Marighella

Carlos Marighella, a politician, writer, and Marxist insurrectionist, remains one of Brazil’s most divisive historical figures. During the military coup of 1964 and subsequent right-wing dictatorship, Marighella fought against the destruction of human rights, leaving his wife and child behind to pursue a revolution in the streets that would ultimately lead to his bloody assassination. Marighella is a searing biopic depicting the guerilla fighter’s rise to public enemy number one as a brutal government hunts him and he is forced to make sacrifices along the way. The raw central performance by actor and musician Seu Jorge (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) anchors the drama with an emotional intensity. The directorial debut of acclaimed actor Wagner Moura (best known as Pablo Escobar on Narcos), Marighella is a punchy, no-holds-barred film that is already controversial in its native Brazil. Amidst the current reascendance of far-right authoritarianism, Marighella’s message is both urgent and timely.