A scene from 'The Blue Trail'

The Blue Trail review: TIFF 2025

‘The Blue Trail’ follows a woman who defies the government’s definition of elderly and challenges their new regulations.

Tereza (Denise Weinberg) works at an alligator processing plant in Brazil. She has friends inside and outside of work, though she sees little of her busy daughter. At 77, she is still very independent and capable of caring for herself. However, the government accounts for none of this when it begins to project its definition of the elderly onto people like Tereza.

The government imposes a strange, involuntary infantilism on our main character and the rest of the elderly in the film. After a certain age, officials now assume older people can no longer live independently or care for themselves. They disguise their new laws as concern, projecting the idea that after so many years of contributing to the country, they’ve earned a rest… whether they want it or not. Now someone will make decisions for you so you don’t have to worry about anything. But in actuality, it’s a rejection of their autonomy.

Read the full review of The Blue Trail at thatshelf.com

Similar Posts

  • ‘Baywatch’ trailer knows what the series was really about (Includes first-hand account)

    The definition of “family-friendly programming” was different a few decades ago. We thought Looney Tunes was great entertainment for kids (when’s the last time you saw someone get flattened with a mallet on Saturday morning?) and didn’t have a problem with shows that objectified people’s bodies coming on at any time of the day. Of course the networks still received complaints from far-right conservatives, but the majority of audiences and executives didn’t see the problem. Things have changed a lot since then, but that’s emboldened some big screen revivals of small screen hits to push the boundaries even more than the originals. One of the most anticipated of these re-imaginings is the Baywatch movie.

  • Review: ‘Spies in Disguise’ has fun with the spy’s love of camouflage (Includes first-hand account)

    The secret agent is an appealing character in fiction because they’re human, but capable of accomplishing amazing feats. They’re constantly in mortal danger, but almost never really at risk of dying because they always find a way to escape. They have the best tech money can buy and imaginations can create, making difficult situations easily manageable. They’re also able to blend into any environment, using the most meagre to incredibly elaborate disguises to avoid detection. However, even when things go wrong, they still have to get the job done as demonstrated in Spies in Disguise.

  • Review: TIFF 2019: ‘Judy’ is a tale of joy and tears on- and off-screen (Includes first-hand account)

    Being a famous child actor is a difficult gig as you’re constantly in demand and living any semblance of a normal life may be out of the question with shoots and promotional tours filling your calendar. It was even worse before the rules protecting kids, regulating their work hours and mandating school work, were put into place. Before that, young actors were pushed to their limits with long work days, uncaring handlers and mismanaged careers. Judy Garland was America’s sweetheart, but it didn’t do her any favours in life. The biopic, Judy, is adapted from the stage play, “End of the Rainbow,” and portrays her final residence at a London nightclub in 1968.