Movie · 2007 · Drama, Action, Crime · 1h 55m · R · PT
Curator score: 5.8/10 (302.7K ratings)
On the streets of Rio only the elite survive
Overview
In 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.8/10
IMDb: 8.0/10
Letterboxd: 4.02/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 53%
Metacritic: 33
TMDB: 8.1/10
Director
José Padilha
Production
Universal Pictures do Brasil, The Weinstein Company, Zazen Produções, Estúdios Mega, Quanta Centro de Produções Cinematográficas, Costa Films
Cast
Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira, Milhem Cortaz, Fernanda Machado, Maria Ribeiro, Paulo Vilela, Fernanda de Freitas, André Di Mauro, Fábio Lago, Erick Oliveira, Patrick Santos, Rafael d'Avila, Roberta Santiago, Emerson Gomes, Bernardo Jablonski, Allan Guilherme, Marcello Escorel, Marcelo Valle, Paulo Hamilton
Curator Review
Verdict
A hard-charging Brazilian crime drama that mixes procedural intensity with a bleak moral view of policing, corruption, and class violence. It’s gripping, abrasive, and politically charged, with a performance and energy that keep the film moving even when its perspective feels provocative or contested.
Best for
Viewers who like intense cop dramas with moral ambiguity
Fans of urban crime films set in politically volatile environments
Audiences interested in Brazilian cinema and social realism
People who enjoy propulsive, muscular filmmaking with a cynical edge
Skip if
You want a neutral or comforting police thriller
You’re sensitive to graphic violence and brutality
You prefer character studies with a softer emotional register
You dislike films that are openly divisive in their politics
Overview
Elite Squad is a ferocious crime drama that treats Rio’s war on drugs as both a tactical operation and a social catastrophe. José Padilha stages the film with relentless momentum, turning raids, interrogations, and street-level pressure into a tense portrait of institutional rot and personal hardening.
Worth noting
What makes it linger is its refusal to offer clean heroes. The film is as interested in the machinery of corruption and class privilege as it is in the violence of the favelas, and that tension is exactly why it has remained so debated. It can feel like a cop movie with the volume turned up, but underneath the adrenaline is a deeply pessimistic view of how the system reproduces itself.
Bottom line
Wagner Moura anchors the film with a performance that makes Captain Nascimento both compelling and alarming. If you want a crime film that is urgent, abrasive, and politically thorny, this is a strong watch; if you want something more balanced or less brutal, it may be a rough ride.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Mariana Arcanjo (4.5★) · 4694 likes
Infelizmente o filme teve sua história totalmente descompreendida pela sociedade, que taxou os policias como heróis e os bandidos como os vilões. Não entenderam que o filme explana sobre a cadeia gerada pela corrupção e tráfico, e que no final ninguém é herói, todos possuem seu papel de culpa dentro da grande guerra civil travada nas comunidades do país.
Niva (4.5★) · 2008 likes
o centro academico da direito ufrj pega maconha no ATACADO? porra federal é outra história
Dennys (5★) · 1969 likes
Whiplash de policial
nicolas (4★) · 1447 likes
"quantas crianças a gente vai ter que perder para o tráfico, pra um playboy enrolar um baseado? eu fico puto com gente que nasce com oportunidade e entra nessa merda."
simplesmente o cinema nacional.
guh (4★) · 1317 likes
- olha aqui, corpo encontrado na praia. morte na praia, meu filho, é afogamento.
- mas comandante tinha uma perfuração no corpo...
- você é legista por acaso?
A multi-angle drug-war drama that connects enforcement, politics, and social damage.
Topics
crime drama, action thriller, police procedural, social realism, brutal violence, political tension, urban unrest, Latin American cinema, corruption, antihero