Seashore Reviews

I’m not sure if this is an entirely bad movie, or just a well-made boring one. It hovers in-between these two zones throughout its brief running time, which feels far longer than it is. Minimal scripts can work, but Seashore is minimal to the point of feeling like the script boiled down to three paragraphs mostly consisting of details of how they two main characters stare awkwardly at each other.

It’s not surprising or shocking that the two friends eventually transition into a romantic/sexual relationship, but it saves it for the last ten minutes. Finally embracing his best friend as a romantic partner leads one of the friends into staring down his fears of water. That is the entirety of the story. Well, no, that’s partially a lie, there’s also some vagary about one of the characters having a complicated relationship with his father and having to return to his childhood home for…reasons? It remains murky and frankly uninteresting.

It doesn’t help that Seashore focuses more on the less amiable or charismatic character. There’s nothing wrong with Mateus Almada’s work, it’s just that he’s sacked with a character that’s entirely internal with nothing much to work with externally. Mauricio Barcellos gets the more demonstrative role, and he’s all flirtatious smirks and fluttering looks. They work well together and generate a pleasing chemistry both as friends and eventually as something more, but Seashore is a short film stretched thin into feature length. As the final frames play out, the haunting voice of Peggy Lee popped into my mind chanting “is that all there is?”