Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro uses the sci-fi genre to comment Brazil's current slide to right wing religious fundamentalism with his latest film. Set in a near future Brazil, Divine Love follows a woman (Dira Paes) who belongs to an evangelical cult that mixes Bible studies with sex orgies.
Speaking about his film, Mascaro says "The film takes place in a time when the majority of Brazil's population are now Evangelical, but the state still claims to be secular. It is a film that speculates the near future through an extraordinary allegory. Divine Love is a commentary on the conservative, fanatical and nationalist agenda that is spreading throughout the world and the way those that don’t espouse it, engage with it. Brazil has traditionally been referred to as a liberal and united country, where the annual Carnaval celebrations espouse the country’s diversity and cordiality. But the fact is that during the past few years, a cultural, social and political transformation led by powerful, ultra-conservative forces, has taken hold in the country. Instead of telling the story of a character fighting against this conservative shift, I wanted to tell the story of a woman consumed by a desire to advance the conservative religious agenda in a very personal way. If a societal chasm has emerged as a result of hatred and misunderstanding, cinema is a space where I can fantasize improbable encounters."
Divine Love is in US cinemas and through Virtual Cinema platforms from November 13th. A UK/ROI release has yet to be announced.
Check out the trailer and poster below.
The official synopsis reads:
It’s the year 2027 in this dystopian, fluorescent Sci Fi story of Joana (Brazilian star Dira Paes), who uses her bureaucratic job to convince divorcing couples to stay together. Her secret weapon is Divine Love, an evangelical cult she belongs to that mixes in a little swinging and group fun into its more traditional prayers and services. Joana herself can’t seem to get pregnant by her own husband, but in an attempt to save her own marriage, she prays regularly at a very unusual religious drive-in, looking for a miracle to help her conceive. Divine Love is an amped up, sexy and witty take on a future full of dance parties, ritualistic orgies, cults and fundamentalist Christianity, and a critique of today’s right-wing led Brazil.
