M8 is an incredible story, told by the equally wonderful vision of Jefferson De.
From the story told to photography and score, M8 hooks the viewer in a contemporary and extremely relevant narrative, rooted in social and cultural contrasts, with an extremely well-built atmosphere of uneasiness and tension.
Although De's perspective with this narrative is undeniably well-crafted, impressively filmed and responsible for bringing important discussions to light, it has some deep lackins - not in the story or production in any way, but mainly in editing structure, I've found.
It gets very confusing and rushed at times. We have no clear trigger from the story-telling view point to transition from Mauricio-university freshman to Mauricio-intestigator, giving the impression that the story is guiding the character just to get where it wants to be, rather than the opposite. Editing gets all over the place in random moments as well, like showing Mauricio kissing in the car from nowhere, just after a scene that promised being dramatic and serious; or when Mauricio's friend presents to us his boyfriend - a scene filmed to give us the impression that this new character will mean something greater to the story later, when he won't, really. After believing so many times that a certain part of the story is relevant, and said part isn't, the viewer can get a bit tired.
Apart from the general editing, the movie is incredible! The main character's acting was perfect, with a special notice to the mother's acting being worthy of every praise of talent and execution. These qualities aren't equal in every actor, some being a bit over the top (some under).
Overall, it's a wonderful film to have in brazilian cinema, surely a bright sign of new stories that can be beaultifully told, worthy of every minute of attention and watching care. I'm excited to see what new expressions we'll see from this team of artists, teaching us how to see the narrative of life. M8 is a must-watch film, and I recommend it to everyone.