Power Alley

Lillah Halla's 2023 Brazilian film follows Sofia, a young volleyball player who learns she is pregnant on the eve of a major championship. She wants to end the pregnancy; it is not legal in the country and the first to oppose her come from her own neighbourhood. At the centre is how her teammates behave. Sofia is not left alone; the team takes up her decision and looks for a way, and that solidarity is the body of the narrative. Against it, a fundamentalist group begins watching her and the pressure turns physical. Halla does not construct the subject as a thesis film. The courts, the training and the everyday speech of the young stay inside the telling; the tone is often lively while the threat sits constantly in the background. Who it's for: those who like contemporary Brazilian cinema and narratives of solidarity. Who it's not for: viewers sensitive to abortion; the film treats it directly and does not hide where it stands.