Directed By: Greg Barker
Written By: Craig Borten
Starring: Wagner Moura, Ana de Armas, Bradley Whitford, Brían F. O’Byrne

Sergio, is a biographical drama chronicling the life and work of United Nations diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello. Directed by Greg Barker, a man known for his career in television and documentary films such as Sergio (2009) and The Final Year (2017), it marks his first attempt at a narrative feature.

A decade after premiering his doc, Barker returned to Sundance with this adaptation. Making a film about a subject one has already explored so deeply could seem like beating a dead horse. Greg slows the pace, and injects this new film with a sense of poetic romanticism. Given the creative license Barker focuses on on the inner-emotions and Don Quixote like qualities of Sergio. He was a larger than life personality who believed that one could live in and create the future one wanted for tomorrow, today. And that by nations coming together we could bring about a better, brighter, freer global future. He believed the U.N. would be instrumental in achieving this dream and that he could help birth it.

Recounting the days, months, and years leading up to his death, this film’s emphasis on de Mello’s romantic life (with Ana de Armas playing the woman he loved), provides fresh insight into the life of a man many have already heard much about. After making a documentary I can understand the wish to focus on developing the personality of who Sergio was.

While it creates an engrossing story for general audiences who know next to nothing about its titular character, it conversely makes the film a bit drawn-out and lacking focus. This is disappointing for a film that is about a man who led his life with decisiveness and a singular focus.

– Review by Jessie Zumeta

Have you seen SERGIO? Well, what did you think? 

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