Levante, an intense Brazilian thriller about abortion - Review and trailer

Lillah Halla's Levante, in competition at the Caméra d'or, the competition for first films, and at Critics' Week, has been selected for the prestigious Cannes 2023 Festival. And the selection is well-deserved! The Brazilian filmmaker's debut is a powerful story about the unwanted pregnancy of Sofia (played by the brilliant Ayomi Domenica).

The 17-year-old plays in an inclusive volleyball club, where all the players are part of the LGBT+ community, and has a bright future ahead of her in the sport when the bad news arrives. And since abortion is illegal in Brazil, Sofia is looking for a way to get rid of the fetus. Like L'Evénement and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Levante recounts the daily life of a young woman in the grip of her destiny, criminalized by the whole town as soon as the news of her pregnancy breaks.

But Levante differs from these two examples when Lillah Halla decides to probe this question through the eyes of today's Brazilian society, which strongly condemns the practice of abortion. The film then becomes a stifling thriller, where the protagonist is constantly spied on, stalked and even harassed by the rest of the town. Fortunately, neither Sofia nor those close to her, the other players on the team, are prepared to submit to the blind fervor of the rest of the world.

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The filmmaker's approach is one of intense sisterhood, and she loves her actresses deeply. You can see it in the way she films, their interactions, their friendship, their bodies. Lillah Halla celebrates these courageous women and makes them the heroines of an impressive film.