A satirical version of the controversial film Dark Horse, titled 'Azarão' (free translation), was recently released by a collective of artists and students from ECA USP. The original film, by Cyrus Nowrasteh, was leaked to the press in May of this year and addresses the 'narrative dispute' concerning Jair Bolsonaro's presidential campaign in 2018, presenting a typical Hollywood production fantasy.
This pirated version is 45 minutes long. In it, the stabbing incident, which almost killed the then-PL candidate, is recontextualized within a drug trafficking pursuit plot, where the left is portrayed as 'drugged Marxist'. Former Minister Damares Alves plays the role of a mystical figure who provides miraculous pills to Bolsonaro, helping him understand his mission and saving him from death.
The version produced by ECA students is described as more fluid, lysergic, and chaotic, characterizing itself as a good silly spectacle. Due to the constant confusion caused by Jair Bolsonaro, his sons Carlos and Eduardo, along with the presidential candidate Flávio (whose victory in the 2026 Elections is still uncertain), are represented in a 'heady' form, with the three faces fused into a giant brain, referencing the head of the character in the film Frank (2014), starring Michael Fassbender.
The characters, from Jair Bolsonaro to Michelle, are played by various actors, all considered mediocre, with some special appearances by members of the research group After the End of Art, under the coordination of Dora Longo Bahia. A notable highlight is the performance of the Psychology Faculty security guard, who plays one of the versions of Bozo. The current senator is represented by a vacuum cleaner montage with a wig. From costumes to art direction, everything is considered crude, constituting an accurate parody of contemporary social media audiovisual production, particularly that associated with the mentioned far-right group.
Some actors use Portuguese, while others use English with dubbing that does not correspond to the original voices. The inconsistency, whether narrative or visual between scenes, is another striking characteristic of the cinematic language. Bolsonaro is played by different actors, and the weapon used to orchestrate the coup (of marketing?) against the candidate varies between a barbecue knife and a plastic sword from a children's kit. Furthermore, the electronic ankle monitor used by the convicted person at the end, after the attempted coup in 2023, is replaced by a video game joystick. This level of absurdity is presented as necessary to lend credibility to the script by Cyrus and Mark Nowrasteh, based on the argument of Mário Frias.
The film Dark Horse was not released in Brazil, neither in cinemas nor on streaming platforms, due to suspicions of diversion of its funding, which totaled US$ 24 million (of which US$ 12.3 million were actually received by the project producer) from Banco Master, belonging to Daniel Vorcaro. Meanwhile, the low-cost version created by the students is not yet showing in cinemas or streaming, but is considered the 'azarão' that Brazil deserved.