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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 19 movies from Escola Artística António Arroio
It is a cold night and there is an electric tension in the air. A box is passed from hand to hand by mafia figures with professional secrecy. They have all been ordered to pass it on to the next courier without opening it, but one of the members is following different orders.
Feb 2026
Uncertain whether his bus will arrive, a hesitant and anxious young man begins to question the point of waiting. As he stands at the bus stop, his interactions with those who arrive lead him to reflect on the passing of time and how he should face it.
Jul 2025
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Jun 2023
A young journalist and a convincing cameraman plot to film interviews without their company's permission.
Jul 2026
Pedro, an ordinary man who feels useless, is confronted by his own narrator, a voice unafraid to expose his greatest insecurities.
An intimate film that portrays a passion for Nature, an infinite love rich in the senses and sensations, exploring the relationship between human beings and the space they're in, and the landscape as belonging to something deeper than the mere Earth.
"UNFINISHED" represents a life left on hold. This film depicts a repetition of the days that follow. A mental spiral that seems to have no end and, because of it, everything remains unfinished. A mix of everyday reality with what goes on in the imprisoned mind that, due to its own problems and frustrations, ends up becoming increasingly involved in its thoughts and stuck in a routine at home, while life outside remains "unfinished."
“Disconnection” is a film that explores the feelings and sensations of Vera, a very anxious and insecure girl, who faces her first day of classes at a new school.
One morning, fear is suddenly gone. Pedro wakes up with a nosebleed for the third time that week. Unable to make sense of what is happening to him, he leaves behind his room, his job and the life he has built, setting off with nowhere to go. In a bar, an unfamiliar song brings him to a halt. After a lifetime spent running away, what happens when, for the first time, he decides to listen?
Jul 2024
Jun 2021
Inspired by the urban legend of "Akai Ito", the story takes place in a world where people are connected by a red string to someone they are destined to meet, and where Dália suddenly sees her life uprooted by hers.
Memories lead a mind… Poetry leads a life. In a final goodbye, Sofia finds pieces that remind her of her grandmother, from poems to Super 8 films recorded in Serra da Arrábida. She searches for fragments of her childhood and testimonies of a life in a now uninhabited house. These memories are evoked through the objects and scenarios visited as the film unfolds. Ultimately, only memories remain, small traces of life, moments.
Jul 2023
Marta and Afonso were once best friends, but now they don't speak. As she prepares to leave for college, he realizes they need to talk.
Oct 2026