The Cinematheque

“The freshest blast of gonzo comic energy at this year’s Cannes.”

Guy Lodge, Variety

One of the wackiest, wonkiest, and most inspired debut features in recent memory, Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s delightfully deranged satire of modern-day Europe won the Grand Prix at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, with good reason. The candy-coated genre mashup, a 2018 festival favourite, centres on Portuguese soccer superstar Diamantino (Carlotta Cotta), a loveable, dimwitted daddy’s boy who attributes his athletic genius to seeing dinosaur-sized ​“fluffy puppies” on the pitch. When he learns of the refugee crisis, the colossally cute canines disappear and his footie career crumbles; he decides to adopt an orphaned ​“fugee” boy, who’s actually a Secret Service spy (and an adult woman) investigating Diamantino for money laundering! To reveal much more would do a disservice to the ludicrous inner logic of this silly-veiled smart movie—but trust, by closing credits, Brexit-like EU separatism, sci-fi experimentation, and breasts play prominent parts.

“Wildly entertaining … A frothy and infectiously sweet film that bubbles with the madness of the modern world.”

David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“Diamantino pulls off a rare and delightful feat. It is imaginatively strange, but has a heart big enough to make sense of the insensible.”

Sophie Monks Kaufman, Sight & Sound

“Part political satire, part fantasy, part I‑don’t‑even-know-what, Diamantino is exactly the type of surreal concoction that begs to be discovered by unsuspecting audiences.”

Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail