Trailer Watch: Anita Rocha da Silveira Follows a Religious Girl Gang in “Medusa”

Trailers

Trailer Watch: Anita Rocha da Silveira Follows a Religious Girl Gang in “Medusa”

A student at a Christian college questions whether she’s been possessed in “Medusa.” A new trailer for Anita Rocha da Silveira’s satire introduces us to Mari (Mariana Oliveira), a devout young woman who spends her days singing evangelical songs praising God and her nights beating sinners into believing the good word. Mariana and her friends are part of a vigilante girl gang who prowl the streets with the aim of making their victims devote their lives to God.

“After an attack goes wrong, leaving Mari scarred and unemployed, her view of community, religion, and her peers begins to shift,” the film’s synopsis teases. Mari begins to investigate the truth behind the story of Melissa, “the most promiscuous woman ever,” who was “tainting” her town until a holy woman came and lit her face on fire. “I think the people here are hiding something,” Mari says.

“I want people to reflect about how the engines of machismo operate inside all of us, and about how the conservative rise we experience in Brazil — but also in many countries around the world — can affect teens and young adults,” da Silveira told us.

“Medusa” opens July 29 in NYC and LA, with a national rollout to follow. It marks da Silveira’s follow-up to “Kill Me Please,” her 2015 feature debut.