Trash

None of the three leads is a professional actor. Rickson Tevez, Eduardo Luís and Gabriel Weinstein carry the film almost alone, and their ease in front of the camera is its strongest asset. It was shot in Brazil on real locations and on a landfill set built for the production. The people behind it are an unexpected combination. Stephen Daldry directed from a screenplay by Richard Curtis, the writer of Notting Hill and Love Actually, here writing a Brazilian corruption story. The source is Andy Mulligan's 2010 young-adult novel. Three boys sorting refuse at the dump find a wallet, and what is inside opens onto political corruption. The police come after them. Wagner Moura, Selton Mello, Rooney Mara and Martin Sheen appear in support. It won the audience award at the Rome Film Festival and was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language. Who it is for: viewers who like fast, hopeful adventure with the tension seen from a child's height. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a realistic favela. The film fits an adventure template over poverty and ties the ending off far too optimistically.