Good Manners (2017)

Isabél Zuaa and Marjorie Estiano star in Brazilian writer/directors Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra’s 2017 sapphic werewolf film GOOD MANNERS (As Boas Maneiras).

GOOD MANNERS (As Boas Maneiras)

2017. Brazil.

 Director: Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra

Screenplay: Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra

Starring: Isabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano, Miguel Lobo & Cida Moreira

The film features a lesbian protagonist named Clara (Isabél Zuaa) who is behind in bill payments and struggling to find work. She applies for a position as a live-in nanny for a single, pregnant, wealthy woman named Ana (Marjorie Estiano).

Clara soon discovers that Ana has an unusual habit of sleepwalking during the full moon. During one of these moments of somnambulism the two begin to kiss passionately. Unfortunately, the moment of intimacy leads to Clara being clawed and bitten by Ana who also seems to have glowing yellow eyes by the full-moonlight.

Undeterred by Ana’s actions, the two women begin a relationship. Ana reveals that her family has disowned her for cheating on her fiancée and becoming pregnant from a one-night stand.

Pregnant with the mysterious man’s child, Ana soon gives birth to a werewolf pup. 

GOOD MANNERS premiered in 2017 at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland where it won the Jury Prize. The film has an interesting mix of tension and whimsy as the dark fairy-tale unfolds. The romance turned horror-fantasy is a bit of a slow burn that builds to an unfortunate queer trope at its centre. But, despite that, it also brings a fresh look at love and motherhood to the monster-movie genre.

You can find GOOD MANNERS streaming on Tubi & Kanopy (USA) & Netflix (Brazil), for rent/purchase through AppleTV & Amazon (USA), and also on DVD.