Good Manners (2017 film)

Good Manners
Directed by	Marco Dutra
Written by	Marco Dutra Juliana Rojas
Starring	Isabél Zuaa Marjorie Estiano
Release date	August 6, 2017 (2017-08-06) (Locarno)
Country	Brazil

Good Manners (Portuguese: As Boas Maneiras) is a 2017 Brazilian film written and directed by Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas and starring Isabél Zuaa and Marjorie Estiano.

The film is about a woman named Clara who takes a job as a housekeeper and nanny for a wealthy woman only to realize that the job and pregnancy are more complicated than she originally believed.

The film premiered at the 70th Locarno International Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize.

Plot

Clara (Isabél Zuaa) interviews for a nanny job despite having no experience or references. Just as she is about to be turned down for the job, the woman interviewing her, Ana, experiences cramping. A sympathetic Clara guides her through the pain and Ana decides to hire her as a live in housekeeper and future nanny.

On her 29th birthday Ana gets drunk and reveals to Clara that she is estranged from her family. Originally engaged to one man she cheated on him and conceived a child from her affair. Her parents sent her to the city to have an abortion but after she refused to go through with it they cut off contact with her.

Ana is ordered by her doctors not to consume meat. One night Clara finds her rifling through the fridge. When Clara tries to guide her to bed Ana kisses her before scratching her hard enough to draw blood. The following morning Ana does not appear to remember the incident.

Clara realizes that the incident might be connected to the full moon. The following full moon Ana passionately kisses Clara and the two have sex. Later that night Ana sleepwalks again. Clara witnesses her murdering and eating a cat. The following day Clara tells Ana about her sleepwalking. She also puts some of her blood into Ana's meal in order to alleviate her desire for blood and her sleepwalking.

On the following full moon, Ana experiences terrible cramping. Before Clara can call for help Ana's stomach ruptures, killing her, but leaving her baby, a werewolf pup, alive. Clara initially decides to run away and abandon the baby to die, but changes her mind and decides to raise it herself, giving it the name Joel.

7 years later Clara works as a nurse and is raising Joel as her own. To protect him she has raised him as a vegetarian and chains him up during full moons. After Clara's landlady gives Joel meat he becomes aggressive with her and searches through her things where he uncovers a photo of Ana. Clara reluctantly admits Ana is his birth mother but insists she does not know who his birth father is.

Joel decides to look for his father, the only clue being a receipt from a shopping mall Ana bought shoes at. He and a friend go to the mall but are locked in when they stay inside past closing. As it is still a full moon, Joel transforms into a werewolf and attacks his friend, killing him. He returns home alone but is seen by Clara's landlady who wants to perform an exorcism on him. Clara decides to run away with Joel but he instead locks her in the room she uses to hide him during full moons. Joel tries to attend a dance with a classmate named Jackie, but once again transforms. Clara, who has managed to escape, shoots him before he can kill again, but keeps him alive.

Clara takes Joel home and removes the bullet, bandaging him up. Meanwhile, the locals have realized he is a werewolf and they prepare to kill him, tracking down their apartment. With a lullaby Ana sang earlier in the film, Clara manages to tame Joel so that he does not attack her. As the locals bang on the door, Clara and Joel prepare to face them together as Joel lets out one final howl.

Reception

The film received a score of 95% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and a 73 from Metacritic indicating positive reviews.

External links

• Good Manners at IMDb