Unexplainable

Fabrício Bittar's 2024 Brazilian film is based on real events. Gabriel Montenegro is an ordinary eight-year-old who loves football, and a diagnosis of serious illness changes his family's life at once. The film covers the time in hospital and how the family holds on, with the tension between faith, hope and medical reality as its main axis. The director had been known for comedy and changes register completely here, not shying from emotional effect. Its strength is in showing how the family's daily life narrows: payments, night shifts, a sibling neglected, a marriage strained. The ending sits close to the side of faith. Leticia Spiller and Eriberto Leão play the parents. Who it's for: viewers who like family drama based on true events. Who it's not for: anyone who would rather not approach the illness of a child; the film deals with it directly.