In the year 2027, on paper, Brazil is still a secular country, but in reality, it is spiralling towards a religious dystopia, in which people stop at the local drive-through for a serving of religious staples from the preacher instead of hamburgers. An individual’s purpose is to enter a god-fearing marriage, while public scanners announce which women are pregnant and which are not. For bureaucrat Joana, the new order is paradise. A devout believer, she uses her position to sabotage her clients’ divorces in Kafkaesque proceedings, while she herself desperately tries to conceive. Mascaro’s (Neon Bull – ZFF 2015) neon-soaked futurist drama is a mesmerising feat in which gospel and erotica intersperse in this pertinent story of faith and power.

Subtitles: HR, EN