Best movies like That Pair of Arms!

Charlie and his boss have difficulties just getting to the house they are going to wallpaper. The householder is angry because he can't get breakfast and his wife is screaming at the maid as they arrive. The kitchen gas stove explodes, and Charlie offers to fix it. The wife's secret lover arrives and is passed off as the workers' supervisor, but the husband doesn't buy this and fires shots. The stove explodes violently, destroying the house.

After being released from prison, Dr. Nise da Silveira is back at work in a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro where she refuses to employ the new and violent electroshock in the treatment of schizophrenics. Ridiculed by doctors, she is forced to take on the abandoned Sector for Occupational Therapy, where she would start a revolution through paintings, animals and love.

In 1951, New York poet Elizabeth Bishop travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit Mary, a college friend. The shy Elizabeth is overwhelmed by Brazilian sensuality. She is the antithesis to Mary’s dashing partner, architect Lota de Macedo Soares. Mary is jealous, but unconventional Lota is determined to have both women at all costs. This eternal triangle plays out against the backdrop of the military coup of 1964. Bishop’s moving poems are at the core of a film which lushly illustrates a crucial phase in the life of this influential Pulitzer prize-winning poet.

“Rio 2096 – A Story of Love and Fury” is an animated film that portrays the love between an immortal hero and Janaína, the woman he has been in love with for 600 years. As a backdrop to the romance, the feature highlights four phases of Brazilian history: colonization, slavery, the Military Regime and the future, in 2096, when there will be a war for water.

Kamran is a 12 year old boy in the present day who discovers that his ancestor is the 11th Century Mathematician, Astronomer, Poet of Persia, Omar Khayyam. The story has been passed down in his family from one generation to another, and now it is his responsibility to keep the story alive for future generations. The film takes us from the modern day to the epic past where the relationship between Omar Khayyam, Hassan Sabbah (the original creator of the sect of Assassins) and their mutual love for a beautiful woman separate them from their eternal bond of friendship. Filmed almost entirely on location in Samarkand and Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

Discovering your wife is sleeping with your boss can make a man do strange things. For a Samba-obsessed London clerk, robbing a bank and boarding the first flight to Rio are just the beginning.

Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.

In 18th century France, Marquise de Merteuil asks her ex-lover Vicomte de Valmont to seduce the future wife of another ex-lover of hers in return for one last night with her. Yet things don’t go as planned.

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.

This film, adapted from a work of fiction by author Tracy Chevalier, tells a story about the events surrounding the creation of the painting "Girl With A Pearl Earring" by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.

Romão, illiterate and unemployed, feels destiny drawing him on an odyssey to Rio de Janeiro in pursuit of a job and a decent life. A family of seven journeys 2,000 miles across the hinterlands of Brazil on bicycles. Along the way, the story explores the inner dynamics of a family facing a great challenge with the courage to pursue dreams.

Testament of Youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the First World War memoir by Vera Brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a woman’s point of view. A searing journey from youthful hopes and dreams to the edge of despair and back again, it’s a film about young love, the futility of war and how to make sense of the darkest times.

Bossa Nova is a romantic comedy that enfolds many love convergences and divergences, in today’s Rio de Janeiro. It’s in the city’s “useless landscape” that the lonely hearts of nine characters will cross destinies and they’ll discover new passions. The meeting place for these journeys is a charming English teacher, Mary Ann Simpson, former airline stewardess, who’s been living in Rio for two years, since she became a widow, and the newly separated Pedro Paulo. They approach each other without a hint that their lives will be linked by many characters and incidents.

Paulo works as a high school literature teacher, his wife Teresa is a local shopkeeper, and their daughter Bel is still in school. They live in a rented flat in Saens Peña Square, in the heart of Tijuca, a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. An unexpected and alluring job offer may have a profound effect on the routine of this family and even jeopardize a 20-year marriage.

In Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, the idle aspirant writer Zeca has been living with Arts Professor Júlia for five years. He is stuck on page 50 of his novel for a long time and Zeca claims lack of inspiration to conclude the plot. He leads a comfortable life from inheritance left by his mother and administrated by his father Humberto. When Zeca sees Júlia alone with her best friend Carol in his flat, he believes that they are having a love affair and becomes obsessed with Carol, following her. Júlia travels to São Paulo with work giving Zeca the perfect opportunity to have an affair with Carol. So begins his complicated life: while Júlia works and studies for her doctorate, Zeca has sex with Carol during the days and with Júlia during the nights. Zeca plots a scheme to stay with either Carol or Júlia but his plan does not go as he hoped.

An entertainer in Rio impersonates a wealthy aristocrat. When the aristocrat's wife asks him to carry the impersonation further, complications ensue.

An uplifting feature documentary highlighting the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. Top-selling contemporary artist Vik Muniz takes us on an emotional journey from Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, to the heights of international art stardom. Vik collaborates with the brilliant catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, true Shakespearean characters who live and work in the garbage quoting Machiavelli and showing us how to recycle ourselves.

Based upon the true story of Olga Benário, the German-born wife of Brazilian communist leader Luís Carlos Prestes. During the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) she was arrested and sent to Nazi Germany, where she was put to death in a concentration camp. After World War II began, Vargas decided to uphold the Allies.

Camila is in her mid-twenties and her life has been thrown into chaos ever since her boyfriend threw her out of their apartment during a bitter argument. Camila's ambition is to become a writer, and she posts regularly on her blog, entitled "Camila Jam." However, Camila wants to take her work into a different direction, and she throws herself head first into life in search of inspiration. As Camila struggles with alcohol, unsettled emotions and relationships with abusive men, it becomes increasingly obvious that her skills as a writer aren't all she needs to sort out if she wants to truly understand her life and her career.

Alice, married for the last 20 years to a taxi driver, works in a beauty parlour, has three children, the eldest of whom is doing his military service, and a mother who works as a maid in her house. None of the three siblings pay much attention to their mother, and they treat their grandmother with lack of respect. Alice's life in the female working world contrasts strongly with the powerful masculine presence in her home. Although she's a good girl, the chance to betray uncovers other betrayals she didn't know existed.

The film tells the story of the energetic and pulsating singer Elis Regina since her arrival in Rio de Janeiro at age 19 until her tragic and early death. Despite all the difficulties, success comes fulminant and the life of Elis Regina gained national and international recognition, becoming undoubtedly considered today the greatest Brazilian singer of all time.

This docudrama portrays the true story of Flordelis dos Santos, a strong and courageous woman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She resided in the Jacarezinho favela, located in the northern zone of the city. From facing drug dealers to challenging judges, she had an eventful life. Her determination led her to shelter and care for over 40 abandoned children, showcasing her unwavering resilience.

José Henrique Fonseca crafts an ambitious and long overdue homage to a central icon in Brazil’s 20th century history. Reminiscent of film noir classics, the biopic tells the glorious and tragic story of the legendary football striker Heleno de Freitas. The sumptuous black and white cinematography reflects the chic life of Rio de Janeiro in the 1940s as it fell under the spell of sports royalty. Heleno was no doubt one of the most popular players of his time for his bravura in the field and magnificent goal-scoring that lead the Botafogo team to the top and himself into a vicious downward spiral.

Documentary telling the little-known story of how Darwin came to write his great masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, a book which explains the wonderful variety of the natural world as emerging out of death and the struggle of life. In the twenty years he took to develop a brilliant idea into a revolutionary book, Darwin went through a personal struggle every bit as turbulent as that of the natural world he observed. Fortunately, he left us an extraordinary record of his brilliant insights, observations of nature, and touching expressions of love and affection for those around him. He also wrote frank accounts of family tragedies, physical illnesses and moments of self-doubt, as he laboured towards publication of the book that would change the way we see the world. The story is told with the benefit of Darwin's secret notes and correspondence, enhanced by natural history filming, powerful imagery from the time and contributions from leading contemporary biographers and scientists.

From Friday night 'til Sunday morning, the doors of a new world open inside a nightclub in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. We watch the emotions and conflicts experienced by a series of characters, who find on the dance floor the ideal stage to represent the tragedy of their lives.

Gugu is a homosexual dressmaker who works with his mother in her studio. She does everything to get him married and after much insistence, he agrees to marry Sônia, with whom he has a son. One day, couldn't take that dubious situation any longer, he left his wife and moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he set up his own studio, finally living the life he always wanted. After a few years, he receives the news that his wife has passed away and he returns to his homeland, meeting his son Régis, also a homosexual dressmaker. They both move in together but, ashamed of their sexual preference, they hide it from each other. This leads to many humorous situations, as the two are constantly harassed by women from whom they always try to get away.

After his death, infamous Rio de Janeiro mob boss Golden Mouth (named after his all-golden teeth) gets multiple accounts of his life told to the press by his former lover.

A woman moves back, from São Paulo to her hometown Rio de Janeiro, to support her husband's job. On their new residence, she forms an unlikely bond with her young neighbor based on their past memories, sadness and loneliness.

The story of the famous "Polacas", Jewish women deceived into prostitution in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1900's. Ricardo interviews Mrs. Mira, who struggles to bring back memories from her mother's past as a Polaca.

Over a tense day in the emergency hospital, we follow the surgeon's work Evandro and staff in three cases that require risk surgery: a drug dealer, a military police officer and a rich family child, all injured during a shootout in a slum next to the hospital.

Classical music student arrives from Buenos Aires to live with his rocker cousin in Rio De Janeiro. Between parties full of rock and roll, he has to decide between his childhood girlfriend, now a respectful businesswoman, and the volleyball player Vera.

Free adaptation of Romeo and Juliet translated to the harsh life in Favela da Maré, one of largest and most violent slums in Rio de Janeiro. Living in a slum divided between two rival gangs of drug traffickers, Analídia is the daughter of one of the gangs' leaders and Jonathan is a childhood friend of the other gang leader. Both study in a dance group situated exactly in the middle of the two territories, looking for solace in art.

Rio de Janeiro. Confronted with the violence that exists in the favela where he lives, Tiago sees the only way out to become a soccer player and, in this way, help his family to have a better life. Although he is the best player in his neighborhood and the chances of being discovered by a scout are good, he faces a number of problems. One of them is Tubarão, the leader of the most powerful gang in the favela, who wants Tiago to work for him as a drug dealer. To complicate matters even more, Tiago falls in love with Juliana, Tubarão's sister.

A couple, Lauro and Renata, travels to a remote area surrounded by rain forest in Rio De Janeiro. Once they are there, Lauro is told by a bar owner that gruesome murders are taking place in that area. Intending to keep this information hidden from his girlfriend, Lauro and Renata discover they might be not alone when staying in a isolated house.