Will-o'-the-Wisp

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Will-o'-the-Wisp

2023

1h 7m

Romance

Musical

Comedy

Fantasy

LGBTQ+

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

On his deathbed, his royal highness Alfredo, King without a crown, is taken back to distant youth memories and the time he dreamt of becoming a fireman. The encounter with instructor Afonso from the fire brigade, opens a new chapter in the life of the two young men immersed in love and desire, and the will to change the status quo.

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Critics Consensus

Director João Pedro Rodrigues lures audiences into bewitchingly surreal territory with Will-o'-the-Wisp, a genre-bending collision of style and substance.

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G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

06/29/2023

1/4

Will-o’-the-Wisp has its moments, but this is another movie that thinks bringing up an issue is the same as excavating it.

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Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

06/28/2023

3/4

There are showstopping musical numbers, plentiful eyefuls of nudity and much more. I loved every 67 minutes of it.

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Carlos Aguilar

Los Angeles Times

06/02/2023

Few cineastes out there are making deliciously defiant art like Rodrigues, and this entry in his catalog is a concentrated shot of his sardonic mastery.

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Alex Heeney

Seventh Row

07/31/2023

Hawks famously opined...a good movie [has] three good scenes [without] annoying the audience. In that, João Rodrigues excels. Will-o’-the-Wisp is a fiercely political indictment of capitalism hidden inside a queer romance that never outstays its welcome.

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Hector A. Gonzalez

The Movie Buff

07/29/2023

B-

The world that Rodrigues wants to build here finds itself between the erotic and phantasmagorical, aided by skillful, albeit slightly messy, direction.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

07/06/2023

Will is really just a goof, without much cumulative or lingering impact. Still, what a goof...

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Gnr E

07/28/2024

Team did a great job. Everything perfect

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Geke g

07/27/2024

One of the best non-Hollywood film.

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J B

02/04/2024

An early scene featuring children singing a Portuguese children's song felt a little overlong given that the plot was still being established, but the rest of it was enjoyable, with plenty of homoerotic imaging that comes to a climax, so to speak, in a burnt forest.

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Jonny M

@jonnycqua 07/12/2023

While slow to start and occasionally meandering, brilliantly blended themes including climate change, COVID-19, race and class warfare, family dynamics, camp, and sexual identity make this a charged, unpredictable experience worth suiting up for.

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João Pedro Rodrigues

Director

Mauro Costa

Alfredo

André Cabral

Afonso

Joel Branco

Alfredo 2069

Oceano Cruz

Afonso 2069

Margarida Vila-Nova

Teresa

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Synopsis

On his deathbed, his royal highness Alfredo, King without a crown, is taken back to distant youth memories and the time he dreamt of becoming a fireman. The encounter with instructor Afonso from the fire brigade, opens a new chapter in the life of the two young men immersed in love and desire, and the will to change the status quo.

Director: João Pedro Rodrigues
Producer: Vincent Wang, João Matos, João Pedro Rodrigues
Screenwriter: João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra Da Mata, Paulo Lopes Graça
Distributor: Strand Releasing
Production Co: Terratreme Filmes, House on Fire
Genre: Romance, Musical, Comedy, Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Original Language: Portuguese
Release Date (Theaters): May 26, 2023, Limited
Runtime: 1h 7m

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