Night Stage

When an on-the-make actor hooks up with a hunky mayoral candidate, the stage is set for mutually assured disaster in this fetish-forward thriller.

Amid a sweat-inducing summer in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, ambitious actor and gifted dancer Matias will do anything to secure the lead role in an electrically abstract theatre show – even if it means pushing his roommate Fabio off a precipice in order to get there. Satiating his hunger for success in the local park’s heaving beat night after night, Matias meets similarly aspiring closeted politician Rafael, with their first encounter sparking an undeniable mutual attraction. The burning desire that develops between them soon consumes all clarity, blazing headlong into a dangerous craving for public sex.

The latest intriguing offering from the directors who gave us MIFF 2018 favourite Hard Paint, this hyper-sensual melodrama whipped up a storm when it debuted in the Panorama section of this year’s Berlinale. Through its extreme provocations, Night Stage interrogates how queer people are still, far too often, insidiously forced to hide their identities in order to achieve their goals.

“Recalls the sentiment of Andrew Haigh’s Weekend, in which Chris New’s Glen sermonised on the importance of being openly and visibly gay. The sex of this film feels political and urgent.” – Screen Mayhem