Once Upon a Time in Rio

Perched above the breathtaking Ipanema beach in Rio lies the Cantagalo slum. Each day, waves of Cantagalo inhabitants descend the hillside, blending into the city as part of the unseen workforce that cleans homes, staffs restaurants, and sells snacks along the picturesque, sunlit coastline. Among them is young Dé (Thiago Martins), who shares a small Cantagalo apartment with his mother, Bernadette (Cyria Coentro), and earns a living by selling hot dogs on the beach to pay the rent. Dé’s brother, Beto, was killed when Dé was a child, and his adopted brother, Carlão (Rocco Pitanga), is imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. One day, while working on the beach, Dé encounters Nina (Vitória Frate), the only daughter of a prosperous lawyer named Evandro (Paulo César Grande). Evandro is displeased to learn that his daughter is romantically involved with someone from a lower social class. How…