Three years after TROPA DE ELITE scored a surprising hit at the Berlinale comes the sequel to this Brazilian cop drama. In the new film, Capitano Nascimento’s special force once again uses all admissible – and sometimes inadmissible – means at their disposal to combat the rampant crime that sweeps through the favelas and Rio de Janeiro’s middle-class districts. But in spite of his efforts, the crime rate has risen dramatically.
José Padilha’s sequel is set in the present, more than a decade after its predecessor. The membership of the unit has hardly changed. A new addition, however, is Fraga, who has been seconded to the unit. A critical observer of police work, he has challenged Nascimento’s methods more than once.
The Capitano also has to contend with another adversary: the corrupt police. Organised crime has now managed to gain such a foothold in the favelas that even once-untouchable police officers have fallen prey to its influence, to a far greater extent than Capitano Nascimento would have dared imagine. But this is not his only problem – there are also the needs of his teenage son to consider. And when his private and professional spheres come into contact – the result is explosive.