Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…

Best Films of 2024
#4. I’m Still Here

One of the last award season movies I caught up with, Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, turned out to be one of the very best.

The film depicts the family of real-life Brazilian congressman Rubens Paiva, who was disappeared by the country’s military dictatorship in 1971. Matriarch Eunice, played by the remarkable Fernanda Torres, relentlessly pursues the truth behind her husband’s fate while raising their five children.

The movie’s masterstroke is the dedication of a third of its running time to the Paiva family’s daily life before Rubens’ arrest. We get to know each family member through the mundane activities that define normal life: going to the beach, hanging out with friends, playing backgammon, adopting a stray dog.

That normalcy is shattered by the military police, and the rest of the film chronicles the ramifications of the violation. And we know the family so well that every setback feels like it’s happening to us. It’s even more devastating when you zoom out and realize this is just one story among hundreds — a beautiful example of how specificity in storytelling is a gateway to universality.

Also key is Salles’ evocation of 1970’s Rio de Janeiro through image and sound, including a banger of a soundtrack. My admittedly limited sample size of City of God and this film has me wanting to dive deeper into Brazilian music.

I’m Still Here was boycotted by the far right in Brazil, a faction that denies the barbaric nature of the country’s military dictatorship. The boycott failed, and the film became Brazil’s highest grossing film in half a decade as well as its first Best Picture nominee at the Academy Awards. Brazilian flags litter social media posts about the movie’s Oscar chances, a heartwarming display of resolute patriotism.

Sadly, I watched I’m Still Here in the context of the United States’ own shift to the right. While Donald Trump’s administration hasn’t (yet) started disappearing its political enemies, it was hard not to wonder about the American lives that could be shattered by his regime.