Netflix’s first Brazilian children’s series, Light: The Light of the Heart, centers on a 9-year-old girl who is raised in an indigenous community but wants to find her roots. It’s mostly a feel-good story, but there is some darkness, foreboding, and adventure involved in Luz’s journey to discover who she is. Which means that the adults who watch it will also enjoy the show.
LIGHT: THE LIGHT OF THE HEART: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Initial shot: People with flashlights search the pitch-dark woods, while a girl runs through them, trying to find a place to hide.
The essence: Luz (Marianna Santos), a 9-year-old girl, is the one running through the forest. She takes her cue from the little firefly emanating from the firefly pendant she wears. When a Prex High School van overheats on the side of a deserted road and Marcos (Daniel Rocha), the fourth-grade biology teacher and tutor, opens the back, Luz decides to jump out and hide among the plants in the back. . .
Go back nine years, where a woman is in the hospital giving birth to a baby girl. She calls her husband, who is driving on a rainy night on a dark road; She asks if she has already told her father about the baby. He assures her that she does, although she appears to be lying. She drops her phone on the ground and, when she goes to pick it up, crashes head-on into a truck, killing him instantly.
His father, Carlos Ferreria (Celso Frateschi), a rich and influential rancher, blames his “gold-digging” daughter-in-law for his son’s death, and orders a henchman to kidnap the girl and bring her to him; His instructions are to pay the nurses to tell the mother that the baby died. After the baby arrives, Carlos orders his right-hand man, Balthazar (Marcos Pasquim), to leave the baby in the forest. But Balthazar, seeing dozens of fireflies rise around the child, thinks the baby deserves a chance at a good life.
He takes her to Ga (Claudia Di Moura), a Kaingang leader and shaman. Raising a stranger like Kaingang is not easy, but Ga agrees to do it and names the girl Luz. Balthazar tells her that she must inform Luz that her parents are dead and that she must stay away from places where Carlos or any of her people could find her.
Back to present day; While Luz celebrates her birthday with the rest of the Kaingang tribe, Carlos receives news from a new employee named Valeria (Mel Lisboa) that Luz is with the Kaingang. When Balthazar finds out, he goes to warn Ga and tell her to get Luz out of the community; When Luz overhears her conversation, she demands to hear the truth. Ga steps forward and tells her most of it (except the part about her mother being still alive), leading Luz to flee through the forest.
She stows away with Professor Marcos in the van while he drives into town and back to the Prex school. There, she tries to resolve another dispute between her rivals Joca (Francisco Galvão) and Sabina (Mari Campolongo). Luz tries to hide in Marcos’s plant laboratory, but she doesn’t stay hidden for long.
What shows will it remind you of? Although the children in Light: The Light of the Heart They are much younger than teenagers in Percy Jackson and the OlympiansBoth programs give off similar vibes.
Our opinion: Light: The Light of the Heart, created by Guillermo Pendino, is the first Brazilian Netflix original aimed at children, but it is certainly not written exclusively for a children’s audience. It cleverly tries to build the story of a fiercely independent and intelligent girl who wants to discover where she comes from. She acknowledges that the indigenous community that raised her was loving and supportive, but she knows that she has a different background and wants to explore it.
As Luz tours Prex’s school and gets to know the kids there, we’ll see how well she fits in, or perhaps how well the students adjust to the new, somewhat strange kid in their midst. Meanwhile, Carlos will pursue her, although we’re not sure to what end, and both Ga and Balthazar will make sure Luz stays out of the evil rancher’s clutches. Meanwhile, Luz will be guided by the light emanating from her firefly pendant, which Balthazar recovered from the accident scene, knowing that her father passed on something special to him.
It looks like there will be some dark moments during the show, mainly involving Carlos and his search for Lux, but much of the action will take place at the Prex school, which is brightly colored and full of smart kids doing smart things. things. So if there is any fear, it will be a child-level fear, something your tween can handle easily.
But the show’s writers aren’t writing anything to their audience. Children are not scoundrels, they are just curious. Adults are not simply idiotic facilitators of children’s adventures; They are trying to protect children and at the same time give them the freedom to explore. It’s definitely a kids show designed to entertain adults too, and those are the best types of kids shows for us.
What age group is this for?: Because there is some darkness and foreboding in this story, we think it is good for kids ages 8 and up.
Parting Shot: Joca finds Luz behind a closed door and both children scream.
Sleeping star: Almost all the kids at the school will be fun to watch, because they are the right age to be witty and intelligent without seeming precocious.
Most pilot line: Ga tells Balthazar that Luz deserves to know the whole truth, then proceeds to tell her that her parents are dead. Wow.
Our call: TRANSMIT IT. Light: The Light of the Heart It is a series for children but one that everyone can enjoy and tells an indigenous story that we don’t often hear about.
Joel Keller@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and technology, but make no mistake: he’s a couch potato. His writings have appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and other places.
