Find something to watch for every mood. Browse 4,480 of the best films ever made — voted on by the world's critics in the Sight & Sound poll — each with a trailer and up-to-date streaming options. Filter by genre, decade, country, language, runtime, or director, or explore our hand-curated film collections.
Eduardo Coutinho was filming a movie with the same name in the Northeast of Brazil, in 1964, when there came the military coup. He had to interrupt the project, and came back to it in 1981, looking for the same places and people, showing what had ocurred since then, and trying to gather a family whose patriarch, a political leader fighting for rights of country people, had been murdered.
Limite (1931)
Mário Peixoto · 14 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
Adrift in the vast expanse of the ocean, a solitary boat carries three castaways—a man and two women. Stranded and devoid of any glimmer of rescue, they find solace in recounting the tales of their lives to one another. As they delve into their personal narratives, reminiscing about the circumstances that led them to this desolate predicament, they navigate through the depths of three distinct destinies. Bound by the confines of their shared space, every aspect of their existence becomes a boundary, underscoring their plight.
City of God (2002)
Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund · 13 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Paramount Plus Essential
In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.
Entranced Earth (1967)
Glauber Rocha · 12 critic votes
Eldorado, a fictitious country in America, is sparkling with the internal struggle for political power. In the eye of this social convulsion, the jaded journalist Paulo Martins opposes two equally corrupt political candidates: a pseudopopulist and a conservative. In this context, Paulo is torn between the madness of the elite and the blind submission of the masses. But, in this complex tropical reality, nothing really is what it seems to be.
Black God, White Devil (1964)
Glauber Rocha · 11 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
Wanted for killing his boss, Manuel flees with his wife Rosa to the sertão, the barren landscape of Northern Brazil. Thrust into a primordial violent region, Manuel and Rosa come under the influence and control of a series of frightening figures.
The Age of the Earth (1980)
Glauber Rocha · 8 critic votes
Drawing inspiration from a poem penned by Castro Alves, this film vividly captures the political, cultural, and intellectual climate of Brazil during the late 1970s. At its core, the story revolves around four distinctive embodiments of Christ's image: a black man, a soldier, an Indian, and a guerrilla fighter. These courageous individuals, hailed as the harbingers of doom in the tupiniquim lands, valiantly combat the insatiable avarice and oppressive "civilizing" brutality propagated by the formidable John Brahms—a foreign exploiter devoid of morals.
The Secret Agent (2025)
Kleber Mendonça Filho · 3 critic votes
Streaming on Hulu
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven he was expecting.
Ganga Bruta (1933)
Humberto Mauro · 2 critic votes
A man kills his wife on their wedding night, after discovering she had been unfaithful. After being acquitted, he moves to the country, where he becomes part of a love triangle.
Barren Lives (1963)
Nelson Pereira dos Santos · 2 critic votes
In vivid images, the documentary-like story of a drover and his family in the northern badlands of Brazil during the drought. A family in the search of new hope and destiny.
A Margem (1967)
Ozualdo Candeias · 2 critic votes
On the banks of São Paulo's Rio Tietê, a poignant tale unfolds, featuring a tapestry of characters existing on the fringes of society. Prostitutes, a pimp, a mentally disabled man, and others marginalized by fate lead lives mired in hopelessness, devoid of any prospect. Trapped in the relentless cycle of their ordinary yet despairing existence, they yearn for release, anticipating the embrace of death as their only salvation—a collective passage onto the harrowing vessel of damnation.
Hour of the Star (1985)
Suzana Amaral · 2 critic votes
Macabéa has just moved to the big city after her aunt, who raised her, died. She gets a job as a typist and moves into a boarding house with three other women. In her spare time, she listens to a radio station called Time; on Sundays, she likes to ride the metro. Then she meets Olímpico, a northeasterner like herself, who has dreams of becoming a congressman.
Isle of Flowers (1989)
Jorge Furtado · 2 critic votes
A tomato is planted, harvested and sold at a supermarket, but it rots and ends up in the trash. But it doesn’t end there: Isle of Flowers follows it up until its real end, among animals, trash, women and children. And then the difference between tomatoes, pigs and human beings becomes clear.
Serras da Desordem (2006)
Andrea Tonacci · 2 critic votes
Carapiru is a member of one of Brazil's remaining indigenous peoples, living in harmony with nature and making wise use of the local flora and fauna. But Carapiru is suddenly forced to fend for himself and flees into the nearby rain forest, building a new life for himself with the help some sympathetic settlers. However, after rebuilding his life Carapiru is uprooted once again, this time by government agents. A expressive visual storytelling in this study of the native peoples of Brazil in the 21st century.
Rio, Zona Norte (1957)
Nelson Pereira dos Santos · 1 critic vote
A talented songwriter of sambas is forced to face the social injustices of the city around him.
Barravento (1962)
Glauber Rocha · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
In Bahia, an educated black man returns to his home fishing village to try and free people from mysticism, in particular the Candomblé religion, which he considers a factor of political and social oppression, with tragic outcome.
Gray Morning (1969)
Olney São Paulo · 1 critic vote
A couple is arrested and tortured after taking part in a political demonstration, being sentenced to death.
Macunaíma (1969)
Joaquim Pedro de Andrade · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kino Film Collection
Born a fully grown black man in a village in the Brazilian jungle, Macunaíma later magically transforms into a white man before making an adventure-filled trip to the city of São Paulo. Once there, he becomes something of a dandy, falling in love with Ci, a revolutionary who dies in an accidental bombing. After robbing a ruthless industrialist, Macunaima returns to his village where he finds his newly acquired knowledge and possessions of little use.
Meio-Dia (1969)
Helena Solberg · 1 critic vote
A group of school students sets up a rebellion that threatens to kill their teacher.
Bang Bang (1971)
Andrea Tonacci · 1 critic vote
An anonymous urban protagonist experiences a series of absurd situations--including a crazy cab ride, an encounter with a wacky criminal gang, and lots of gunplay--infused with a unique anarchic energy, eventually suggesting our true animal nature.
Images of Silence (1972)
Luiz Rosemberg Filho · 1 critic vote
Without any sounds, dialogues and with unknown actors, the images are the focus of this film. Images that want to awake, to question determinant moments, state of a system's languages, the morality of deaths, the immobility, the silence, among other subjects. Shot at the height of the Brazilian military dictatorship, it is an affront to the most diverse types of repression in that period.
São Bernardo (1972)
Leon Hirszman · 1 critic vote
The story of Paulo Honório, a poor ploughman who becomes a rich farmer. Obsessed by his desire to get even richer, he doesn't pay much attention to his wife, Madalena, a teacher who reacts against his tyrannical ways.
Soul in the Eye (1973)
Zózimo Bulbul · 1 critic vote
Inspired by Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver’s book Soul on Ice and dedicated to John Coltrane, Soul in the Eye marks the beginning of Black Brazilian films. The film is a metaphor for the legacy of culture and survival bestowed by enslaved Africans brought to the American continent and the search for freedom through inner transformation, in a game inspired by concretism.
Iracema: Uma Transa Amazônica (1976)
Jorge Bodanzky · 1 critic vote
A girl from the countryside goes to the city of Belém to take part in the Círio de Nazaré celebrations. Led to prostitution, she wishes to move to the wealthiest Southeast region of Brazil. In a dance club, she meets a truck driver that transports wood. Dreaming with the big city, she asks for a ride, and the two begin a journey through the Trans-Amazon road. In tension with the Brazilian military authorities of the time, the film registers several aspects of the Amazon social tragedy – forest fires, slave work and child prostitution. Awarded in several international festivals, the film was forbidden by the Brazilian censorship. It was only released years later, winning the Brasília Film Festival in 1981.
Di Cavalcanti (1977)
Glauber Rocha · 1 critic vote
This controversial film from director Glauber Rocha records the funeral of his friend, major Brazilian painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti.
The Agony (1978)
Julio Bressane · 1 critic vote
She is a fortune teller, he is a killer on the run. He gives her a ride and an tragic love affair begins.
The Lyre of Delight (1978)
Walter Lima, Jr. · 1 critic vote
During the Carnival, in Niterói, the son of a Lira do Delírio nightclub dancer is kidnapped. With the help of a journalist friend, she dives into Rio de Janeiro's underworld and meet all kind of criminals. She also goes back in time, to a past carnival, where she thinks she might pin-point the culprit among a group of people.
The Roses of the Road (1981)
Ozualdo Candeias · 1 critic vote
The Option centers on a group of rural women who cut sugar cane and live in ramshackle highway neighborhoods. For many, their only escape to a potentially better life is through prostitution, often with truck drivers.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Héctor Babenco · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Criterion Channel, Cinemax Amazon Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel
The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.
Abolition (1988)
Zózimo Bulbul · 1 critic vote
In 1988, the centenary of abolition of slavery in Brazil, Zózimo Bulbul made this powerful historical analysis of racial issues in his country. This documentary provides an in-depth look through extensive archival researching and interviews of key figures who were involved in preserving black culture. Aside from historical testimony, this epic documentary also points to the current relevance of facing the racism that still confronts the black population in Brazil.
Central Station (1998)
Walter Salles · 1 critic vote
An emotional journey of a former school teacher, who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.
Lavoura Arcaica (2001)
Luiz Fernando Carvalho · 1 critic vote
In 1940s São Paulo, Pedro’s tasked to retrieve his estranged brother André. André’s departure stems from a domineering father, an overly affectionate mother, and Pedro’s jealousy over the father’s favoritism. Further complicating matters is André’s unconventional relationship with their sister, Ana.
Madame Satã (2002)
Karim Aïnouz · 1 critic vote
In the favelas of Rio de Janeiro of the 1930s, João Francisco dos Santos is several things — son of slaves, ex-convict, thug, homosexual and adopted father for a number of pariahs. João expresses himself on the stage of a cabaret as Madame Satã.
Elite Squad (2007)
José Padilha · 1 critic vote
Free on Tubi TV, Plex, Plex Channel · Streaming on BFI Player Amazon Channel
In 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.
Santiago (2007)
João Moreira Salles · 1 critic vote
Documentary about Santiago, a peculiar man who used to work for the director and his parents as a butler. The material was filmed in 1992 but, for some strange reason, the director felt he couldn't edit it and put it aside. In 2005 he remembers the unfinished film and starts its edition.
Neighbouring Sounds (2012)
Kleber Mendonça Filho · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
An independent private security firm arrives at a middle-class neighborhood in Recife, Brazil.
The Boy and the World (2013)
Alê Abreu · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
Suffering because of his father's departure to the big city, a boy leaves his village and discovers a fantastic world dominated by bug-engines and strange beings. An unusual animation with various artistic techniques that portrays the issues of the modern world through the eyes of a child.
During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.
Untitled #1: Dance of Leitfossil (2014)
Carlos Adriano · 1 critic vote
Experimental Short, Brazil
Bacurau (2019)
Kleber Mendonça Filho · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Kino Film Collection
Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps.
The Line (2019)
Ricardo Laganaro · 1 critic vote
The story of Pedro and Rosa, two miniature dolls who are perfect for each other, but reluctant to break boundaries and overcome their limitations to live out their love story.
República (2020)
Grace Passô · 1 critic vote
One night, a Brazilian woman wakes up in a country exhausted from violent acts. Republic is a short film realized at home, in the beginning of 2020s quarantine, in the center of São Paulo, República neighborhood.
In the past, when white people didn’t exist, we used to hunt with our yãmĩyxop spirits. The whites came, cut down the trees, dried up the rivers and scared the animals away. Today, our tall trees are over, the whites surrounded us and our lands are tiny. But our yãmĩyxop are very strong and taught us the stories and chants from our ancients who walked around here.
