I'm Still Here · reception & legacy

How I'm Still Here has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

Premiered quietly at Venice (winning Best Screenplay), then snowballed into a full-blown national phenomenon in Brazil — record-breaking box office, a Best Picture nomination, and the country's first-ever Oscar win for Best International Feature. In barely six months it went from festival title to the most important Brazilian film in a generation.

What's debated

The 2025 Best Actress race turned Fernanda Torres vs. Demi Moore vs. Mikey Madison into one of film Twitter's most heated stan wars, with Torres's Golden Globe upset fueling a 'she was robbed' discourse that outlived the Oscars themselves.

Its footprint

In Brazil it escaped the cinema entirely — Torres's Globe win set off a wave of national memes, the Oscar victory was celebrated at Carnival, and the film reignited public debate about the military dictatorship, even as Bolsonaro supporters review-bombed it online.

Where it stands

An instant landmark of Brazilian cinema — the film that finally brought the country an Oscar — and already a Letterboxd favourite with 'national treasure' status attached to both Fernandas.