Things go from bad to even worse in Pocas Pascoals gritty immigrant drama, as two young women from Angola struggle to gain a toehold in Portugals capital. Although not without some lighter moments, All Is Well provides a grim view of exile experience and is most likely to find refuge at film festivals prioritizing international programming.
Having recently fled Portuguese-speaking Angolas brutal civil war of the 1980s, teenage sisters Alda (Ciomara Morais) and Maria (Cheila Lima) bide their time at a cheap Lisbon rooming house, waiting for their mother to join them. As complications and delays prevent her from leaving Angola, and with their savings running out, the sisters dodge their hotel bill and drift toward the citys margins, seeking an elusive family friend with an uncertain address.
Out on the street and out of options, they first crash in an unoccupied trailer on a construction site, then begin squatting in a decrepit apartment building in the slums at the suggestion of middle-aged local Angolan resident Alice (Vera Cruz). As Maria is ardently pursued by neighborhood homeboy Carlos (Willion Brando), the girls attempt to find legitimate work, but without documentation theyre unemployable.
Alice gives them some chores in her dressmaking workshop, but only meager pay, as the sisters struggle to meet even basic subsistence needs, sometimes with the help of immigrant neighbors from the apartment block. Catastrophic news from home sends the girls lives into a tailspin, however, forcing them to choose among the few remaining survival options available.
Pascoals semi-autobiographical first feature doesnt sugarcoat the unfortunate realities of immigrant life, but the films near-relentless negativity becomes wearying. With most of their experience in TV, the two leads display a certain appeal, but barely manage to carry the feature to its ambiguous conclusion.
Production quality is variable -- while Pascoals command of the films largely undifferentiated style is adequate, more than a few scenes are underlit to the point of murkiness, emphasizing the consistently somber tone, along with the near-absence of musical score.
Venue: Los Angeles Film Festival
Production company: LX Filmes
Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, Willion Brando, Vera Cruz
Director: Pocas Pascoal
Screenwriters: Pocas Pascoal, Marc Pernet
Producer: Lus Correia
Director of photography: Octvio Esprito Santo
Editor: Pascale Chavance
Music: Lulendo Mvulu, Sebastio Vicente, Marc Pernet, Eric Lonni
No rating, 96 minutes.
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