The Seeker

"In "The Banquet," filmmaker Daniela Thomas put a group of friends dining in a tense political moment in Brazil -- affecting the digestion of that meal as well. In "The Seeker," actor and now director Bernardo Barreto inserts similar elements into the cinematic narrative. Here, he speaks about a girl (Mariana Molina) who returns to her family's home at a complicated time. On one side, she is having a more free, light and loose life -- especially romantically. On the other, her family reaffirms the conservative tone even with the father being the target of corruption allegations. In this theater that is set up in the family nucleus, we see the unfolding of these events boiling over. Bernardo Barreto shows potential, but is still raw on the screen -- he takes a risk in making a kind of single-take sequence for the movie, but the editing mistakes are numerous -- and the script a bit obvious, with references to 'Robin Hood'. Still, it is fun to see the mask of the Brazilian middle class falling in a story that, despite its slips and artificialities, brings something very embedded in the heart of national politics."