. It’s not real life after all, it’s a movie confection, and quite old fashioned in its way too.

Juliana Zancanaro also stars in Mauro Carvalho’s Cousins [Primos] (2019).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,212

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