Title – I’m Still Here (2024)

Director – Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries)

Cast – Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Valentina Herszage

Plot – Based on the true story of Brazilian wife and mother Eunice Paiva (Torres) who finds her life and the life of her family turned upside down when her husband Rubens (Mello) is taken into custody during the military dictatorship of the 1970’s.  

“Everybody’s in danger, Eunice”

Review by Eddie on 07/04/2025

The winner of this years Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards, a nice reward for its three noteworthy nominations that included one for lead actress Fernanda Torres and Best Film of the year category, director Walter Salles hit Brazilian feature based on the true story of Eunice Paiva’s experiences when her husband Rubens was taken into custody during the 1970’s is one of 2024’s most memorable dramatic efforts.

A tale that clearly struck a chord with local audiences in its home country, with Salles film becoming one of the biggest home grown box office success stories of the past decade, I’m Still Here also managed to find a large collection of professional and audience supporters from across the globe, so much so that the film has quickly embedded itself into the IMDB’s Top 250 Movies of All Time list, sitting comfortably in position #192 at the time of writing.

His most notable and fully formed film since his worldwide hit The Motorcycle Diaries from 2004, Here is a return to form for the well-regarded Salles, who has struggled over the past two decades to collate his features into fully cohesive products and he gifts Here with a lived in sense of realism and heart that at times makes his humanistic exploration of a very confronting subject matter one that makes Here feel like it shares DNA with a documentary as we are transported in the upended lives of Eunice and her children.

Refusing to broaden its scope and loose track of its central focus, Here never gets tempted to start dividing its attention elsewhere on the wider narrative potential of delving into the military reign of Brazil in the 70’s as Salles allows the award worthy work of Torres to shine as she brings Paiva’s story to life in one of the most noteworthy lead acting turns of the past few years.

Taking nothing away from Best Actress winner Mikey Madison who stole the show in Anora, Torres’s turn as Paiva, a steadfast and resolute woman who held her head high in deep and dark adversity is a powerhouse performance of quietness and consideration.

It’s amazing how restrained Torres remains throughout Here’s close to two and half hour runtime, there’s no grandiose moments, no showboating, this performance is built around a refined moderation and the film and the character of Paiva is all the better for it as we get washed away by a sublime acting turn that ensures Here packs a huge emotional punch in its latter stages when all the pieces of the puzzle are put in their respective places.

A very un-Hollywood version of a true life tale that could have gone for the big clenched fist table beatings and screaming matches that at times litter wannabe prestige biopics and true life dramas, Here may not re-write any rulebooks but it’s a gripping and emotionally resonate exploration of one families fight to get the justice they deserve.

Final Say –

A worthy recipient of the Best International Feature Oscar that saved us from an unjust Emilia Perez win, I’m Still Here is a powerful drama and a memorable showcase for industry veteran Fernanda Torres skillset.

4 house parties out of 5