Once Upon a Time Verônica

Serving up a modest character study, filmmaker Marcelo Gomes's Once Upon a Time Veronica centers on the titular Verônica (Hermila Guedes), a thirtysomething recent graduate from medical school now working as a new psychiatric intern at a bustling public hospital in a Brazilian coastal town. At work, Verônica sends her chart notes about an endless stream of patients upstairs for more experienced shrinks to pass judgment. At home, she lives with her ailing father and basks in his special love, but eschews his advice about developing a serious relationship with a man or letting her hair down more often. In private moments, she enjoys the occasional girls' night out, or loses herself in athletic if empty sex with a would-be boyfriend. Unfortunately, that's as far as Gomes's ambition with Verônica goes: the tale of someone stuck in a rut. And while that's not an absolute killer, precious little in this cyclical story puts any of this in a larger, more interesting context, or suggests the possibility of change on the horizon. Not a necessary purchase. (T. Keogh)