Limite

Three shipwrecked souls drift on a solitary craft across a vast sea, cut off from any sign of rescue. The man and two women share the small space, their nerves tested by salt spray and hunger as time stretches on. To pass the endless hours they swap stories from their pasts, trading shards of memory and regret rather than dry facts. Each recollection reveals a different thread of desire, fear, and choice that led them to this fragile float. The cramped deck and taut silence turn every heartbeat into a tether that binds them together yet keeps them apart, underscoring the fragility of human ties in extremis. In this way the sea becomes a mirror of their inner storms.

Released in 1931, Limite was directed by Mário Peixoto and emerges from an original screenplay rather than a traditional adaptation, marking a bold, artful foray into early Brazilian modernist cinema.

Limite is widely cited as a milestone in world cinema for its austere compositions, elliptical editing, and the way it redefines isolation on screen. Its black and white frame, stubborn restraint, and dreamlike mood influenced generations of experimental filmmakers and cinephiles.

Critics have noted its meditative pace and philosophical undertones, with themes of fate, memory, and longing surfacing through the cast's intimate vignettes. The film asks how people rewrite themselves when pressed by danger, and what survives after contact with the void.