The Pink Cloud
 | This article needs a plot summary. (May 2021) |
| The Pink Cloud | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Portuguese | A Nuvem Rosa |
| Directed by | Iuli Gerbase |
| Written by | Iuli Gerbase |
| Produced by | Patricia Barbieri |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Bruno Polidoro |
| Edited by | Vicente Moreno |
| Music by | Caio Amon |
Production company | Prana Filmes |
| Distributed by | O2 Play |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Box office | $23,733[1] |
The Pink Cloud (Portuguese: A Nuvem Rosa) is a 2021 Brazilian science fiction thriller film written and directed by Iuli Gerbase in her directional debut.[2] The setting of the story in the film has been compared to the COVID-19 pandemic, although written and directed earlier, in 2017 and 2019 respectively.[3] The film stars Renata de Lélis, Eduardo Mendonça, Kaya Rodrigues, Helena Becker and Girley Paes.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 29 January 2021. It was released theatrically in Brazil on 26 August 2021 by O2 Play.
Cast
The cast include:[4]
- Renata de Lélis as Giovana
- Eduardo Mendonça as Yago
- Kaya Rodrigues as Sara
- Helena Becker as Júlia
- Girley Paes as Rui
Plot
Giovana and Yago meet and have a one night stand. The next morning a shelter in place order occurs when a mysterious and deadly pink cloud appears. They are forced to shelter together.
When the lockdown first begins, they communicate with family and friends via phone and video chat. Giovana tells her mother on the phone that she met Yago yesterday. Giovana’s friend is trapped at home alone because her partner went to the bakery. Yago’s father, who may have dementia or another illness, is isolated with his nurse. Giovana’s kid sister is isolated at a sleepover with a friend’s family.
The passage of time is apparent when her sister says her friend’s father is rationing food. Eventually government delivers food to homes via a tube system and drones.
Eerily, a free market capitalist economy appears to continue under the new world order and through the film. This is evidenced by the purchase of products to help folks cope with isolation as well as people needing to work to pay for expenses despite being unable to leave their homes. Yago is inancially strained initially because he must pay his father's nurse's salary but is unable to work because he is a chiropractor. Giovana is a web developer and helps him financially.
For weeks Yago and Giovana act as plutonic non-voluntary roommates, but eventually commence a sexual relationship during their long term lockdown. Despite sharing that she never wanted children, Giovana becomes pregnant. She gives birth to a boy with a doctor assisting with the delivery via video chat. From here on out, the passage if time is apparent by their son, Lino, growing up.
Giovana struggles with her mental health and feels that Yago is not aware of what is happening in the world. Apparently she follows the news online and seeks updates about the current crisis facing the world: the pink cloud. Yago, however, copes by hovering somewhere between denial and and radical acceptance. To help her cope, Giovana and Yago engage in fantastical role play. However, Yago is not as invested in the bits as Giovana. This triggers Yago and Giovana to split up, prompted by Giovana. They live separately on the two separate floors of the home, and Lino moves between them every 3 days. They rarely spend time together.
Giovana’s friend has now been alone in her home for years and is extremely depressed. Her doctor prescribes anti-depressants and she buys a robot dog.
Giovana’s younger sister appears to be a teenager. She says that her friends whom she has been isolated with (because they also attended the slumber party years ago) are both pregnant with their other friends’s father’s babies.
Yago’s father is extremely ill and has stopped taking his meds because his nurse has died. Yago suspects his father killed the nurse because he has threatened to kill him previously. Yago stops calling his father because he doesn’t remember who Yago is.
Having been born indoors and never experienced the outside world, Lino doesn’t think of the pink cloud as a bad thing. Perhaps due to his son’s innocent appreciation of it, Yago begins to follow some kind of pink cloud related religion that involves wearing a pink rope around his neck. He has come to fully accepted his life at home with his son.
Yago begins to have sex with a woman online. Giovana has “window sex” with a neighbour.
Eventually Yago and Giovana get back together and they live as a family again. Lino and Yago buy Giovana a virtual reality headset and she quickly becomes addicted to it. She spends almost all of her time with the headset on the beach until Lino destroys it.
At one point it seems like there may be a chance the pink cloud is over. A green cloud that looks like the northern lights appears in the sky in lieu of the pink cloud. Giovana fully believes she will be free and is even packing and chatting with friends about meeting in person. After what seems to be a matter of days, the green cloud disappears and for just a moment, the sky looks normal. Giovana is visibly elated, but within seconds the pink cloud returns.
The film ends when Lino is still just a child. The pink cloud still exists and as viewers we are not privy to any governmental or societal development around the global crisis. Giovana exits the home onto the balcony. She counts to ten and the scene cuts before the pink cloud can have any affect on her.
Release
The film had its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival on 29 January 2021.[5][6] It was released theatrically in Brazil on 26 August 2021 by O2 Play.[7]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "An eerily relevant debut from writer-director Iuli Gerbase, The Pink Cloud reaches into the emotional fault lines of pandemic life and comes away with striking observations about human behavior."[8]
References
- ^ "The Pink Cloud (2021)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Hopewell, John (15 December 2020). "Sundance-Bound Brazilian Sci-fi Thriller 'The Pink Cloud' Debuts First Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ Ebiri, Bilge (21 January 2022). "Can a Movie Be Too Prescient?". Vulture. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production – The Pink Cloud". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
- ^ "Sundance – FPG". Sundance Film Festival. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (15 December 2020). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright". Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "A nuvem rosa". Filme B (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "The Pink Cloud (2021) Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 December 2021.