Overview
A woman's journey into her past reveals secrets that bind her to a lost love.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- dreamy
- wistful
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Tabu as a mysterious, visually striking, original art-house romance whose patient, experimental form transforms longing and colonial memory into a swooning cinematic experience.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Pilar and Santa investigate Aurora's past before the film shifts into the young Aurora and Gian Luca's story in Africa.
The plantation, Mount Tabu, crocodile motif, and silent-film-inspired African chapters turn colonial memory into an eccentric visual fable.
Aurora's concealed past and the investigation by Pilar and Santa make memory, longing, and loss central to the romance.
The film connects Aurora and Ventura's passionate plantation-era relationship to the Portuguese colonial world and its predatory social order.
Films like Tabu, and why
The Conformist
European art-house romance shaped by memory, colonial history, and formal experimentation
The English Patient
wistful colonial-era romance combining lush visual style with historical unease
The Age of Innocence
nonlinear romantic drama using recollection and stylized period imagery to explore lost worlds
Movie Details
- Director
- Miguel Gomes
- Release Date
- 2012-04-05
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (179)
Cast
- Teresa Madruga
- Laura Soveral
- Ana Moreira
- Henrique Espírito Santo
- Carloto Cotta
- Isabel Cardoso
- Ivo Müller
- Manuel Mesquita
- Telmo Churro
- Miguel Gomes
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Kino Film Collection
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Tabu about?
- A restless Lisbon woman uncovers her neighbor’s hidden African romance in a haunting, formally inventive meditation on memory, desire, and colonial loss.
- What is Tabu like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Tabu as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Tabu violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Tabu as mild.
- What did critics think of Tabu?
- Critics broadly regard Tabu as a mysterious, visually striking, original art-house romance whose patient, experimental form transforms longing and colonial memory into a swooning cinematic experience.
- Which films are like Tabu?
- Films with a similar feel include The Conformist, The English Patient, and The Age of Innocence.
- How long is Tabu?
- Tabu runs 120 minutes.
- Where can I watch Tabu?
- In United States, Tabu streams on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Kino Film Collection.
