Films
Bodyhackers
A film by Carlos Conceição
Portugal, Italy, 2026, 82'
National Premiere
With Guest
Denver Blake is an environmental activist determined to expose the secrets of a cosmetics industry that profits from the insecurities and complexes it helps create, particularly among women. His investigation leads him to Renée (Joana Ribeiro), a ballerina who compulsively undergoes surgeries and treatments in pursuit of the perfect body. Fascinated by her, Denver follows her into an underground world of plastic surgery, where unscrupulous surgeons promise to make any ideal of beauty possible. Directed by Carlos Conceição (“Name above Title”, “Tommy Guns”), this noirish Cronenbergian body horror retains the Portuguese filmmaker’s trademark ironic tone, satirising the capitalist commercialisation of the body and beauty as a form of violence. Starring McCaul Lombardi, Joana Ribeiro and Alba Baptista, it premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
With Guest
Denver Blake is an environmental activist determined to expose the secrets of a cosmetics industry that profits from the insecurities and complexes it helps create, particularly among women. His investigation leads him to Renée (Joana Ribeiro), a ballerina who compulsively undergoes surgeries and treatments in pursuit of the perfect body. Fascinated by her, Denver follows her into an underground world of plastic surgery, where unscrupulous surgeons promise to make any ideal of beauty possible. Directed by Carlos Conceição (“Name above Title”, “Tommy Guns”), this noirish Cronenbergian body horror retains the Portuguese filmmaker’s trademark ironic tone, satirising the capitalist commercialisation of the body and beauty as a form of violence. Starring McCaul Lombardi, Joana Ribeiro and Alba Baptista, it premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Credits
Director Carlos Conceição Script Carlos Conceição Producer Carlos Conceição, António Gonçalves, Frederico Mesquita Cast McCaul Lombardi, Joana Ribeiro, Elina Löwensohn, Jenna Thiam, Alba Baptista Language English Subtitles Portuguese Sales Reel Suspects
Carlos Conceição
Director "Name Above Title"