About ten years ago, the publishing market was invaded by a genre derivation that became a phenomenon: the so-called sick lit, stories centered on one or more characters with a serious illness – almost always a terminal illness and almost always a young character. That’s how the big screen got adaptations like ‘Everything and Everything‘, ‘Five Steps From You‘ and the great flagship of the genre, ‘Blame it on the stars‘, which made millions of teenagers cry in movie theaters. Now comes to Netflix the Brazilian representative of this group, the romantic drama ‘after the universe‘, which already debuted going straight to the top positions of the Top 10 in 43 countries.
Nina (Giulia Be) since he was a child, he has been dealing with an autoimmune disease: lupus. Despite having to overcome herself daily to be able to teach and carry out her hemodialysis treatment, she takes care of her grandfather (Othon Bastos) and dreams of becoming a solo pianist with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. But when she thinks about the pains she is often in and her number in line for a kidney transplant (14,889), Nina becomes despondent, feeling like the kind of person who sees the glass half empty. Then, on a cloudy day when she is at the hospital undergoing hemodialysis, she recognizes Gabriel (Henry Zaga), whom she had bumped into at the train station earlier, and discovers that he is a high-spirited and motivated resident doctor, determined to make her see the bright side of life. However, the doctor-patient relationship will be questioned when the friendship between the two evolves into something more.
Innocent and cute,’after the universe‘ brings the debut of the teen singer-songwriter Giulia Be for the cinematographic world, and that, by itself, already attracts the critics’ eyes. Add to that the fact that the singer has almost 3 million followers on just one social network and that’s it, we already have the blockbuster of Netflixwhich even features a song composed exclusively by the singer for the film.
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Over two hours long, the Diego Freitas delivers a story that the singer’s target audience connects with, driven by the actress’ willingness to give her fans her best, even in her first big work. Filmed during the pandemic – at a time when autoimmune diseases gained the spotlight, given the aggravation in case of contagion – it is interesting to observe the alternatives found by the director (who appears in the feature, he is the bartender of the nightclub) to record certain scenes, in particular the use of ethereal effects, which also connect to the music clip. Giulia with Luan Santana. For those who are fans, just find the references.
The script, in collaboration with Rodrigo Azevedo and also an actor Joao Cortesdevelops the plot well step by step, but sometimes emphasizes elements that do not go anywhere [três closes na bolsa de Nina, que não interfere na história; a mania do melhor amigo Yuri (Leo Bahia) roncar e beber refrigerante, que não acrescenta; o avô que vai se vestir para a apresentação da neta e some, só reaparecendo na cena final]. With the special participation of Viviane Araújowho, with his innate charisma, gives a happy tone to the hospital environment, ‘after the universe‘ is a film with typical youthful innocence, a gift from the singer to her fans, certainly.
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