A dark, disturbing sexual odyssey

Joao Pedro Rodrigues’ “O Fantasma” reveals a young man exploring his sexuality in a first film that is as audacious as it is compelling and as dark as it is erotic. Its sexuality is explicit, alternately teasing and brutal, and one that is ultimately a cautionary tale.

Ricardo Meneses’ Sergio lives about as marginalized an urban existence as possible. He’s a trash collector in his 20s who lives and works in the north of Lisbon, a drab, impersonal working-class suburb that could easily be on the fringes of virtually any major city in the modern world -- no beautiful “Lisbon Antigua” images here. Sergio is attracted to men and has no trouble attracting them, but not only has he not settled into his sexual orientation but also is struggling with his sexual temperament. In a macho Latin culture, he feels he must be assertive when his true nature is the opposite.

Seemingly without friends or family, Sergio lives in a tiny, shabby apartment. His only close companionship is with a dog, a pet at the Department of Sanitation headquarters. There, he has an edgy relationship with a sultry co-worker, Fatima (Beatriz Torcato), who’s crazy about him but to whom he is not really attracted, and a dramatically different one with their boss (Eurico Vieira). The catalytic event of Sergio’s existence of anonymous sex with men occurs when he becomes obsessed with Joao, a young motorcyclist who has zero interest in him. In his sexual odyssey, Sergio experiences wildly conflicting feelings about his roles, and with an empty life so devoid of companionship or any discernible interests outside the constant pursuit of anonymous sex, Sergio is vulnerable to disintegration. Rodrigues and Meneses, in a rigorous, risky portrayal, chart Sergio’s odyssey, with its potential for self-discovery as well as self-obliteration, with psychological insight and visual power. “O Fantasma” is boldly, confidently orchestrated, aesthetically and sexually, and its impact is deeply and rightly disturbing.

*

‘O Fantasma’

MPAA rating: Unrated.

Times guidelines: Explicit, often brutal sex; strictly for adults.

Ricardo Meneses...Sergio

Beatriz Torcato... Fatima

Andre Barbosa...Joao

Eurico Vieira...Virgilio

A Picture This! Entertainment release of A Rosa Filmes production in association with Radiotelevisao Portuguesa, with the support of ICAM, MC. Director Joao Pedro Rodrigues. Producer Amandio Coroado. Screenplay by Rodrigues, Jose Neves, Paulo Rebelo, Alexandre Melo. Cinematographer Rui Pocas. Editors Paulo Rebelo, Rodrigues, Art director/costume designer Joao Rui Guerra da Mata. In Portuguese, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour,

30 minutes.