‘The Luminous Life’ review: A Lisbon spring brings new opportunities for a troubled 20-something

Dir/scr: Joao Rosas. Portugal. 2025. 99mins

It’s spring in Lisbon and the town is stuffed with mild, heat and promise. However Nicolau (Francisco Melo) is caught, proof against its charms and unable to maneuver ahead. At simply 24, his musical profession has stalled, he’s caught in a cycle of menial, low-paying jobs and he nonetheless lives along with his mother and father. It has been a yr since his girlfriend left and his damaged coronary heart exhibits no signal of mending. Then a collection of probability encounters bump Nicolau out of his rut and he begins to stay once more, on this delightfully breezy, free-wheeling collage portrait of Gen Z on the cusp of maturity.

Talky and satisfyingly wide-ranging in its themes

The debut fiction function from Joao Rosas is a continuation of a collection of interconnected tales that began in 2012 with the brief movie Entrecampos, during which the 11-year-old Nicolau (performed by Melo) is the brand new pal of Mariana (performed within the brief and as an grownup on this function by Francisca Alarcao). Rosas revisited Nicolau’s world in two additional shorts: Mario Do Mar (2015), which screened in competitors at Locarno, and Catavento (2020). His unconnected feature-length documentary Loss of life Of A Metropolis gained the Doc Alliance award in 2023 for finest function.

The Luminous Life, which screens in Karlovy Fluctuate’s predominant competitors following a world premiere at IndieLisboa, is an auspicious transfer for Rosas, whose mild contact brings levity to Nicolau’s angsty romantic travails. Talky and satisfyingly wide-ranging in its themes, the image has one thing of the life-affirming spirit of the work of French director Guillaume Brac, particularly the sun-kissed spontaneity of All Fingers On Deck. It’s a charmer of a movie that might catch the attention of curated streaming platforms or adventurous arthouse distributors.

“Of all issues sure in life, there’s no surer factor than doubt.” It’s a assertion that chimes with disintegrating certainties in Nicolau’s fumbled existence. However the way in which it’s delivered on the movie’s opening, belted out with gusto by a multi-generational choir because the digital camera pans slowly across the faces of the singers, makes it sound joyful, nearly exultant, quite than a cry of despair.

Lastly, the digital camera rests on Nicolau, having taken in a number of characters who, to a lesser or higher extent, will change the course of his life within the coming months. It’s Nicolau’s birthday, and he’s too glum to rejoice. However new acquaintances from the choir, amongst them Tiago (Joao Fonseca) and his girlfriend, carefree French pupil Chloe (Cécile Matignon), persuade him to affix an evening out that takes in beer, pool and flirting, and ends with a damaged push bike. 

Nicolau should be wallowing in unhappiness and what may need been, however this night marks the second his life begins transferring ahead once more. The broken bicycle results in a brand new friendship with a handyman on the restore store, which in flip results in a job and a romantic treasure hunt within the programme of the cinemateca. In the meantime, a subsequent job interview arrange by his father ends in a discovery about his mother and father that gives the impetus for Nicolau to lastly transfer out. Then an sudden assembly opens what guarantees to be a brand new chapter in his life.

This can be a loose-limbed, meandering type of storytelling that grows organically, just like the branches of a tree – a few of that are extra fruitful than others. Woven via all of it is music – Nicolau performs bass in a band that’s by no means fairly able to debut in public; he sings snatches of songs along with his buddies – and the colourful refrain of the town within the sunshine.