The American newspaper The New York Times recommended the Brazilian film ‘The Son of a Thousand Men’ to its readers. The indication. THE feature film by Daniel Rezende and which features Rodrigo Santoro as the protagonist is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Portuguese writer Valter Hugo Mãe. The Son of a Thousand Men premiered in Brazilian cinemas in 2025 and is available on Netflix.
The other films on the list by Devika Girish, film critic, editor of Film Comment and who signs the NYT’s foreign film nominations, are:
- Bad Girl, da indiana Varsha Bharath;
- The Republic of Locusts, by Daniel McCabe;
- One Day Our Secrets Will Be Revealed (Prime Video), by German of French-Iranian origin Emily Atef;
- 53 Domingos (Netflix), by Spanish director Cesc Gay.
What the NYT said about ‘Son of a Thousand Men’
Tracing the intertwining stories of five characters in a coastal village in Brazil, Daniel Rezende’s sweeping drama delivers social realism in the ethereal form of a fable. The film begins with Crisóstomo (Rodrigo Santoro), a lonely and isolated fisherman who dreams of having a son. Next, we meet Camilo (Miguel Martines), an orphan boy; Francisca (Juliana Caldas), a woman with dwarfism who faces a difficult pregnancy; Isaura (Rebeca Jamir), who is raped by a man and then forced into marriage; and Antonino (Johnny Massaro), a gay man whose Catholic mother prays incessantly for him to change, burdening him with guilt.
Each character seeks acceptance and is denied it, until they all cross paths and destiny reveals its plans: some families are built and chosen, rather than inherited by blood. With a minimalist and vibrant production design that evokes a mythical other world, poetic dialogue and characters that balance the archetypal with the human, Rezende elevates this story about intolerance – and the love that transcends it – to something cosmic, like a timeless fairy tale.
History of the film
Starring Rodrigo Santoro, directed by Daniel Rezende and available on Netflix, ‘The Son of a Thousand Men’ premiered in November 2025. The plot revolves around Crisóstomo (Rodrigo Santoro), a lonely fisherman who always wanted to be a father and, faced with a life surrounded by losses, even creates a doll to fill the void. However, everything changes when he meets Camilo, a young man who has just lost his grandfather and is also looking for a place where he can belong. The relationship between the two begins a series of encounters that transform not only their trajectories, but also those of other figures who cross their path.
*Estadão Content
