The Pink Cloud

Spoiler alert: I would have liked to have known what caused it. If it ever stopped. The ending more definitive.I But.....I did like the story about how people are different with coping with such a dilemma.

A prophetic film that explores what our lives could have been like if the pandemic had been worse. For a movie that takes place entirely inside rooms - Gerbase finds ways to invent and reinvent possible changes in a relationship over time Fascinating

The Pink Cloud is a Brazilian family drama about a couple that just met that has to go into quarantine seemingly forever because of a pink cloud. This was filmed before Covid, however there are some pretty eerie similarities. There a few things that don't make any sense, including how this poison air that prevents people from going outside doesn't seep into the houses that people reside. It's not a tight film, but time skips for no reason which makes the pacing inconsistent and awkward. The entire film is vague, but I haven't seen a movie in a long time that has such a self-important feel. The entirety does not amount to much and falls flat into the dustbin of cloudy unfocused features. Final Score: 3/10

Written in 2017 and filmed in 2019, filmmaker Iuli Gerbase's debut feature embodies a remarkable prescience about the events that came to dominate global culture over the next two years. This story about the unexpected appearance of pink clouds that contain toxic gases and kill quickly after exposure follows the experiences of a young couple who just met but are hurriedly forced indoors into joint isolation to stay alive. Their years-long time together leads to an on-again/off-again relationship while they each attempt to deal with issues related to survival, depression, a lack of interpersonal connection and all of the other matters that have ironically become all too familiar to many of us in recent years. But, beyond the uncanny parallels to real life, this Brazilian offering also explores a host of other philosophical and moral issues, such as acceptance of our circumstances, knowing when to let go and developing appreciation for what we have, even in the absence of what we've lost. Admittedly, the film suffers from occasional pacing issues (especially in the second half), as well as repetitiveness in some aspects of the screenplay/narrative. Nevertheless, this release has much to say, not only about what we've experienced, but also in terms of what we should consider taking away from it.

Maybe if this was released pre-COVID times it would be more shocking, but most of the movie is a slow and subtle descent into the type of monotony most of us have experienced during the lock down phases of the pandemic. I expected a bit more of an apocalyptic / sci-fi feel, but it is more of a family drama.