In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.
"If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you."
Top Billed Cast
Alexandre Rodrigues
Buscapé
Leandro Firmino
Zé Pequeno / Dadinho
Phellipe Haagensen
Bené
Douglas Silva
Dadinho
Jonathan Haagensen
Cabeleira
Matheus Nachtergaele
Sandro Cenoura
Seu Jorge
Mané Galinha
Jefechander Suplino
Alicate
Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews
C CrazypigladyVerified TMDB Critic
2023-05-06
It’s a great film and well worthy of its the respect it has. It’s gruelling too, the 18 rating is due to the thread running through the film of continuous and ruthless violence of gangs trying to control their drug area. The is the story told through the eyes of ‘Rocket’ who avoids getting in to the gang war of his brother and friends by trying to find a safer life.
The film combines slick production without losing a genuine documentary feel which I think it is why it’s so enduring. While it achieves a feeling of reality, it isn’t specifically a true story. However, the Cidade ...
C CinemaSerfVerified TMDB Critic
2024-05-20
Told by way of an occasionally narrated retrospective, "Rocket" (Alexandre Rodrigues) tells us a story of his childhood in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Growing up in a community of newly built boxes, without power or plumbing, that reminded me of a row of concrete beach huts, the community is pretty lawless. The crime is largely to confined to pettier crimes, but as aspirations grow so does the scale of the criminality. A raid on a motel-cum-brothel is supposed to make everyone extra cash, but their inventive young watchman "Li'l Dice" (Douglas Silva) hates being left out and so does a lit...
