“A day at the beach, just before the summer holidays. A
recently arrived girl who causes some curiosity. A whisper. A disruption –
power goes out, a general blackout – maybe it was an accident, maybe it’s only
a pretext for a night together.”

Regarded as a cinema verite, modern-day piece, the documentary style and mostly improvised Portuguese drama Um Fim Do Mundo (The End of the World), has been making its rounds at several film festivals this year, and it will premiere at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival this month. 

Helmed by Pedro Pinho, End of the World, chronicles the lives of teens in an apartment complex in Lisbon, Portugal, who seek to escape boredom and responsibility. 

The film stars Idalecio Gomes, Manuel Gomes, Eva Santos and Iara Teixeira.

Here’s more about the film:

A portrait of the daily lives of young people living in a new-built estate on the outskirts of Lisbon. School is a joke and there’s no work to be had anyway, so the girls try to have fun as best they can. New-girl Eva is very pretty but quiet. The others aren’t sure at first whether she’s arrogant or just shy. Iara and Eva head off to the beach with two boys. 

The lads turn a couple of abandoned shopping trolleys into racing chariots for them and the atmosphere begins to tingle. Later, they argue with the rest of the group. The other girls manage to get into a club that night but the boys don’t and must kick their heels outside. They’re bent on revenge. 

They meet up with Eva and go back to her place. Made collectively with the help of a well-known young documentary filmmaker, UM FIM DO MUNDO unspools its day-in-the-life observations in an incidental and unpredictable fashion with improvisations and open-ended storytelling creating authenticity. A piece of modern day cinéma vérité.