Pedro Pinho’s beguiling drama examines the lingering effects of colonization on contemporary Africa through its sensual, subversive account of Portuguese environmental engineer Sérgio (Sérgio Coragem), who travels to the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau to assess the potential impact of a massive infrastructural project, only to find himself drawn into an intense romantic relationship with two mysterious members of the local queer community.
As tensions build between Sérgio, outgoing Diára (Cleo Diára, who won best performance in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film was also nominated for the Queer Palm) and drag queen Gui (a revelatory Jonathan Guilherme), their innermost fears, desires and shared feelings of displacement are exposed. An epic, transgressive chronicle of power imbalances and their taut, unanticipated consequences on the emotional and sexual lives of people living under neocolonial capitalist rule, I Only Rest in the Storm is a thought-provoking slow-burn that Douglas calls “magnificent, so lively and sexy and intelligent,” and Endrju hails as “epic and immersive, easily the best film I’ve seen in the past year.”
“My newfound love for three-hour-long foreign films has taken me to places that I have never been before—figuratively and literally speaking,” writes Jackie, adding, “I even found myself captivated by the mere sight of the colorfulness and vibrancy of this post-colonial piece of art.” For those who fear the film’s 211-minute sprawl, “rest assured that you will be rewarded with the hottest sex scene of the year,” writes Argus. “For the rest of you, rest assured that this is an extraordinarily rich and stimulating political work.” Agrees Valewu: “It navigates power within the neocolonial order while delving into race, class and sexuality, blending an astonishing range of genres and ideas into something truly extraordinary. Also: Sérgio Coragem and Cleo Diára just rewrote the definition of chemistry.” Add I Only Rest In the Storm to your watchlist, and we’ll notify you when it’s available for rent in your region.