I'm Portuguese and am not a Huge doce fan, however I DID find the movie interesting.
Portuguese movies are usually slow, badly lit and have horrible sound. I will however give credit to a few recent ones that were rather good in at least 2 of the the 3 above. (São Jorge 2016 for example, by Marco Martins).
This film in question guides us through the biography of probably the most famous (and first) Portuguese Girl Pop band. The plot revolves around the story of the largely popular quartet DOCE (or "sweet" in English) who started playing together in the early 80's. Formed by Fatima Padinha, Teresa Miguel, Lena Coelho and Fernanda de Sousa, we understand the struggles of an all-girl singer group who thrive during a recently overthrown dictatorship that still leaves behind a largely misogynistic-minded country.
Despite the (usually) low budget, photography was beautiful and the script was fantastic. The four actresses (Carolina Carvalho, Bárbara Franco, Lia Carvalho and Ana Maria Ferreira) played each of their parts wonderfully who, as an added bonus, resemble the original singers. This also obliges me to give great credit to costume and make-up design teams who were on point conveying the extravagant outfits of the decade.
Overall a refreshingly solid movie despite the typical funding limitations and huge congratulations to the Director Patricia Sequeira for her work.
