Tectonic Love

On Sundays, Antonia (33) drives across the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, puts on a bulletproof vest, and allows herself to be shot by a masked man. This disturbing ritual is the way the young mother copes with the trauma of losing her son. The shooter’s identity remains a mystery even after it is revealed: He is identical to Luan, her son, who was murdered in a homophobic attack. Antonia pays him to carry out the ritual. When she meets Selma, a hacker and media activist connected to a group of grieving mothers, Antonia finds herself torn between a new possibility of overcoming her grief, and the painful coexistence with the masked man - Luan’s double. When Selma promises answers regarding the murder of Antonia’s son, she is drawn into an underground world of guerrilla activism and acts of vengeance. She embarks on a journey of rebirth that turns her into a political target.

Director’s Statement

At first glance, Luan, Antonia’s gay son who was murdered, appears to be yet another victim of homophobia. Drawing from the fear of my own mother, who preemptively rejected my sexuality out of concern that she might fail to protect me from the world, Antonia is a character who becomes hostage to her own guilt. Although she has every reason to rebel against everything and everyone, her journey is marked by the refusal of death. Unresolved grief produces an alienating condition; and, in addition to the doppelgänger of her murdered son, it makes Antonia falter through a labyrinth of melancholy. This is the gateway to a dark dramaturgy, permeated with subjectivities in crisis.

The dystopian undertone combines with the film’s visual and sonic expressiveness to connect the narrative elements such as the control exerted by militias* in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Inspired by the styles of Lynne Ramsay and Krzysztof Kieslowski, the film will frequently employ dissociative editing, close-ups, shots that explore fragments and details, telephoto lenses, and loose camera movements. The production design will be guided by the concept of duality, incorporating reflections and fragmented mirrors.

In the second act, wide shots and a more rigorous framing emerge as Antonia moves closer to seeking revenge, intensifying the narrative’s suspense. Antonia’s trajectory speaks to female empowerment, but it takes on a different tone as it moves toward an ethical and moral deconstruction. Ultimately, Antonia joins a sect of extremist women and, as the film’s title suggests, we witness the collapse of the maternal archetype.

Amid the security crisis in Rio, Antonia discovers that Luan was a disposable piece in this dysfunctional puzzle - a casualty of chance within this landscape of violence.

*paramilitary groups often comprised of off-duty or former police officers