The Joy

'A superhero film' is the subtitle of The Joy, the second part of a trilogy on present day Brazilian teenagers. With their juvenile energy and optimism, they emphatically resist the fatalism of older generations, who can see the end of the world approaching.
Luiza (Tainá Medina, at 16 years of age a real discovery) is at the centre of a group of schoolchildren, and tackles the evil outside world with a vivid imagination and the secret powers this brings. Luiza believes that, with enough willpower, she can walk through a wall. Her cousin João, who hides in her house after shooting himself in the foot, acts as a kind of ghostly apparition.
Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande also resist the older generation; they’ve had enough of the realism and the penchant for 1960s ideals in Brazilian cinema. The Joy was largely made with young amateur actors and emerged from a series of workshops and rehearsals.