Dramatising the social upheaval among Brazil's poor while their country teeters on the edge of democracy, Mars One paints a fascinating portrait of a lower-middle-class black family feeling the strain of their new reality and delivers as a finely carved slice of everyday life that's further strengthened by sincere performances from the quartet that make the household.
Written & directed by Gabriel Martins, the story is character-driven and benefits a lot from the full-fledged personalities inhabiting the script, each bestowed with tangible identities which in turn also makes the audience want to invest in their journey. Through their personal struggle & desires, the film addresses various topics & themes prevalent in families living on the outskirts.
All four characters are given equal priority & sufficient screen time by the director and despite the tone being grim & heartbreaking, it still manages to find some wickedly hilarious scenes in the process. As with every family drama, it is the conflicts & relationships with each other that drives the narrative and the actors play their roles convincingly, both individually & as a family unit.
Overall, Mars One is competently crafted & patiently told but whether it's going to work for you or not depends a lot on how invested you are in their lives & problems. Otherwise, its slow pace & meandering plot can make it a chore to sit through. Not everything lands right, for the proper cohesiveness of all the subthreads isn't there but there is ample that viewers can connect with one way or another.
