After catching “I’m Still Here” in theaters while trying to finish up all the Best Picture nominees, I’m rethinking my rankings.

With less than two weeks to go until the Oscars, I still had four Best Picture nominees to watch (and judge): “Emilia Perez”, “A Complete Unknown”, “Nickel Boys”, and “I’m Still Here”. Since the Alamo Drafthouse employees are still on strike, I figured I should branch out and find another theater in the short-term, so I looked up what was playing at the Prospect Park Nitehawk. When I tell people I go to Alamo a lot, I get frequent recommendations to check out Nitehawk since the premise is incredibly similar (reserved seating, phone bans, and food / drink service right at your table). I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were screening “I’m Still Here” later that night, so I snapped up one of the few remaining seats.

Holy cow, I am so glad I did.

For those unfamiliar with the premise: “In the early 1970s, the military dictatorship in Brazil reaches its height. The Paiva family – Rubens, Eunice, and their five children – live in a beachside house in Rio, open to all their friends. One day, Rubens is taken for questioning and does not return.”

The overall story reminded me of “The Zone of Interest”, in that the core of the story follows a mother trying to maintain some normalcy for her family amidst extremely abnormal circumstances. The core difference that led to me liking “I’m Still Here” significantly more than “The Zone of Interest” is the incredible depth that Fernanda Torres brings to her portrayal of Eunice Paiva.

The movie actually spends more time than I expected on the family’s life before Rubens’ disappearance, and it’s a choice that pays off in the latter half of the movie. I was so much more invested in the family, and the writing and plot development in the first part of the movie gave complexity to all of the various family relationships: Rubens & Eunice as a couple as well as each parent’s relationship to their five very different children.

By the end of the movie, I felt like I had been taken on a journey with this family as more than just a casual observer. I identified so deeply with Eunice and her story, enough to look up more about the Paiva family when I got home (yes, this was based on an amazing true story and real family).

This movie was really amazing, a powerful and tragic narrative centered around an admirably tenacious woman as her world changes forever. I know “I’m Still Here” is not a front-runner for Best Picture, mostly because it’s extremely rare for a non-English film to win (Parasite was the first and only). I hope that even without a win, the nomination for Best Picture will point more people to this story and give it the exposure it truly deserves. If I had seen this movie before publishing my “Top Movies of 2024”, I have no doubt it would have been in my top 5, if not at the very top of the list.

tldr: “I’m Still Here” was incredible, go see it