Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- witty
- melancholic
- offbeat
- reflective evening
- film club viewing
What critics said
Available audience reception is favorable, though the small sample provides limited evidence for a broad critical consensus.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Madalena must process her father’s recent death while managing a troubled B-sci-fi production.
Madalena is eight months pregnant while attempting to keep a film production functioning.
The plot centers on a B-sci-fi film where everything seems to go wrong.
Madalena’s mourning and pregnancy directly overlap with her responsibilities as a film producer.
Films like Death and Life Madalena, and why
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
shares a self-reflexive film-production setting, creative dysfunction, heightened comedy, and emotional pressure behind artistic work
The Worst Person in the World
combines intimate grief, pregnancy and life-transition themes with witty, emotionally unsettled contemporary drama
Frances Ha
explores creative precarity, personal uncertainty, and warm but uncomfortable comedy around adulthood and relationships
Movie Details
- Director
- Guto Parente
- Release Date
- 2026-02-04
- Runtime
- 85 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (1)
Cast
- Noá Bonoba
- Nataly Rocha
- Tavinho Teixeira
- Marcus Curvelo
- David Santos
- Honório Felix
- Jennifer Joingley
- Linga Acácio
- Rodrigo Fernandes
- Souma
Common questions
- What is Death and Life Madalena about?
- A pregnant Brazilian producer navigates bereavement and escalating on-set disasters while trying to complete an unruly B-sci-fi movie.
- What is Death and Life Madalena like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Death and Life Madalena as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Death and Life Madalena violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Death and Life Madalena.
- What did critics think of Death and Life Madalena?
- Available audience reception is favorable, though the small sample provides limited evidence for a broad critical consensus.
- Which films are like Death and Life Madalena?
- Films with a similar feel include Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Worst Person in the World, and Frances Ha.
- How long is Death and Life Madalena?
- Death and Life Madalena runs 85 minutes.
