Beyond the Universe

Nina, who wants to be a musician but is studying medicine at her family's insistence, meets Gabriel, a chronically ill man, while interning at a hospital. He notices that she makes music, and something starts between them. Nina has to choose: the path her family drew, or her own. The film is not interested in illness. It is interested in living to someone else's plan: Nina's real crisis is not Gabriel but the fact that she has never made a decision herself. The film places that under the romance. The form is glossy romantic drama: hospital corridors, stage scenes, concert lighting and songs. The music is set inside the narrative rather than behind it. Diego Freitas directed. Giulia Be leads; she is a well-known singer in Brazil and took part in writing the film's songs, so the music comes directly from the performer. It was released on Netflix and stayed on Brazilian viewing charts for a long time. Henry Zaga plays Gabriel. Who it is for: viewers who like musical romantic drama and Netflix productions of this kind. Who it is not for: anyone after an original story. The structure is entirely familiar, the illness narrative moves on emotional shortcuts and the last section is predictable.