‘Amelia’s Children’ Review: Returning to Portugal, an American Finds Some Nasty Surprises in His Family Tree
variety.comJ. Kim Murphy A fitfully kooky 23andMe-gone-wrong scary story, “Amelia’s Children” follows an American couple in Portugal as they become entwined in an ancient bloodline of witchcraft.
The horror project makes for an intriguing follow-up to Lisbon-based filmmaker Gabriel Abrantes’ much lighter 2018 feature “Diamantino” (that one co-directed with Daniel Schmidt), which lampooned soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo’s patriotic celebrity with giant puppy dog daydream sequences and a prankish but tender queer romance.
In “Diamantino,” the pair crafted a fantasia chockful of big, goofy internet-age signifiers without betraying a certain protective instinct for its characters, inventing an entirely original tone.
By comparison, “Amelia’s Children” stays within more familiar territory. Here, Abrantes once again casts Carloto Cotta, this time playing a pensive American musician named Edward.
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