The Cannibal Club

Dryly funny and unsparingly acerbic, "The Cannibal Club" has one simple point to make about the hypocrisy of the aristocracy ... and Parente makes it sharply.

A diverting, stylish, but ultimately rather trite satire whose social critique and grand guignol aspects never quite come to a full boil.

Guto Parente's darkly funny class satire offsets oppression with revolution, and keeps showing the blood, vomit and cum that bespatter and sully these characters' immaculate-seeming lifestyles.

The Cannibal Club is, above all, a good time.

Bold, sumptuous Brazilian thriller/satire about power between classes, and within relationships. Shorter than it seems, not as gory as it seems, both entertaining and thought-provoking.

Guto Parente effortlessly switches from social comedy to tense thriller and back when necessary, and while The Cannibal Club has its moments of Grand Guignol horror, they never become its centerpieces.

It isn't quite a gorehound movie. It's a sometimes savage satire about the rich of Brazil that could easily be translated to United States.

The colours are vivid and gorgeous, the playfully jazzy soundtrack (by Fernando Catatau) is pure pleasure, and everything is told with spare self-control and a dry wit.

Great performances and a plush looking production can't stop this vacuous, gory sex fest from rotting a tad too soon.

I suppose there really is no ethical consumption under capitalism after all.