Son of a Mother

This 2022 Brazilian documentary, directed by Susana Garcia with Paulo Gustavo's sister Juliana Amaral as co-director, records the last project the comedian signed before his death. Filho da Mãe is the name of the musical tour he took out with his mother Déa Lúcia, and the film follows its backstage and the game the two of them play together. The mother who inspired the character Dona Hermínia is not a source of inspiration here but a stage partner. Paulo Gustavo died in 2021, which turned the film into a farewell nobody designed while making it. Its weight is as valuable to fans as it is closed to outsiders: many references rest on Brazilian television culture and go unexplained. Even so, the honesty of the tone between mother and son reaches viewers without that context. Who it's for: viewers who know Paulo Gustavo's work and are interested in Brazilian comedy culture. Who it's not for: anyone wanting an orderly biography of his life and death, or who will mind that the commemorative tone leaves no room for criticism.