Friends since childhood, Brazilian teenagers Martin (Mateus Almada) and Tomaz (Mauricio Barcellos) have since grown apart. When Martin’s grandfather dies, Tomaz journeys with him on a special mission to the windswept coastal town where the estranged family of his grandfather still lives. There, in an abandoned seaside house, secrets are shared, old family wounds are re-opened, and the boys are challenged to sort out for themselves the meanings of friendship, independence, and love in a suddenly adult world.

A fine supporting cast and excellent performances by attractive young stars provide the innocence and hesitancy of youth that permeate Seashore, as the onetime boyhood friends delicately explore the nature of their friendship as maturing young men. Directed by Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon (A Ballet Dialogue, Frameline37) with an undercurrent of erotic tension that culminates in tender and surprising ways, Seashore brilliantly defies viewer expectations with its confident, deliberate pacing and pronounced yet subtle sense of the mysterious. The spare, dreamlike narrative simultaneously withholds and provides important information while moving through elliptical surprises rife with possibilities. A unique use of sound and image conveys inner states of character, complementing Seashore’s layered and elastic wintertime photography, aided by a nostalgic indie soundtrack (including a Daniel Johnston song). This quiet, haunting, and poetic work of art mirrors the viewer’s own reflections, resulting in an exceptionally rewarding experience.