The Blue Trail

Gabriel Mascaro’s “The Blue Trail” is a balmy riverboat ride into the unknown – as well as a bolshy protest against ageism and a warning about possible authoritarian futures, in Brazil and elsewhere. Brazilian filmmaker Mascaro captured attention with working-class drama “Neon Bull” (2015), but his new film is a somewhat gentler follow-up to 2019’s “Divine Love”, which was a stylised vision of a fundamentalist dystopia.

Centred on a winning performance from Brazilian stage and screen veteran Denise Weinberg, with support including international star Rodrigo Santoro (“300”, “Westworld” *et al*), “The Blue Trail” is entrancingly unpredictable in its picaresque unravelling, tinged with magical realist touches.

Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily