Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt, 2019, 92 min, Portugal/France/Brazil, Portuguese w/ English subtitles, Color, DCP)
When big-hearted but dimwitted Portuguese soccer hunk Diamantino (Carloto Cotta) blows it in the World Cup, he nourishes his newfound sympathy for the plight of European refugees, adopting a “son” from Africa who turns out to be an undercover lesbian tax auditor with other motives. From there: a comic odyssey involving evil twins, genetic modification, a vast anti-EU conspiracy, and giant stampedes of Pekingese puppies.
“Critic’s Pick! This simultaneously goofy and deft satirical comedy… feels like an early Adam Sandler comedy remixed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.” – Glenn Kenny, The New York Times
“So great! An insane gusher of fun, smartness, beauty and stunning unpredictability. It filled me with a giant pink fluffiness from which I don’t ever want to be separated!” – Guy Maddin