The Cinematheque

Portugal

A box-office smash in its native Portugal, the feature debut of writer-director Nuno Rocha is a fantastical family comedy about regrets, do-overs, and the not-to-be-questioned counsel of mothers! During a family get-together to celebrate the birthday of her father, housewife Ana (Maria João Abreu) realizes, when reminiscing about her salad days, the enormous impact her now-deceased mother had on her life choices. Ana muses about what could have been—the paths not taken, the things left unsaid—when, due to some bizarre, astrophysical occurrence, a bend in space-time gives her the ability to literally remake her past. A crowd-pleasing throwback to ​’80s time-travel staples like Back to the Future and Peggy Sue Got Married, Rocha’s clever comedy was Portugal’s most watched European theatrical film of 2016.