Living Bad

João Canijo's 2023 Portuguese film is set in a hotel on the northern shore. The guests arriving for the weekend each carry separate stories. The film stacks relationships between mothers and daughters. One woman supports her daughter's marriage for her own ends, another cannot let go of her son; the narrative sets these side by side without interpreting them and keeps the viewer in the position of someone overhearing. It is the second film shot in the same hotel and was designed together with the one about the family who run it. The camera mostly keeps its distance and the dialogue overlaps. Who it's for: those who like Portuguese cinema and formally demanding work. Who it's not for: viewers who want to follow a single story; the film proceeds scattered.