The Invisible Life

Plot

The film follows the interior life of Hugo, a middle-aged public servant who lives by night at his workplace, the palace of Terreiro do Paço in Lisbon from where centuries before the Portuguese Empire was governed, nowadays ministries of the Portuguese government. Obsessed with the 8mm footage he discovered at the belongings of António, his recently deceased superior, Hugo recalls the day António told him he was dying. These memories unexpectedly bring back others, including remembrances of the last time Hugo saw Adriana, the last woman he loved, who is nowadays living in another country.

Cast

Production

The film marks Vítor Gonçalves return to feature filmmaking after a hiatus of more than twenty years following his acclaimed debut with the cult-film A Girl In Summer.

Reception

The Guardian's Andrew Pulver awarded the film four stars, describing it as "rigorous, elegant study of emotional crisis." Sukhdev Sandhu, writing in Sight & Sound, said the film "asks raw, unsettling questions of us all."