The Brazilian version of Plan 75 imagines an alternative version of the country where a new system forces citizens above a certain age into retirement and relocates them to government-run “colonies.” We follow Tereza, a seventy-seven-year-old woman who has lived alone for years and values her independence, and who has now been signed to move to one by her daughter. The thought of having a restrained and supervised life, living in disappearance, does not appeal to her. Instead, she decides to resist and fulfill a lifelong dream: to fly in an airplane. She journeys across the Amazon in search of someone who will fly her, and through this small adventure, the film becomes an exploration of how society views people as disposable once they are no longer part of the workforce, as well as a portrait of Tereza herself learning to navigate this new reality.
Director Gabriel Mascaro, frustrated by how elderly characters are often depicted in cinema, approaches Tereza with deep empathy. She is a woman with a clear sense of self, full of longings and desires, which Mascaro treats with dignity. He makes it clear that she still has much to give to the world, and that her long life should grant her more freedom to choose, not less.
The film expresses its message through character dynamics. It says a lot in the way ordinary workers interact with Tereza, promptly asking for her papers, but Mascaro’s central ideas are developed through three key relationships. The first is with her daughter, someone who, absorbed by her own work, sees her mother as a burden, asking her to comply with the new laws because “it is right” and “it will make things easier for everyone.” She is quick to trade her mother’s freedom for a small amount of money, her expression shifting the instant it is mentioned, unaware that what she is signing will one day apply to her as well once she can no longer work. It raises the question of who she is truly doing this for and why.
The other dynamics are more hopeful. Cadu, played by Rodrigo Santoro, finds inspiration in Tereza’s conviction, while Roberta, played by Miriam Socarrás, sees in her someone who can understand her own grief. Through these encounters, the film shows how experience gained through a long life can still offer guidance and meaning in a society that tends to overlook it.
The film also connects to recurring concerns in recent Brazilian cinema, echoing Mascaro’s earlier works and complementing the themes of The Secret Agent, another Brazilian title at TIFF that examines state control and intrusion under the guise of order. It features a strong performance by Denise Weinberg, a score that introduces faint futuristic textures, and a smart production design that subtly reveals signs of the regime’s presence through posters, propaganda, and slogans reading “The future is for everyone.” Not everything fits together seamlessly, as some passages meander and the third act shows Mascaro’s struggle to fully expand his theme into a complete film. It may not be essential Brazilian cinema, but it remains a touching and tender one.
Still courtesy of TIFF.