Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“I never understood why Ariel gave up the Ocean for a dull prince.”
The 2026 Brazilian movie ‘Here the Whole Time’ opens with a cute little boy dipping his feet in a swimming pool, before diving in and swimming happily in the water. But as he gets out of the pool, the other kids mock and jeer at him.
Directed by Daniel Lieff, ‘Here the Whole Time’ (original title: ‘Quinze Dias’) is based on the novel by Vitor Martins and follows teen Felipe (Miguel Lallo), who is looking forward to spending his summer break quietly watching movies at home, safely away from school bullies that fat-shame him. His plans for a peaceful vacation are ruined when his mom Rita (Débora Falabella) informs him at the last minute that their neighbour’s son Caio (Diego Lira), a 16-year-old gym rat, is going to be living with them for the next 15 days.
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Poor Caio gets a comically awkward introduction when a blissfully unaware Felipe steps out of the shower and screams upon finding him standing in his room with a backpack. The film then follows the two estranged friends as they slowly grow closer again, although their first few days together are mostly an entertaining mix of passive-aggression, mutual distrust and general unhappiness with the arrangement. Despite his initial annoyance, Felipe quickly develops a huge crush on Caio, although he is pretty sure his feelings won’t be reciprocated.
Shot in bright, cheery tones, ‘Here the Whole Time’ has all the ingredients of a cute summer romance. Much like the novel, a lot of the story unfolds inside Felipe and Rita’s cozy, colorful home, which has just the right amount of clutter to make it feel genuinely lived-in rather than like a carefully dressed film set.
Miguel Lallo portrays Felipe with an endearing likability. He is insecure about his body, is often lonely, but when he isn’t overthinking, he is just another teen who loves reading, dancing, watching musicals with his mom, and eating Chinese takeout. And whenever life gets overwhelming, Felipe instantly rushes to set up an appointment with his therapist (Olivia Araújo). Diego Lira as Caio isn’t exactly bursting with personality, but he is friendly, sweet, and has his own issues, like an overtly strict mother who doesn’t let him be himself.
The cinematography also cleverly marks the 15 days of Caio’s stay throughout the runtime: if ‘Day 2’ is stitched into a pillow, another day might appear on an elevator display. And to represent Felipe’s active imagination, quite a few scenes play out as dreams, nightmares or exaggerated fantasies. For instance, as Felipe makes space for Caio, he imagines the two of them inside a black-and-white movie, forced to become investigative partners and solve a case together. It’s inventively fun.
Honestly, I was almost tempted to give ‘Here the Whole Time’ a full five out of five stars just for its super-fun tribute to the 2007 musical ‘Hairspray’, which I first saw as a student and absolutely loved, especially Nikki Blonsky’s infectiously energetic performance as Tracy Turnblad. Here, Felipe gets his own little ‘Good Morning Baltimore’ moment, bursting into a full-blown, colorful song-and-dance sequence that instantly brought back memories of the musical for me.
When I reviewed the original novel back in 2021, I ended by hoping that ‘Here the Whole Time’ would eventually become a breezy little limited series. Having now watched the film, I kind of wish I’d gotten exactly that. Its 100-minute runtime is perfectly reasonable, yet the climax is very rushed, robbing some of the emotional moments of their potential impact. A few episodes would have given the characters much more room to develop, especially Caio and his turbulent relationship with his mother.
But well, despite the weak ending, ‘Here the Whole Time’ is a highly entertaining teen romance, with a wholesome portrayal of teenagers struggling with body-image issues and learning to accept themselves as they are. And its biggest takeaway? Love might just be next door. Sometimes, we just need to be brave enough to knock… or let them in.
Watch ‘Here the Whole Time’ on Netflix.
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