holy damn is one of Star+’s main bets on national productions. Streaming, which is part of the Disney group, brings content more aimed at an adult audience and succeeds in providing a well-written, well-directed production with an interesting plot that addresses the limits of faith and atheism.
Starring Felipe Camargo as Professor Reinaldo and Ana Flávia Cavalcanti as his wife, Maria Clara, the series follows the lives of the atheist couple who are struggling to pay the bills. The two have a teenage daughter, Gabriela (Bárbara Luz), whose dream is to continue fighting muay-thai.
The family’s life was going well, but one day Maria Clara is the victim of a stray bullet and ends up in a vegetative state in the hospital. With no prospects for his wife to improve, Reinaldo finds himself lost and distressed and decides to take a drastic step; break the tubes that keep her alive. It turns out that in doing so, the woman suddenly wakes up, leaving him in shock, and it seems like a miracle.
Frightened, but happy, the professor goes on with his life believing in Maria Clara’s improvement. What he didn’t know, however, was that the moment had been filmed by a faithful who works at the hospital and that the video would fall into the hands of Samuel (Augusto Madeira), the pastor of the Prophets of Faith, a church in the suburbs. from Sao Paulo.
It is from this premise that the series begins. Thinking he was a miracle worker, Samuel asks Reinaldo to hold a service at his church. The professor, of course, rejects it, but rethinks his answer after the pastor offers him money. Money that would be essential to pay the debt at the hospital where Maria Clara was hospitalized.
It is through Reinaldo’s doubt that we are guided by the clash between faith, religion and atheism. holy damn he is right to discuss the existence or non-existence of God, and not focus on this or that religion. Despite this, it shows how blind faith can lead to absurdity and how human beings have managed to commodify the sacred.
Advancing in the chapters, we see that Reinaldo becomes the Prophet King, and is idolized by everyone in the church, even if, in his services, he always questions the existence of a greater force. Here, it is worth praising the text by Rubens Marinelli, Ricardo Tiezzi and Bea Góes, who constructed a protagonist at the same time grumpy and charismatic, egoic and humble. Felipe Camargo doesn’t disappoint either, and sets the right tone for the protagonist who tries, in any case, to hide his new activity from his family.
Supporting characters complete the story well.
If the arc of the protagonists is well developed, that of the supporting actors also does not leave much to be desired, despite having some holes, which deserve attention in a possible second season.
Samuel is the classic pastor of an evangelical church, but he was not caricatured, and the performance of veteran Augusto Madeira contributed to the success of the character. In addition to him, Marina Provenzzano also shines as the faithful Sônia, and Mariana Sena as Carolina, who has an interesting plot about the discovery of her sexual orientation, but has not yet been used as it should.
The protagonist Maria Clara, played by Ana Flávia, is also pleasing, but her story falls far short of that of Reinaldo, who is really the big star of the series.
Still speaking of characters, another positive point was the fact that the supporting actors were mostly evangelicals, which ensured greater veracity to the plot. If we talk about the setting, the Heliópolis neighborhood was very well used as the fictional Jardim Inês, where the story takes place. It gives character to the story and is the perfect backdrop to bring together pastors, believers, drug dealers and city dwellers.
Saint performs a miracle?
One of the main points of the plot is to know if Reinaldo really performed a miracle, and there is yet another success of the text and the direction of Gustavo Bonafé, because the story leads us through the anguish of the protagonist and we begin to doubt the rational.
In the end, however, we are surprised by a sad and cruel reality, which was responsible for making Reinaldo angry at religion and turning against the sacred.
Here it is worth emphasizing that the series could have developed some characters and points a little better to end in the first season, but if it really wins a second, this factor will not compromise.
Cohesive and well executed, holy damnso, it’s worth playing and has the potential to become one of Star+’s main national successes.
If you’re curious about the plot and want to give it a try. holy damnyou can now marathon it on Star+.
