Night Stage (Ato Noturno)

ERIC SAYS  This one took me completely by surprise. A Brazilian queer erotic thriller set in the world of live theater, drawing inspiration from both Brian De Palma and Claude Chabrol? Yes, please. It’s as dark, suspenseful, explicit, and mischievous a film as you could hope for from that description.

Night Stage feels poised to join works like City of God and Bacurau as one of the major—and most entertaining—Brazilian features of the 21st Century, and directors Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher have also given us a renegade LGBTQ romantic thriller worthy of comparison to Thelma and Louise. Like any great neo-noir, it sets you down squarely in the big city, letting you roam the streets by day with the familiarity of a local—until the sun goes down, when suddenly they’re full of mystery, dread, and dangerous underworldworlds of illicit nightlife. If you’re looking for a sleek, stylish foreign film that might slip through the cracks if you don’t prioritize seeing it here, look no further. (Eric Allen Hatch)