There are sections of the screenplay that lead nowhere and I also find the ending makes the film rather incomplete. Yet it's a gripping work, and a powerful journey while it lasts.
Comment
11/24/06
Lower City (2006)
60
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:53
Fresh:32
Rotten:21
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: This familiar story of a tension-fraught love triangle wavers between brutality and steamy sex.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: Steamy sex, glistening sweat, dark photography, grungy ghetto colors, and sudden violence pervade this Brazilian feature from director Sergio Machado. Alice Braga (CITY OF GOD) stars as Karinna, a... [More]
Starring: Alice Braga, José Dumont, Wagner Moura, Lazaro Ramos
Director: Sérgio Machado
Reviews for Lower City
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/23/09
A gritty, Brazilian drama which called for Alice Braga to be naked and in heat nearly non-stop, whether in a bed with a boyfriend or one of her assortedy Johns.
06/16/07
The meager plot is no more than a clothesline upon which to hang some heated sex scenes and ugly violence.
03/01/07
Click to read the article
01/20/07
A likeable and accomplished addition to the Latin American new wave.
09/28/06
For stretches it's enough to enjoy the grungy but gorgeous locations, the soulful performances of the three leads and the frequent, ravenous sex scenes. OK, for long stretches it's enough.
09/06/06
not quite enough to make this the explosive debut he no doubt was wishing for.
08/30/06
Yes, it can be hard having a girlfriend who's a hooker.
08/30/06
The toastiest summer on record is but an intermittently flickering 40-watt bulb when held up to the positively incendiary sexual firestorm that is Brazilian import Lower City.
08/26/06
Everything feels obvious and by-the-numbers, as if director and co-writer Sérgio Machado was constrained by archetypes and narrative tradition.
08/18/06
With a distinct lack of action, Machado resorts to far too many close-ups of his stars until, as good-looking as they are, you tire of looking at them.
08/18/06
The setting is far more enticing than the story. Sometimes, that's enough.
08/18/06
Three potent performances readily compensate for the familiar plot.
08/18/06
A steamy love triangle that may earn our attention primarily on prurient interest, but ends up being honestly involving.
08/18/06
A steamy lust triangle that would be better if you didn't get the feeling that the guys were competing (kinda like in the cockfight) and Karinna is just the prize that goes to the victor.
08/18/06
Brazilian director Sergio Machado once worked as an assistant to Walter Salles, but fortunately, his new film as director, Lower City is alive in ways that Salles could not conceive.
08/18/06
In trying for realism, Machado only achieves dramatic inertness. His three fallen characters drift through life with no purpose other than to satisfy their immediate physical needs.
08/17/06
Machado asks us to believe in the love between Karinna, Deco and Naldinho without ever making us feel anything but the tug of their sexual attraction.
08/17/06
Everyone involved in the film seems better than the material.
08/12/06
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