The Flame of a Candle

The Flame of a Candle

2025 · 109 min · ★ 6.7 · Drama

Northern Portugal. An imposing residence with its garden and magnolia tree. As we know, home is a place that film, this outdoor art, has often used to depict less the joys of family life than a pernicious space. André Gil Mata has made it his stage, with its rooms, its furniture, what plays out there and what has already played out there. From one room to another, from one era to another, the film delves deep into this enclosed space, a kind of suffocating box.

Directed by André Gil Mata · Written by André Gil Mata

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Rakuten TV

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 50m together

The Flame of a Candle

Volver

A close match in mood and era.

More from André Gil MataSee all →

The GravediggerThe Gravedigger · 2012
The Gravedigger
★ 9.02012
MovieHorrorFantasy
Inspired by popular cult, O COVEIRO is part light part darkness, a bedtime story and almost a nightmare. A child is born and his parents die of fright just to see him. André Gil Mata revisits the traditional Portuguese tale, in a fantastic movie where heads bounce, but you hear a song.
ExpectantExpectant · 2018
Expectant
★ 7.02018
MovieMysteryDrama
Expectante is a fiction that emulates some apparently dangerous situations evoking the constant paranoia of an insecurity city's people.
The TreeThe Tree · 2018
The Tree
★ 5.62018
MovieDrama
A man, a child, two wars, a river, a tree. A man and a child meet under a tree on a river bank, sharing the same memory and a secret. They find in each other the serenity, the silence and the time they lost in the flowing water of the river.
How I Fell in Love with Eva RasHow I Fell in Love with Eva Ras · 2016
How I Fell in Love with Eva Ras
★ 5.02016
MovieDrama
In Sarajevo, in a cinema’s projection booth, lives Sena; a woman who in daily solitude repeats the projection of the few Yugoslavian films of which there are copies. Through a combination of silence, the everyday gestures of this woman and the films that are projected from her living room, comes a film built like a day in Sena’s life. Through the films that Sena projects, we are taken on a journey in both collective and personal memory. The film offers a portrait of intimacy crossed with a history witnessed by cinema; a history which Sena has conserved.
The Night of All ThingsThe Night of All Things · 2016
The Night of All Things
★ 5.02016
MovieDrama
Joana, seven years old, waits for her mother to recover from an illness. She wiles away the hours in her grandfather’s warehouse of antiques.
TanganhomTanganhom · 2023
Tanganhom
2023
MovieHorror
Melgaço, Parada do Monte. The memory of a chance encounter on the border between the real and the imagined, the affection and superstition, has been passed down from generation to generation.
CalhauCalhau · 2025
Calhau
2025
Movie
Three men wash ashore in a forgotten cove, where time seems to have stood still. Surrounded by volcanic rocks and tides, they find themselves confined in a place as beautiful as it is inhospitable. As the days go by, a strange presence begins to insinuate itself among them.
Arca D'ÁguaArca D'Água · 2009
Arca D'Água
2009
MovieDrama
In a lake surrounded by buildings, a man builds a boat.
CaronteCaronte · 2026
Caronte
2026
MovieDocumentary
The River Douro, in Porto, is the area of the Portuguese maritime territory where most suicides by precipitation occur. Gastão dedicates his life to rescuing these bodies, not trying to save them, instead giving them back to their families so they can have a closure.
BeardBeard · 2011
Beard
2011
MovieFantasy
Caught in time, a trio of prehistoric characters lives around a dolmen. One of them, who is hyperactive, tries to stir his mates emotions with inventions and works of art. A strange object made out of bone, which re frames reality, will trigger greed and envy in them. Super 8 allegorical on Portugal, and the collective behavior of its people.
Campos BelosCampos Belos · 2023
Campos Belos
2023
Movie
When the Land Runs AwayWhen the Land Runs Away · 2024
When the Land Runs Away
2024
MovieDocumentary
Europe’s largest lithium mine is about to start operating in Trás-os-Montes, much to the dismay of the local inhabitants. Frederico Lopo induces an earthy sensuality and contrasts two geologies: that of mining prospection and machines, and that of roots and people.
LabirintoLabirinto · 2014
Labirinto
2014
MovieFantasy
Director Júlio Bessa, who suffers from "stage fright" will make an introduction to his latest film at Festival de Cinema Luso Brasileiro in Santa Maria da Feira.
Parque SoviéticoParque Soviético · 2013
Parque Soviético
2013
MovieRomanceDrama
Love is a cold war. A couple discuss their relationship in a Berlin Park.
Gods of StoneGods of Stone · 2025
Gods of Stone
2025
MovieDocumentary
In one of the last rural schools on the border between Galicia and Portugal, Mariana, a four-year-old girl, discovers the world through the stories and legends told by her teacher. As Mariana grows, these tales and the passage of time shape her view of the world, until at eighteen, she faces a crucial decision: to leave her village or remain in this borderland by her mother’s side.
UbuUbu · 2023
Ubu
2023
MovieDrama
Ubu, instigated by his wife, murders King Venceslau and usurps the throne of Poland. Intoxicated by power, this grotesque and coward character conducts his reign in an absurd and cruel way, leading his kingdom to ruin. A cinematographic adaptation of Alfred Jarry’s play, a political satire that, cyclically, turns to the reality of world politics.

More Like This

Revolutionary RoadRevolutionary Road · 2008
Revolutionary Road
★ 7.02008
MovieDramaRomance
A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and SpringSpring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring · 2003
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
★ 7.82003
MovieDrama
An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
VolverVolver · 2006
Volver
★ 7.52006
MovieComedyDrama
Three generations of women deal with family secrets while surviving the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition, lies and even death.
First BloodFirst Blood · 1982
First Blood
★ 7.51982
MovieActionThriller
When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Rocky IVRocky IV · 1985
Rocky IV
★ 7.11985
MovieDramaAction
Rocky Balboa holds the world heavyweight championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union. This time, Rocky's training regimen takes him to Siberia, where he prepares for a globally televised match in the heart of Moscow. But nothing can truly prepare him for what he's about to face – a fight to the finish, in which he must defend not only himself, but also the honor of his country!
LemmingLemming · 2005
Lemming
★ 6.52005
MovieDramaThriller
After the death of his boss's wife, a young engineer faces the sudden psychological metamorphosis of his own wife, seemingly possessed by the soul of the deceased...
Thelma & LouiseThelma & Louise · 1991
Thelma & Louise
★ 7.61991
MovieDramaCrime
Taking a break from their dreary lives, close friends Thelma and Louise embark on a short weekend trip that ends in unforeseen incriminating circumstances. As fugitives, both women rediscover the strength of their bond and their newfound resilience.
Little ChildrenLittle Children · 2006
Little Children
★ 7.12006
MovieDramaRomance
The lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations.
Brief EncounterBrief Encounter · 1945
Brief Encounter
★ 7.71945
MovieDramaRomance
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
To Die ForTo Die For · 1995
To Die For
★ 6.61995
MovieDramaComedy
Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.
The Bridges of Madison CountyThe Bridges of Madison County · 1995
The Bridges of Madison County
★ 7.71995
MovieDramaRomance
Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.
Me and My SisterMe and My Sister · 2004
Me and My Sister
★ 5.62004
MovieDramaComedy
Louise, who has just written a novel, comes to Paris to meet with a potential publisher. While in the city, she stays with her older sister, Martine, who in many ways is the exact opposite of Louise: she lives in a fashionable neighborhood, is cold to others, and has snobby friends, while Louise lives in a small town and is thoroughly unpretentious. Louise's apparent happiness -- and similarities to their mother -- gradually gets on Martine's nerves.
12 Angry Men12 Angry Men · 1957
12 Angry Men
★ 8.61957
MovieDrama
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.
Van GoghVan Gogh · 1991
Van Gogh
★ 6.71991
MovieDramaHistory
After leaving the asylum, Vincent van Gogh settles in the home of Doctor Gachet, where he keeps painting amidst the torments of his failing mental health. He begins an affair with his host’s daughter, however, she soon realizes that he doesn’t love her and that his heart beats only for art.
I Am LegendI Am Legend · 2007
I Am Legend
★ 7.22007
MovieDramaScience Fiction
Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.
City of MenCity of Men · 2007
City of Men
★ 7.02007
MovieDrama
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.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, OhioThe Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio · 2005
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
★ 6.62005
MovieDrama
A Midwestern housewife supports her large family by entering contests for ad slogans sponsored by consumer product companies, while dealing with abuse from her alcoholic husband. Based on a true story.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter