Melodrama teetering toward telenovela, this Brazilian romance stays afloat thanks to its charismatic young stars. For Beyond the Universe to work, you definitely have to suspend disbelief and just go along for the ride. But there's an element of magic here that suggests the filmmakers were hoping you would do precisely that. Be and Zaga make a stunning couple and their quick fall in love is sweet and youthful. Some of the attempts at humor fall flat, and better editing could have brought the film down from a long two hours. But the story's heart is in the right place, and the film captures a romantic Sao Paulo with saturated colors popping around concrete buildings and skies burning a sunset orange.
Read the full review at Common Sense Media.
Images courtesy of Netflix.