If its plot synopsis reads more like a litany of character descriptions, that’s because “Alice’s House” offers little else.

| Apr 21, 2023

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Contemporary life in Brazil as seen through the eyes of one working class family.

| Original Score: B | Jun 22, 2011

Filmmaker Teixeira, a veteran documentarian, keeps Alice's world on a short, ultra-realistic leash.

| Apr 28, 2011

Builds a quiet portrait of a family step-by-step imploding. Such a sympathetic depiction of working-class families are rarely seen on screen from any country.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 23, 2008

First-time director Chico Teixeira, an accomplished maker of documentaries in Brazil, brings a similar nonfiction feel to this melodramatic milieu, which is kick-started when Alice contemplates having an affair of her own with a former sweetheart.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 18, 2008

Nothing much happens in Alice's House, and a turning point in the plot is terribly contrived, but as sociology and maybe even a pilot for a soap serial, the movie is worth a look.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 11, 2008

Alice's House is character driven, and the performances are key.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 11, 2008

mia ap' aytes tis tainies poy den se noiazei an emfanistei enas pistolas apo to dipla gyrisma na toys gazosei oloys, arkei na teleiosei. Kai telika, kapos etsi ginetai.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | May 6, 2008

Even though it sounds awfully depressing, there's something moving about watching people go at their lives with everything they have -- or don't have.

| Apr 10, 2008

Very well-acted, especially by (Carla) Ribas, this is a tense drama of friendship, family and deceit that explores a wide spectrum of raw emotions.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 7, 2008

[The] restrained, elliptical style, focused on details rather than confrontations, and the nuanced performances make this house a home.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 2, 2008

Like a Brazilian telenovela unfolding in real time, the film fans its cards out slowly until we can see for ourselves the deck is stacked.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 14, 2008

Teixeira brings his camera into her home and quietly records the details of her daily life. The result is a carefully observed film about one woman's growing dissatisfaction.

Full Review | Mar 5, 2008

[Director Chico] Texeira's ordinary characters have a quiet genuineness and clarity that is rare anywhere in movies these days.

| Feb 25, 2008

Although the characters are steeped in the culture of telenovelas and voodoo superstition, Alice's House is a subtly flavorful slice of life rather than a steamy potboiler.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 25, 2008

Documentarian Chico Teixeira's first narrative film is casual but busy, and though it seems somewhat longer than its 90-minute running time, the quiet characterizations soon get their hooks into you.

| Feb 25, 2008

In her first leading role, Carla Ribas joins the fast-growing ranks of middle-aged Latina actresses whose performances resonate with a beguiling mixture of emotional complexity and sexual maturity.

| Original Score: B | Feb 22, 2008

In a remarkably assured, no-frills feature debut, Brazilian documentarian Chico Teixeira draws a vivid portrait of marital and familial dysfunction.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 22, 2008

Ribas has justifiably won a shelf of awards for her portrayal.

Full Review | Feb 7, 2008