Director: Cristian Ponce
Year: 2025
Country: Brazil
Alternate Titles: Abraço de Mãe
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
After being reinstated on the job, a fire rescue worker trying to get over the grief of her mother’s passing is brought back onto the force to deal with a call at a strange residence in her hometown, eventually bringing her to uncover the diabolical plans of those living there and trying to stop them.
Review:
This was a decent enough, if slightly troubling, effort. Among the better factors with this one comes from the fun setup and general storyline of the film, which gets everything introduced in fun form. The initial introduction to everything, from the encounter with her and her mother as a kid when she barely escaped a fire in her apartment after being started by unknown forces where she was distracted by unknown forces creates a great starting point that works throughout the rest of the film. Alongside the present-day sequences showing that she’s suffering from an affliction that threatens her job duties and being back on the firefighting circuit with the rest of her crew working with her, it creates a strong impression not only of her issues that she needs to overcome, but also makes her quite sympathetic as a result.
With this established, the turn into the more overt supernatural genre elements becomes quite fun. With the whole of the first half dedicated to getting to the crumbling house and exploring what’s going on at the house, the Gothic vibe and atmosphere present is wholly effective as there’s clearly something going on that none of the residents want to be revealed. With the crew splitting up and trying to search the darkened hallways in the pouring rain outside, the entirety of this section hints at something they’re not comfortable revealing, which is effectively designed to hint at something happening on the outskirts of the building just out of their view as they search for the possible source of the disturbances.
The final half, featuring a slew of impressive chases and confrontations with the residents of the building who are trying to carry out a diabolical plot with their cult-like intentions, gives this a great deal of likable action and chilling encounters, but also manages to highlight the lone flaw here. Taken on its own, the series of setpieces and different showcases of her desperation to get the girl out of their grasp, the concept of everything is a lot of fun with some great moments spread throughout, even though hardly any of it makes any sense. We learn next to nothing about what’s going on in the building or what the whole point of it was beyond just a random sacrifice of the daughter. The preference on atmosphere instead of answering questions is the main factor with that, which is what holds it down just slightly.
Overview: ****/5
A wholly effective and enjoyable supernatural genre entry, there’s quite a lot to like with this one that holds it up only slightly above the few minor drawbacks featured here. Those with an appreciation or interest in the subject matter will have a lot to like here, while most others out there turned off by its style or approach should heed caution.
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