"CHOICES" is an interactive social drama that follows the journey of Carlos, a young Black man from the outskirts of the city who, after the violent death of his father amidst a drug war, faces moral and existential decisions that will define the course of his life. By constantly breaking the fourth wall and inviting the audience to participate in his choices, the film transforms the viewer into a direct accomplice of his destiny, exposing the complex relationships between inequality, opportunity, structural violence, and individual responsibility.

The narrative begins with a striking scene: amidst the chaos of a police operation in the favela, Carlos finds himself leaning over the body of his murdered father. The sound disappears, replaced by a deafening silence that marks the trauma that will shape his entire trajectory. Then, the young man climbs to the highest point of the community and, after a heart-rending scream, faces the camera and challenges the viewer: are you prepared to live his story?

Time rewinds. We get to know the simple and affectionate routine of the family: the hardworking father, the resilient mother, and the older brother, Júlio, already lost in the world of crime. Carlos is a sensitive and observant student, torn between the hope represented by school and the weight of a reality marked by poverty and daily violence. His best friends, Buga and Alice, symbolize friendship and the possibility of affection and belonging outside of crime, while the figure of the teacher represents the social gaze that sees the individual beyond the condition of being a student.

When his father decides to confront Júlio in the area dominated by the faction, he is killed in a shootout. His father's death breaks Carlos's last axis of stability, and he begins to take care of his sick mother and face hunger, institutional abandonment, and a lack of prospects. It is at this point that the film makes its interactive proposal explicit: faced with his brother's offer to join the drug trade, Carlos turns to the audience and asks — what would you do in my place?

From this choice, the narrative branches into possible trajectories.

On the path of crime, Carlos joins the gang motivated by survival. He quickly rises in the drug trafficking hierarchy, becoming respected, feared, and economically stable. However, the death of his mother, the break with his friends, and the growing rivalry with his own brother reveal the moral and emotional cost of this rise. Consumed by violence and paranoia, Carlos begins to live under the logic of eliminating others to guarantee his own existence, culminating in extreme decisions that deepen his dehumanization.

On the path of resistance, Carlos decides to stay in school and seek legitimate alternatives for survival. His teacher becomes a central figure, mobilizing community support networks, social projects, and educational opportunities. The young man faces humiliation, underemployment, and prejudice, but gradually builds a path of education and professional integration. Even so, upon reaching the corporate world, he discovers that the structures of power and corruption are not exclusive to organized crime, and he is once again confronted with ethical choices that put his freedom and integrity at risk.

Despite the differences in their paths, all trajectories converge on the same symbolic outcome: Carlos is run over at an urban intersection—a metaphor for the clash between possible destinies and social inevitabilities. Lying on the asphalt, he faces the audience one last time and questions whether he deserves to live or die. The answer, however, is refused by the narrative itself: it is not up to the viewer to decide his end. Choices shape paths, but they do not determine the value of a life.

“CHOICES” proposes an immersive cinematic experience that challenges the notion of free will in contexts of extreme inequality. By allowing the audience to participate in the protagonist's decisions, the film highlights that judging peripheral trajectories based on abstract standards of morality ignores the structures that limit opportunities and condition choices. The viewer ceases to be an observer and becomes an agent, confronted with their own ethical convictions in the face of an exclusionary social system.

Combining social realism, direct language to the audience, and an interactive structure of multiple narrative paths, “CHOICES” investigates to what extent Destiny is the result of individual decision or the consequence of imposed conditions. More than telling the story of a young man from the favela, the film questions the very act of judging—and reveals that, in contexts of inequality, choosing is rarely a complete privilege.

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