"Genre defying and genuinely unexpected, this intriguing urban fairytale takes the mythology of the werewolf story and uses it as a prism through which to view contemporary Brazilian society." – Screen International

Ana is a white, wealthy, privileged and pregnant. Clara is black, broke and applying to be Ana’s live-in baby-nanny. She gets the job and soon these two women from opposite sides of the social divide have become more than just employer and employee. But as Ana’s pregnancy progresses, it becomes clear that something is not quite right. Where, or what, is the baby’s father? Why is Ana sleepwalking every full moon? And what is going on with her eyes?

Winning a Special Jury Mention at Locarno and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, Good Manners is a magical realist social commentary from filmmakers Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra, who’ve drawn on Angela Carter, Jacques Tourneur and Disney for inspiration. Using an audacious twist on monster mythology to critique issues of class, race, sexuality and motherhood, the film’s stylised atmosphere and odd bursts of humour and gore recall Julia Ducournau’s Raw or Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In while maintaining a groundedness in love and compassion.

"Good Manners is the year’s best Brazilian lesbian werewolf musical melodrama." – The Playlist

As part of The Bigger Picture program, enjoy a short introduction by Djoymi Baker from The University of Melbourne – MIFF Learning Partner.