https://rollingstone.com.br/cinema/ruas-da-gloria-festival-do-rio-critica/

https://rollingstone.com.br/cinema/ruas-da-gloria-festival-do-rio-critica/

Featured in the Rio 2025 Festival program, the film tells the story of a young gay man trying to find himself in a new city

One of the highlights in the program of the 27th edition of Rio Festivalwhich came to an end last Sunday (12), Streets of Glory It’s not one of the most original features. In fact, the film Felipe Sholl (Talk to me) reminds me a lot babyone of the winners of the festival’s main prize last year: both bring stories of young gay men, inserted in unfamiliar environments and in search of their own identity and the affection that has been denied them many times throughout their lives.

In the novelty, after suffering a great loss, the professor Gabriel (Caio Macedo, Empty Building) decides to move to Rio de Janeiro, and, on a night out, becomes obsessed with Adriano (Alejandro Claveaux, Rensga Hits!winner of the Redeemer Trophy for Best Supporting Actor for the role), a mysterious and unstable prostitute.

With very few references to what makes a family and what love is, Gabriel confuses feeling with desire and falls into the trap of Adrianosomeone who has been lost for a long time and can no longer face reality without looking for an escape, be it sex or drugs. When he disappears without a trace, the young man begins a dangerous journey, which could cost him his own life, to find him.

Since his involvement with Adriano until the search for the boy after his disappearance, Gabriel He goes through experiences that any young gay man — in that gray period of discovering his own sexuality and how to get involved with other people — is subject to. Hooked by the intense love that the prostitute offers him, the teacher quickly falls in love. When the loved one disappears without explanation, Gabriel He turns to what he knew in that space of time: parties, easy sex and drugs.

At first, the plan is to follow any clue that leads to a reunion between the two, but this soon becomes an escape for the immeasurable pain that the boy feels due to the absence of that figure who demonstrated the only type of love he believes he has left, romantic love, since any other type of love, such as fraternal love, seems to have died with his grandmother.

This lack of understanding becomes clear when Monica (singer’s debut film role Diva Mennerwho won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her work), owner of the nightclub Glória, where Gabriel he knew Adrianoextends his affection and welcome, treating the young man as one of his many “children”. At first, the boy accepts the help, but soon dismisses it, without recognizing the importance of that bond, when he thinks he has found true love in his relationship with his unstable boyfriend.

Despite focusing on the experiences of Gabriel and how their naivety and susceptibility to the risks that surround their experiences, Streets of Glory It is also effective in showing what could happen to the boy if he continues down the path he ends up on. This revelation comes from the unfolding of the story of Adrianoa man who, in the past, was also lost for love and today is just a shell, with no dreams, plans or goals other than to satisfy his addictions.

Despite its lack of originality, in times when the relationship between the LGBTQIAPN+ community, especially gay men, mental health problems and drugs is increasingly intrinsic, reinforcing a message that there is hope even when everything seems lost, as Streets of Glory It does, even if it’s not its purpose, it doesn’t hurt anyone. Sometimes, as with Gabrielyou need to hear something once, twice, three or more times to finally understand what it means.

READ ALSO: Night Act, Hamnet: Life Before Hamlet, The Secret Agent and more highlights from the Rio 2025 Festival

Graduated in Journalism from Universidade São Judas, in São Paulo, Henrique Nascimento He started as an intern at Veja São Paulo and worked for outlets such as SBT, Exitoína, Yahoo! Brasil and UOL before becoming coordinator of Editora Perfil’s cinema nucleus, which includes CineBuzz, Rolling Stone Brasil and Contigo.

Source: Rollingstone

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