In a future world where senior citizens are banished from society, a rebellious matriarch instead embarks on a fantastic Amazon adventure. Gabriel Mascaro’s film is an ode to life and freedom with no age restrictions.
A balmy riverboat ride into the unknown – as well as a bolshy protest against ageism and a warning about possible authoritarian futures, in Brazil and elsewhere.
The Blue Trail 2025
O último azul
In a dystopian Brazil of the near future, senior citizens are asked by the authoritarian government to “voluntarily” retire to a colony removed from the rest of the society.
Indomitable 77-year-old Tereza has no intention of complying with the draconian law and embarks on a clandestine journey through the waters of the Amazon River. Her adventurous escape is punctuated by surreal, hilarious and transformative meetings along the banks of the vast river and the mystical forests surrounding it.
Gabriel Mascaro’s fifth and most accomplished feature deservedly nabbed the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. Steered by a terrific and endearing performance from Denise Weinberg, The Blue Trail is an equally poetic and earthly ode to the irrepressible will to live – and misbehave – and reminds us there’s no age limit on taking control of your life. Gently subversive, Mascaro’s film is an invigorating gem that will that will have you leaving the cinema wanting to follow Tereza’s (blue) trail... — Paolo Bertolin