Carnival Is Over

Regina and her husband Valério are inside a criminal family and want out. But getting out takes money, the money takes one more job, and every step pulls them further in. Regina is the more willing of the two; she builds the way that will carry her husband up, and she sets off the wave of violence. Fernando Coimbra directs. Leandra Leal plays Regina. The narrative is taken freely from Shakespeare's Macbeth. The figure of the wife driving her husband toward power comes straight from there and the film does not hide it. It had its world premiere at the Toronto film festival in Special Presentations and was released on 14 August 2025. Fernando Coimbra was known for A Wolf at the Door and had directed episodes of Narcos; this is his return to Brazil. It is set in Rio and concerns a world where wealth and crime are folded into each other; the image of carnival is used not as a celebration but as a cover. Its weakness is speed; as events accelerate in the second half the room left for the characters' decisions narrows. Who it is for: viewers who like Brazilian crime cinema and thrillers adapted from classical texts. Who it is not for: the violence is direct, none of the characters are sympathetic, and the ending offers no way out of the dark.