Netflix is positioning this as a deeply human story about grief, healing, and the universal struggle to move forward after tragedy. Director Gabriel Martins frames it as 'a film about mourning, humanity and continuing to move forward even when everything seems to collapse.' The streaming giant highlighted its commitment to supporting independent Brazilian cinema at Rio2C.
Insiders note this is some heavy subject matter for a Netflix release — suicide presented as a potential bus crash cause isn't exactly feel-good content. But sources say Martins pushed hard to keep the uncomfortable truth in the script rather than softening it, and Netflix backed him. The real question: will audiences embrace a film where closure means apologizing for your dead son's actions?
The first look dropped May 28, 2026 at Rio2C, Netflix's licensing and co-production panel in Brazil. Gabriel Martins' previous film 'Mars One' premiered at Sundance 2022, won four prizes at Gramado Fest, and was Brazil's Oscar nomination for International Feature Film.
Netflix is betting that Brazilian audiences have the stomach for suicide-tinged grief drama — and with Martins' track record of critical acclaim, this could be the streaming giant's boldest international play yet. But don't expect this one to trend on Netflix's 'top 10' alongside the lighthearted fare.
Netflix dropped the first image from Gabriel Martins' devastating new film "On Behalf of My Son" Thursday — and it's clear the streaming giant is not playing it safe with its latest Brazilian acquisition. The photo reveals Rejane Faria in the lead role of Vicentina, a mother grappling with the kind of loss that destroys people: her son Wesley died in a bus accident he was driving, and evidence suggests it may have been suicide.
The film premiered as an exclusive first look during Netflix's panel at Rio2C, Latin America's largest creativity gathering held this week in Brazil. "On Behalf of My Son" (original title: "Vicentina Pede Desculpas") was lensed in Belo Horizonte and is set for release in the second half of 2026 — giving audiences roughly six months to prepare emotionally for what's being described as an unflinching exploration of a mother's impossible journey.
Martins, just 38 years old but already one of Brazil's most decorated emerging filmmakers, crafted a story that pulls no punches. After Wesley's death, Vicentina doesn't get the comfort of ambiguity — the investigation points toward intentionality, meaning her son may have deliberately killed himself and multiple others in a single act. Instead of retreating into grief, she does something almost superhuman: she tracks down every victim's family to apologize personally for what her child did.
"Rejane Faria brought a powerful sense of truth to this character, delicately balancing all the nuances of a woman carrying an unbearable grief, yet still searching for a way to keep going and reconcile with herself," Martins said in a statement. "It's a film about mourning, humanity and continuing to move forward even when everything seems to collapse." The supporting cast reads like a who's-who of Brazilian independent cinema: Maíra Azevedo, Renato Novaes, Karine Telles, Giovanna Heliodoro, Thalma de Freitas, and Grace Passô all appear.
Production house Filmes de Plástico — the same company behind Martins' breakthrough hit "Mars One" — is handling duties. That film, you'll recall, premiered at Sundance 2022, won four prizes at Gramado Fest, opened theatrically in Brazil that August, and became Brazil's official submission for the Academy Awards' International Feature category. Martins has also been busy on the television side: he created, wrote, and co-directed "O Natal dos Silva," which dropped in November 2025 on pay-TV channel Canal Brasil and streaming platform Globoplay. But if "On Behalf of My Son" lands with the same emotional impact as its source material suggests, this could become his defining work — a film that asks whether forgiveness is even possible when the person who needs forgiving is already dead.
