Good Manners

A genre-torn film that starts a new interesting topic every so often, but soon replaces it with another one or sweeps it off the table with a twist of the story without being able to use it properly. On the other hand, this results in at least the pleasant unpredictability of the story. It is very non-standard horror, although it does not deny its roots in genre classics and traditional motifs - but it is more of a social horror, which does not even act as a horror film for ninety percent of the run time and is in fact mostly not even filmed as a horror. Maybe that's why some of its purely horror or bloody scenes are inadvertently funny, although in the context of everything around them, they are actually extremely impressive at the same time. In addition, the tempo of storytelling is well drawn-out, and the film tries to start more and more different ideas over time, but not all of them can lead to a satisfactory completion. However, a few scenes are etched into your memory easily and for a long time. (07/03/2018)

A very interesting and original addition to the werewolf genre. I'd call it a horror only because of its theme — the film practically abandons any effort to scare the audience, focusing instead on the story, which is not a bad thing in this case. There are a few genuinely horror moments, but they’re just a light seasoning in an otherwise dramatic tale of family, love, and neighborly relationships. Good Manners is beautifully shot, blending a dreamy atmosphere with the modern, almost futuristic setting of São Paulo. The acting is top-notch, and although most of the visual effects are CGI, they are of high quality — the young werewolf, in particular, looks impressively realistic. The story is divided into two parts — I enjoyed the first part more, as the film slowly wraps you around its finger with a gradual buildup of tension and playful audience expectations about where the story will go. Many films would have ended with the climax of this storyline, but here, the narrative unexpectedly continues, offering a literal continuation of the story begun in the first half. The tone shifts almost completely — from a minimalist horror drama to a social fantasy. While the second half didn’t captivate me as much, it still has its standout moments. The runtime is quite long and could have been trimmed, but I didn’t mind the final cut. I was happy to spend time on this ambitious and unique film, and it managed to keep my attention even in the slower second half. It may not be An American Werewolf in London, but Good Manners will certainly leave its mark on the werewolf genre. BTW: I wouldn’t recommend this film to pregnant women with a sensitive disposition — some scenes could be quite distressing and might stick with them for a long time, which could have negative effects during their pregnancy. (06/29/2018)

The Brazilian-French-German production Good Manners has a long running time, although I do not think it is unnecessarily long. The relationship between the two women is important in the movie's first half. In the second half, the focus is on what happened after the birth and beyond. It has some very good ideas, and it is filmed in a way that suits the narrative. I am usually not a big fan of the slow pace yet this movie succeeds in surprising you, and it is, therefore, a very interesting movie. (11/04/2019)