The Cult (A Seita) (2015)

directed by André Antônio

Brazil

70 minutes

4 stars out of 5

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This was a pick from my project where I use a list randomizer to get a random movie off of my giant watchlist and watch it, no matter what it is. Thus far this project has been all hits and literally no misses, and The Cult continues that trend.

This is a very low-key sci-fi movie where most elements of the "fi" half are introduced via the protagonist's voice-over narration, rather than portrayed through visuals. I say "most" because the exception to this is a sort of holographic image gallery the main character flicks through that requires no screen or visible input, but even that will probably be reality at some point. Our protagonist (I will alternatingly refer to him as the narrator and the protagonist, because he is both) is telling us the story of the year 2040, which he says was an important year for him for two reasons: The first is that it was the year he moved back to Recife.

The narrator is from something called the "space colonies", which he addresses repeatedly but without context, as if the audience for his recollection are peers of his that would immediately know what he's referring to. It's pretty self-explanatory, though it's not clear if the colonies belong to Brazil or to any one specific country. We infer that it's a much more wealthy society than that of those still living on Earth, which is not surprising considering that that's already the way space colonization seems to be heading. Because his currency is more valuable in Recife than in the colonies, the protagonist is able to move back into his old house and furnish it lavishly, living a life of what looks like ease and luxury. Despite the near-vacant streets and aging buildings, there's a real sense that the people in Recife post-"exodus" don't view their lives as anything other than the best they can be - but there's also a feeling that the lens through which we see life in Recife may be tainted by the protagonist's personal views. Another of the fictional elements is that at some point between now and when the film takes place, a mandatory vaccine was introduced that eliminated the need for humans to sleep. However, Recife is a holdout where dreamers still live, a small hamlet where people are still able to fall asleep. This becomes very important later.

Because there's little dialogue, most of what The Cult accomplishes as a film is conveyed through aesthetics. This is an absolutely gorgeous movie and it feels like in spite of minimal visual effects it manages to establish a sense of being in a place of the future, a place similar to, but ultimately different in its evolution away from, the Earth we're familiar with. Again, what we might look at and describe as "run-down" in Recife is anything but to its residents, and especially to the protagonist and narrator who has returned to it as his beloved home. It is - at least during the day - a haven for him. He walks the streets alongside men who dress like him. It should be mentioned that the protagonist is very openly and overtly gay, and all the people he interacts with are also men who love men, whether gay, bi, or anything else. Recife seems to be a kind of locus for safe, easy, even joyful cruising, and the protagonist spends much of the first half of the film doing nothing but lounging in beautiful clothing (or no clothing) in his beautiful house in bed with another beautiful man, in the beautiful weather of a city that feels like it's shed its aspersions and finally belongs to its people.

The second reason why 2040 is important to the narrator is because that's the year that he found the Cult. Midway through the film, one of the protagonist's partners calls him out for what he sees as his "fetishism" of Recife, chiding him for ignoring police brutality and fantasizing about the Recife he remembers from his rose-tinted childhood memories rather than the Recife that really is. Whether or not this is objectively true, it does seem to send the protagonist into introspection, and the next major plot development after this is his discovery of an underground cult (really more like a big recurring party) in the city. Instead of addressing his place in the city and his perception of it, the protagonist - and the narrative - draws further away from reality and towards fantasy. We're also told during the first half of the film that despite being what looks like a paradise during the day, Recife isn't safe to walk around at night in. However, I feel like the reveal of the cult and their aims may alter the legitimacy of this claim somewhat. While the cult is not doing anything that is technically harmful to anybody, stories of their presence may have been disseminated to create a general sense of danger that was not entirely accurate.

I was entranced by this movie. The atmosphere of languor, of carefree living, drew me in. The way the protagonist moves through the world surrounded by beautiful objects and beautiful people without the need to work for money or do anything other than desire something and achieve it was intoxicating. But it may be that we're experiencing Recife circa 2040 through a very narrow scope - even if misinterpretations of the cult led to most of the warnings about not going out at night, there's still apparently a heavy police presence. Recife may be an oasis - for gay men, for aesthetes, for anybody who wants to live in beauty atop the corpse of capitalism - but outside the oasis is always a harsh desert. The scope that The Cult encompasses despite being only 70 minutes long is impressive, and as an art object it looks flawless, a perfectly executed vision. I've spoken before about horror as a genre being large enough to contain films as lo-fi and sparse as this one as well as major classics, but the science fiction genre can be that inclusive as well. This is a brilliant movie, and it also makes excellent use of "Melody Day" by Caribou, one of my favorite songs.