Summaries

Patrick, 20, lives in Paris with his older boyfriend. He runs a teen porn website, which results in a prison sentence. Mário, 8, was kidnapped 12 years ago in Portugal. Patrick and Mário are the same person with two conflicting identities.

Patrick's (20) life is a never-ending trip. He lives with his older friend Thomas (35) in a luxury apartment in Paris, flitting from one party to the next alone at night, doing coke, dropping pills, having sex with girls who are much too young and distributing child pornography. Patrick organizes an extravagant party at Thomas' apartment, which the police storm late in the evening. Patrick is arrested and the police find countless videos of child pornography on his laptop. He denies all accusations. When the inspector, Bento Ribeiro (60), confronts him with a video in which he himself can be seen as an eight-year-old and then finally calls him by his real name - Mário - the truth comes out. Patrick/Mário was abducted in Portugal and brought to Brussels twelve years ago. He was released from captivity at the age of 18, but instead of returning to his family, he moved on to a new life in Paris. Bento Ribeiro was an investigator on his case at the time and convinces Mário to return to his family in Portugal as a condition of reducing the charges against him. But returning home is anything but easy. His mother Laura (50) has assumed her son has been dead for 12 years. Now she is aware of the accusations against him and doesn't know how to deal with someone like "him". Surrounded by his family, he still remains a stranger. Only with his 22-year-old cousin Marta, can he tentatively begin to build up a personal relationship. When his Parisian friend Thomas suddenly appears in Portugal, his two personalities collide. Patrick from Paris on the one hand, with his life dominated by drugs and sex and Mário from rural Portugal on the other hand, amidst his broken family, a young man who is trying to find a connection. Patrick/Mário's scars are too deep to just go on, so he takes a stolen car and drives to Brussels, to the man who once kidnapped him.—Happy_Evil_Dude

The summary by 'Happy_Evil_Dude' has a few assumptions presented as facts and also some mistakes - I read similar (wrong) stories at the external reviews - I have only seen the German TV version aired by arte in 2022 - but there might be different cuts, e.g. previews, early versions on film festivals, final, TV, or DVD releases, or deleted scenes? (a) assumptions, non facts or misleading: "never-ending trip", girls "much too young", "countless videos of child...", "trying to find connection", "two personalities collide" (b) vs. (sex) facts: violence against women/girls, drugs women for sex/abuse/violence, being a slave to one adult man, who raised him, family and him (both sides) unable to reconnect to the past or to handle the history ("not my son"), both not really trying hard enough to connect, and Patrick not being able to build a healthy relationship to same aged women (c) no(!) scene with "his Parisian friend suddenly (appearing) in Portugal", Brussels is not "the man who once kidnapped him" - Mário told of the kidnapping, stating that it was a different man, who raised him (d) tipping point was the dinner where his mother "invited the whole family" and also his father's (unexpected, sudden?) reappearance, who broke with his mother after the kidnapping, being a stranger to his relatives, and the continued rejection from his former male "protector and promoter", leaving no way back to both parts of his history, (assuming, that there was also no way back to his Parisian friend, after that party, arrest and accusations)

Details

Keywords
  • home
  • abduction
  • young man
Genres
  • Drama
Release date Jul 22, 2020
Countries of origin Germany Portugal
Language French Portuguese
Filming locations Paris, France
Production companies MEDIA Programme of the European Union Augenschein Filmproduktion O Som e a Fúria

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 43m
Color Color
Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Synopsis

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