Gabriel Mascaro’s “The Blue Trail” is a balmy riverboat ride into the unknown – as well as a bolshy protest against ageism and a warning about possible authoritarian futures, in Brazil and elsewhere. Brazilian filmmaker Mascaro captured attention with working-class drama “Neon Bull” (2015), but his new film is a somewhat gentler follow-up to 2019’s “Divine Love”, which was a stylised vision of a fundamentalist dystopia.

Centred on a winning performance from Brazilian stage and screen veteran Denise Weinberg, with support including international star Rodrigo Santoro (“300”, “Westworld” et al), “The Blue Trail” is entrancingly unpredictable in its picaresque unravelling, tinged with magical realist touches.

Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily