Hard Paint [Tinta bruta] **** (2018, Shico Menegat, Bruno Fernandes, Guega Peixoto, Sandra Dani, Frederico Vasques, Arlyson Gomes) – Classic Movie Review 13,695

The brave and challenging 2018 Brazilian drama film Hard Paint [Tinta bruta] stars Shico Menegat as an isolated vulnerable young gay man who makes a meagre living performing as NeonBoy on a video chat website.

Directors Filipe Matzembacher ( above left) and Marcio Reolon (right).

Writers/ directors Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon’s brave and challenging 2018 Brazilian drama film Hard Paint [Tinta bruta] stars Shico Menegat as an isolated vulnerable young gay man called Pedro, who has been chucked out of college for an act of violence against bullies. He makes a meagre living performing as NeonBoy on a gay-oriented video chat website, using neon paint that he smears over his body as his trademark, while he is dancing.

When Pedro discovers another chatroom performer Leo aka Boy25 (Bruno Fernandes) is imitating his act, he arranges to meet him to make him stop. But they become lovers on-line and then for real after Leo helps save him from an intended attack by two other boys.

It is set in Porto Alegre, the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul) and Porto Alegre is a main character in the film. Porto Alegre translates as Joyful Harbor, but the brutalist place is decaying and dying, gradually sinking into the sea, from where young people often try to move away (like Pedro’s sister and Pedro’s boyfriend), leaving older people behind with only memories.

Hard Paint [Tinta bruta] is a simple-seeming but complex art film, both rich and strange, moving quite steadily but commandingly and rivetingly, with some strong but rather clinical sexual moments. A study in melancholy and alienation, it is not easy viewing but it is revealing and rewarding. The real-seeming situations and dialogue pull you in, with the directors confidently in charge of their characters, story and scenes. The cinematography is unusual, probing the scenes and landscapes to pull you in further.

Pedro is alone in the world, withdrawn and vulnerable, battling his hostile circumstances just to survive. He is an odd and intimidating mix of being both shy and violent, and finds trusting anyone is hard. His loving sister Luiza Guega Peixoto) knows him well, but she decides to move away, and he has to lie to his grandmother (Sandra Dani) about how he makes money.

Shico Menegat is uninhibited, brave and mesmerisingly good as Pedro. A lot is expected of him, some of it subtle, some of it awkward, and he delivers, big time. The character is on the brink of despair, about to tip into the abyss, but, hey, not quite. Little fragments of hope, little rays of sunshine keep appearing, and then get dashed away. But he hasn’t given up. There’s still hope left, and time. What’s round the corner? Who knows?

The film was screened at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, winning the Teddy Award for the best LGBTQ feature film of the festival.

The directors are also known for Seashore (2015). Both of them were born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,695

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