Los cuatro de la Candelaria

I wasn't aware of the true story behind this television show until Netflix produced it. Going into the show you are fully aware of whats going to happen because its revealed in the show description.

The script is centered on a small group of homeless youths who hang out during the day and sleep at night outside of a church that their ancestors had built. They are not allowed to go inside at will and the church is used as a quasi tourist attraction. The story is told in a series of flashbacks that interwine into the present. Its very well written.

Other than the well written script, the on scene location filming, acting, musical scoring and direction is very good. Its worth a watch.

Apparently the writer didn't want to have the job to do some research and interview survivors, so he decided to create a nonsense fiction story. The thing that bugs me is that, there's at least one survivor that I know of, with an unbelievable story and he still leaves on the witness protection program, so, that could've become a mini series on itself, but unfortunately the writer decided to take the easy way out.

The only reality in this show is the shooting, apart from that is all fabricated, so I believe you'll see about 5 minutes of something thar happened that day.

The show's ambientation is terrible. It's supposed to be 1993, but you'll see cars from 2 years ago. As far as I remember there are only two cars from that period in the 4 episodes.

The only thing that works here is the a great acting. We have some amazing actors that can make entertained enough to kinda forget about all that terrible production and writing decisions.

I began watching this without much expectations and oh boy was I wrong. "Children of the church steps" is definitely one of the best mini series of 2024. It's very bingeable with every episode lasting about 40 minutes so you will be done in less than 3 hours.

What's different in this series is that each episode tells a story from another kid's point of view. Starting with Douglas, moving on to Seven, Pipoca and then Jesus. There is a main storyline (not gonna spoil this one), but you can see how the kids react to it differently in each episode. That makes it very fun to spot "Easter eggs" and also it makes it impossible to forget something. Also besides the main storyline there are a lot of elements added according to each kid's story.

The show's producer said that he wanted to "humanize" the kids and the show managed to do that successfully. It's a very emotional show and you'll feel a sense of hopelessness every end each episode and especially at the last one. Because the show does such a great job at making you love those kids from the beginning, it's difficult to see the tragic events that follow at the last episode. Thankfully, these events don't start until the last minutes.

Watch definitely but especially if you want to be educated, or need a good cry. The performances are all top notch, with Pipoca stealing the show.

Excellent. Congratulations 10/10.

Watch this.

It is simply one of the best mini series I have ever watched. It has powerful scenes without showing any gore, which speaks loudly about how well the story is told. It doesn't need shocking visuals to shock its viewers.

It also has great acting (specially from Douglas, that kid is amazing) and great soundtrack, full of brazilian music genres that perfectly fit each scene and contribute a huge deal to the immersion.

I wish Netflix would support more content like this around the world. I loved watching a different side of Brazil from what is commonly shown in the media. Here's to hoping this series' director gifts us with more of his work.