Rocha da Silveira tells a tale of 15-year-old girls who are running around their town in Rio de Janeiro, full of sexual desire and exploration. No adults exist in this world, an interesting choice that takes a little bit to realize but once it hits, it all makes sense. There’s a plague of murders of various young girls occuring around the town, causing tons of speculation and gossip between the group of friends.
This includes Bia (Valenbtina Herszage) who encounters a victim of the mysterious killer on a walk, and instead of running away screaming, she’s fascinated by the girl during her final moments breathing, handling the moment with an interaction that’s borderline necrophilia.
The girls are in charge in this film, and we see their interactions with one another always either at school, or gossiping about either sex or the murders. These are teenagers who act as if they’re sexually wise beyond their years, even though other interactions prove that they are in many ways still kids. Rocha da Silveira gives Bia and her companions more depth than your average film about high schoolers, but at the surface, their interactions and musings on the killings are all that we have to get a full grasp on them. They have a lot of inner rage and problems to deal with, but these feelings aren’t explored deeply enough for us to get a better idea of who they are.
The film does toy with the idea if Bia or her homebody hopeless romantic brother Joao (Bernardo Marinho) are possibly responsible for the murders, but thankfully it never does goes down that route. While the loose feel and structure of the plot is part of the charm, it also is a bit too aloof in its method of storytelling. It’s a beautiful looking film and features some stunning scenes, but this isn’t enough to balance out its shortcomings, which there are plenty.
I didn’t love Kill Me Please, but I was never asking for the film to put me out of my misery. It’s a flawed debut, but one with a lot of promise. I’m very curious to see what Rocha da Silveira does next, as I have a feeling it may be even more fully realized and better for it.
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