SXSW 2024 Review: TOLL, The Price Paid, The Damage Done

The price of love keeps going up.

Toll
The film enjoys its U.S. premiere at SXSW 2024 this afternoon. It screens again (twice) on March 13. Visit the film's official site for more information.

The original title in Brazilian Portuguese, Pedagio, translates into English as Toll, the word itself defined as "a tax charged for ... driving on certain roads," according to one dictionary.

Suellen, the leading character, is a toll booth attendant in Brazil, and so it's easy to assume that's the reason for the film's title. As the narrative progresses, however, and we see the life that Suellen leads and the people who surround her, a secondary meaning for 'toll' comes to mind: "The extent of loss, damage, suffering, etc., resulting from some action or calamity."

Writer/director Carolina Markowicz and actress Maeve Jinkings previously teamed on Charcoal (2022) and their comfort in working together is apparent from the very first sequence, as Suellen prepares for her day in the apartment she shares with her teenage son Antonio (Kauan Alvarenga, who previously worked with Markowicz in her short film The Orphan, 2018) and her boyfriend, Arauto (Thomas Aquino).

Suellen more often calls her son Tiquinho, a term of affection, but she and Tiquinho are in constant conflict, exacerbated in Suellen's mind because Tiquinho is proudly gay. She can't handle it, an attitude of disgust and frustration that is reinforced by her coworker Telma (Aline Marta Maia) and probably all too common in Cubatão, an industrial city near São Paulo, where they live. (Thanks to CanCulture for pointing out the specific city.)

The love between Suellen and her son is genuine, as seen in some of their quiet moments together, especially after she kicks out Arauto, who's been hiding stolen merchandise in the apartment. Much of her anxiety about her son revolves around his future, and her unspoken assumption that Tiquinho will not fare well as a proudly gay person in a country that is rigidly conservative.

Her personal principles are tested again when she learns that her good friend and workmate Telma may not be quite the paragon of virtue that she appeared to be. Even so, Telma suggests a quasi-religious 'gay conversion' program that may "cure" Tiquinho of his 'gayness.' Suellen is not particularly religious, but the idea sounds appealing.

Of course, the program is not free. The cost is beyond her means. Fueled by her desperation to help Tiquinho, as she sees it, amplified by his approaching 18th birthday, when he will gain legal adulthood and be free to ignore her wishes completely, she makes the fateful decision to call on her old boyfriend Arauto for his help in a criminal scheme.

The constantly belching smokestacks in the area contribute to a grim, bleak environment. The toll booth in which Suellen is confined each day lends credence to the idea that she is trapped in circumstances that are beyond control. She exerts her personal agency in her household by endeavoring to control her son's conduct, even as she falls back in step with Arauto and his thieving ways.

Looking into her own future, Suellen can glimpse a brighter day ahead. Maybe. Perhaps. Or it may just be another day.

Tiquinho's experiences at the 'gay conversion' camp are ridiculous on the surface, outrageous in the teaching methods depicted, and somewhat frightening to contemplate. Does anyone take this kind of thing seriously? Evidently, many do, and in good faith, but it looks to be a lost cause, promoted for financial gain, and preying upon desperation.

Actions have consequences, even if they're motivated by love. Toll shows the price that must be paid, over and over again, in an absorbing and compelling story, filled with unexpected turns.