7 Prisioneiros

Directed by Alexandre Moratto, 7 Prisioneiros follows several men, including Christian Malheiros’ Mateus, as they leave their respective hometowns hoping to earn some money for their families by working in a big-city scrapyard – with complications ensuing after it becomes clear that the foreman (Rodrigo Santoro’s Luca) of said scrapyard has little interest in paying the men fairly (or even letting them leave). It’s compelling subject matter that is, at the outset, employed to distressingly underwhelming effect by Moratto, as the filmmaker, working from a script written with Thayná Mantesso, delivers an opening half hour that doesn’t exactly hold much promise and seems to set the stage for a less-than-subtle, almost paint-by-numbers thriller – with the watchable atmosphere, during this portion of the proceedings, due predominantly to the stirring efforts of both Malheiros and Santoro. (The latter is especially impressive as a vicious figure that isn’t quite as one-dimensional as he initially seems.) There’s little doubt, then, that 7 Prisioneiros improves substantially as it progresses into an increasingly absorbing midsection, with the movie’s unexpected turnabout due mostly to the intriguing (and surprising) trajectory of Mateus’ character arc (ie it doesn’t feel as implausible as one might’ve anticipated, ultimately) – which, when coupled with an effectively grim conclusion, finally does cement the picture’s place as an erratic yet engaging endeavor that contains its fair share of gripping sequences and interludes.

*** out of ****