Story
Brazilian 16-year-old Tete (Klara Castanho) feels like an outcast. She’s clumsy, she sweats too much when she’s stressed (which is always) and, by Brazilian standards, she has too much facial and body hair. And it doesn’t help that her parents and grandparents relentlessly criticise and patronise her.
At Tete’s new school in Rio de Janeiro, she quickly makes friends with openly gay Zeca (Stepan Nercessain) and nerdy Davi (Gabriel Lima). She also falls for popular Erick (Lucca Picon), but of course he’s dating a popular and mean girl, Valentina (Júlia Gomez). That’s OK, because Tete also fancies Davi’s brother Dudu (Caio Cabral).
Inevitably, a make-over, a big party, a scandal exposing the bully, and confusion about Mr Right all lead to a happy ending.
Themes
Brazilian movie; teen movie; coming-of-age; comedy
Violence
Confessions of an Invisible Girl has some violence. For example, Valentina and Tete have an argument. They start to push each other and wrestle. Valentina stomps on Tete’s glasses.
Sexual references
Confessions of an Invisible Girl has some sexual references. For example, Zeca introduces himself by saying, ‘I’m gay’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Confessions of an Invisible Girl shows some use of substances. For example:
- Teenagers drink alcohol at a party.
- One girl is drunk and feels sick from drinking.
Nudity and sexual activity
Confessions of an Invisible Girl has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- Teenage boys and girls wear underwear and swimwear.
- Teenagers kiss each other passionately.
- A girl is accused of ‘making out’ with a boy in a bathroom.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Confessions of an Invisible Girl.
Coarse language
Confessions of an Invisible Girl has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Confessions of an Invisible Girl is a Brazilian teenage comedy. It’s entertaining partly because it’s very off-beat.
The English title is misleading because main character Tete is the opposite of invisible – she constantly draws attention to herself with clumsy and awkward behaviour. It’s no surprise that Tete is a bit weird, because her parents and grandparents constantly give her a hard time. For example, they call her ‘Pits of Death’ because of her sweaty armpits. They also bribe other kids to be friends with her because they don’t think she’s capable of making her own friends. This movie is both predictable, as Tete transforms from a nerdy outcast into a popular swan, and totally implausible. The out-of-sync American dubbing doesn’t help, so if your children are advanced readers it might be better to watch this movie in the original Brazilian Portuguese with subtitles.
Confessions of an Invisible Girl has mature or triggering themes like dating, sexual orientation, and bullying. It also has mild coarse language. These elements make it unsuitable for children under 11 years, and we recommend parental guidance for children up to 13 years.
The main messages from Confessions of an Invisible Girl are as confusing as the movie itself:
- Be yourself, but also do whatever it takes to fit in.
- Don’t worry about being a bully, because if you start crying and say sorry, everyone will forgive and love you anyway.
- Understand where your bad behaviour comes from, but use this as an excuse and keep behaving badly.
Values in Confessions of an Invisible Girl that you could reinforce with your children include kindness, honesty, responsibility and friendship.
Confessions of an Invisible Girl could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like bullying. For example, several characters in this movie are bullied and excluded, which is hurtful and damaging to them.