The Candelaria Massacre is a wound in Brazilian history that’ll probably never heal. The murder of 8 homeless people, 6 being minors, is not only shocking but truly painful to imagine. Children of the Church Steps creatively retells this story with a fictional group of 4: Douglas, Seven, Popcorn, and Jesus. The 4-part series switches perspectives between each kid and showcases the events 36 hours prior to the massacre itself. The show doesn’t focus much on the events that took place after the massacre. In fact, it doesn’t really emphasize the massacre at all but focuses more on the idea of how such events impact lives, specifically children’s lives.
In all honesty, I think the show works exactly as it hopes it would, delivering a sad but true message: violence is the end of childhood. I guess if you’re looking for a history lesson or a to-the-T retelling of the events of that dreadful night, then Children of the Church Steps will leave you disappointed. I suppose one must watch this show as a fictional retelling, merely a stimulus to get your cogs turning. The 4 episodes draw out the events of those few hours in utmost detail, but specifically giving us the perspective of each character. It’s quite a shame that the only other female character of importance in the show apart from Popcorn doesn’t get an episode of her own, but I can imagine it would’ve become a bit overlong and tedious if they’d tried. Each episode gives us a deep understanding of why these kids are in the position that they’re in and what leads to their tragic fates at the end of the series.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this format, and the idea of learning a little bit about each of these 4 kids made the show especially sad. Once you know these kids, you also know that they don’t deserve what’s coming to them, so it’s only a matter of time till you’re hoping in the back of your head that they’ll survive, even though it’s most likely they won’t. However, I do believe the show could’ve been expanded a little more to give us further details of what happened after the massacre, and specifically what happens to the kids who survive. This would’ve made the show a 5/5 for me, because that way we’d get a whole picture rather than a veiled one. I guess I wanted more from it than it gave us, but this is not to undermine what we got, you know?
In terms of performance, each kid outperforms the other in the most powerful way. Additionally, if you’re struggling to find the time to watch the show in its original Portuguese, even the English dub is pretty on point and definitely delivers emotionally. I really don’t know how these kids are able to display so much emotional intelligence when they’re so young, but it’s absolutely marvelous to watch. Each kid has a different past, and while all of this is fictionalized, it’s inspired by anecdotes from victims of the massacre. Each story is intriguing and simultaneously sad in its own way. The episodes are about 40 minutes each and very precise in what they’re trying to show us. Each plot point is also deeply emotional, and all the kids get to act on their strengths, but to me the standout was definitely the littlest of them all, Popcorn, played by Wendy Queiroz.
I guess it still boils down to; it seemed like something was missing, you know? I guess, in a way, the series shoots itself in the foot by sticking to the boundaries of a limited series and what it can do in terms of an “art show.” Sure, creative liberty in story telling is one thing, but then forcing yourself into a box because of that limits the reach of your show, and in turn leaves the audience ever so slightly disappointed. The reason I say the show could leave you disappointed is because it lacks the “truth” anybody watching a show about real-life events would be looking for. I guess for me I was left wanting more, but not because the show didn’t have the answers I was looking for, but because it was too little of a good thing. Maybe if the episodes stretched out a little longer, going a little further into the brutality and why such events occurred, I might’ve walked out completely satisfied.
But that’s besides the point. At the end of the day, the makers of Children of the Church Steps specifically went out to make a show about children and their hopes. This is exactly what it excels at showcasing. The massacre itself is almost an afterthought, or a jumping off point to tell a different kind of story, which some might find disrespectful, while others might find intriguing. I guess Children of the Church Steps is another name on Netflix’s roster of “real-life event-inspired” shows, but it definitely feels somewhat different. I think this is specifically because it doesn’t act as a lens in that moment in time, but because it leaves us thinking about the aftermath of said event. There’s profanity, sex, and a lot of violence; additionally, I’d definitely suggest checking trigger warnings before watching the show. Especially around violence against children. At the end of the day, I can’t say I enjoyed Children of the Church Steps because that would be a disservice to the show and very disrespectful to the victims of the events. I think it’s a beautiful show that lands its messaging, so I’ll give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I only wish there was a bit more.
