“Earnest, heartfelt and genuinely impactful.”

Some people fondly embrace the past, others retreat from it at the first possible opportunity. The latter can sometimes be a challenging endeavour since it’s not as easy to escape reality as some would hope, but in many cases it can be the only way to move forward. This is the central premise behind Manas (Sisters), the feature-length directorial debut of Marianna Brennand, which tells the beautiful but haunting story of Marcielle, a young girl on the precipice of adolescence. She grows up in a corner of Brazil that remains mostly untouched by the modern world, but yearns to find a way out as a result of being raised in a hostile household and the victim of abuse by her short-tempered, manipulative father. The film follows Marcielle as she attempts to forge a path out of this perilous situation, which she discovers is not as seamless as she had initially anticipated. Based on true testimonies that the director gathered from victims of abuse (to whom the film is dedicated), Manas is a heartbreakingly honest and deeply unsettling account of the obstacles that come when attempting to break the cycle of abuse, carefully curated by a filmmaker whose attention to detail and genuine compassion prevent the film from being an overwrought jumble of ideas. Instead, the film is a compelling drama about a young woman trying to find her place in the world and learning the harsh realities that come with attempting to alter a system that has resisted change for generations, daring to unseat decades of abuse in anticipation of leaving a better future for those that will hopefully be born into more positive circumstances.

There are a number of different themes that form the foundation of Manas, but they all revolve around the central premise: to give a vivid portrait of a young woman as she transitions from the ignorance of childhood to the world-weary realities of adolescent life, which is rendered even more challenging as a result of her less-than-ideal upbringing. This film does resemble many traditional coming-of-age narratives, but this is not an obstacle that stands in its way but rather an opportunity for the director to expand on the pre-existing tropes of the genre, developing them to be tailored to this specific story. Manas is focused on a protagonist who fearlessly embraces the unknown in an effort to escape a domestic situation that has damaged more than one life, including that of the older sister she idolizes. The film is anchored by an extraordinary performance by the young Jamilli Correa, whose work as Marcielle is truly exceptional; layered and complex, suggesting a young actor whose talents are already forming into a potentially promising career, and whose ability to evoke an elusive kind of authenticity indicates a wisdom far beyond her years. The director crafts quite a poignant character study, looking at the protagonist’s efforts to not only change the system into which she was born and from which she wishes to escape, but also drawing attention to the relationships she has with different women in her life, each one of them shaping her perspective and aiding in her journey towards adulthood. A treacherous but inevitable process to which she gradually starts to acclimate as she becomes more comfortable in both her identity and her desire to witness change.

Many coming-of-age films arrive packaged with a few different themes, drawn from the industry’s tendency to prioritize certain ideas when it comes to these films. The most prominent is the concept of tradition and modernity, and the efforts some take to reconcile the two to exist in harmony. This theme is situated at the root of Manas, almost to the point where it becomes one of the driving concepts behind the film, defining a lot of the narrative and guiding the plot in different directions. The protagonist is a young girl who has grown disillusioned with the broken promises of the culture into which she was born. She no longer blindly follows her parents’ beliefs, and she even begins to question her own faith when she realizes how much of the abuse she faces is directly related to socially-mandated conventions intricately connected to religion, with the constant refrain of “this is God’s plan” not doing much to convince her to blindly follow the traditions that she thinks lack substance or relevance in the modern world. The film follows her struggles to shed the unbearable weight of the past that she is forced to carry – even her name is formed as a portmanteau of her parents’ given names, meaning that even at her most independent they will always be a part of her, something with which she struggles the older she gets and the more she becomes aware of the bleak situation in which she was raised. Her journey eventually becomes one in which she realizes that she cannot escape tradition and that her traumatic past will always be a part of her. Instead of escape, her voyage of self-discovery revolves around the effort to reclaim her name as her own rather than a remnant of her parents, the first step towards the defiance she hopes will change the corrupt system that surrounds her and her siblings; a bold endeavor that the film captures beautifully.

Manas is a challenging film, but one that still manages to be captivating in spite of some of its thornier, more disconcerting material. It is beautifully constructed, with the cinematography in particular being a highlight – the fluid, dynamic camerawork catches so much detail, exploring every nook and cranny of this corner of the country that is rendered as both expansive and intimate, establishing a very particular tonal quality that the film relies upon in the more dramatic moments. The narrative is what draws us in, as well as its thematic underpinnings. It is very simple on the surface, but we find that it is consistent in demonstrating the challenges that come with attempting to start your own journey before it is too late, which can become a daunting endeavor when you are forced to carry the remnants of a culture that you wish to escape. The message at the heart of Manas is very strong: sometimes it is worth taking the first difficult step to changing a culture solely for the benefit of future generations. This is not the first instance of this theme being presented in such a film, but it does come across as truly meaningful under the director’s careful gaze and desire to tell this story in a way that is earnest, heartfelt and genuinely impactful, exploring vital themes in a stunning, compelling manner that will linger with the viewer long after the haunting final moments.