Alva (2019)

Starring Henrique Bonacho. This is a film about a quiet loner who lives a solitary life in the mountains, hiding away from the world that took his children away. One day in a moment of clarity, he decides to seek revenge on the psychologist who was pivotal to the case and Henrique must try his hardest, to hide in the forest, survive and evade capture.

Henrique Bonacho masterfully embodies a hauntingly troubled and lonesome individual. The lack of dialogue in this film truly enhances the isolated and troubled atmosphere, with its handheld, beautifully shot scenes, capturing the unrelenting and unforgiving wilderness.

Not knowing anything going into this film is a huge benefit, as you are lured into a false sense of security. The film then snaps you back to focus when Henrique takes his revenge, an extremely scary and unsettling scene, once again bereft of any real dialogue making it extremely disturbing. Yet his lack of dialogue and personality is also the films downfall. The character is in no way captivating enough to hold the film up, before long the paranoid Henrique, walking the forest floor, eating berries, chestnuts and staying away from human contact is stale. But the film pulls itself from the abyss when it comes to the ending, Alva did a fantastic job. Showing a man at the end of his tether, desperation turned to relinquishing oneself to fate.

3/5