The Way He Looks

This portrait of love and friendship among middle-class teens in São Paulo is sweet and sensitive, even if it has little especially new to say about growing up. Leonardo (Ghilherme Lobo) is blind, also confused, over-mothered and extremely close to his female friend Giovana (Tess Amorim). But when a new boy, Gabriel (Fabio Audi), turns up at school, his long-standing friendship starts to wobble, as does much that he thought he knew about himself.

There are no great upsets or fireworks here, just a tender sketch of what it means to (probably) be gay as a school kid. The storytelling style is as inoffensive as the music (Arvo Pärt, Belle and Sebastian), and the performances are amiable and relaxed.