The Way He Looks

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Daniel Ribeiro directs. Pierre de Kerchove behind the camera. Cristian Chinen cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Brazil. Dialogue in Portuguese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 12 years ago.
• 2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 3Directed by Daniel Ribeiro, shot by Pierre de Kerchove. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Editor Cristian Chinen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Ghilherme Lobo and Fábio Audi and Tess Amorim carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Not every love happens at first sight.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt1702014 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Classified under 9 themes, including "friendship", "sao paulo, brazil", "coming of age", "lgbt".
• 9Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Pierre de Kerchove

Editing

Cristian Chinen

Production design

Olivia Helena

Costume design

Carla Boregas

Runtime

96 min · 1h 36m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$1,207,841

Original language

PT

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

The Way He Looks (2014) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

93% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

71/100

IMDB rating

7.9/10 · 29,969 votes

MPAA

Not Rated

Also by

Daniel Ribeiro

• 
  I Don't Want to Go Back Alone

  2011 · ★ 7.7
• 
  You, Me and Him

  2007 · ★ 6.0
• 
  30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing

  2019 · ★ 5.3
• 
  Boys Briefs 5: Schoolboys

  2008 · ★ 5.3
• 
  Perfect Endings

  2024 · ★ 4.1
• 
  Love Snaps

  2016 · ★ 3.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official US Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Reno2015-07-17
  ★ 7/10

  Some prince charming is not after the princess. The Brasil's submission for the last concluded American Academy Awards, the 2015's Oscar edition and as we know it did not make that far. Again, one more movie in the list of 'based on the short film'. It also retained all the prominent cast and their respective roles for this full length feature. A teen romance-drama, a gay theme as well as a love triangle. Very light and softly narrated tricky romance theme and obviously suited well as a complete picture. The story was told from the perspective of a blind high school student Leo. He and Gi are the friends since childhood. She's always there for him like a pair of eyes, a companion who walks with him home, only until a new student Gabe arrives. The things are starting to change around them and they begin to realise how much valuable to each other. What comes after is the crux of the story. The same old jealousy story, but from the fresh cast it looked so good. "In our eclipse, Gabriel would be the Earth and you, the moon." A successful domestic box office, critically acclaimed film and the better ratings in all the online movie database, but to me it was just a good movie. The story had adorable characters and the love tale was told in a cute way, though that was not enough for me to get excited. No offense, but the gay theme was the letdown, that doesn't mean I'm against the gay. I loved 'Love of Siam' and 'Bangkok Love Story'. Maybe because I'm a straight, though I had no problem with the movies like 'Water Lilies', 'Yes or No' and other lesbian movies. It's a crazy world, full of crazy people and their crazy romances. Whatever the format is, the love is always sweet. I liked this film's concept, if it was reversed from the gay to the lesbian, probably I would have loved it more. Or the story structure and character development in the first half should have been improved. Because in the end part, looked everything hurried and forced to conclude. Don't listen to me, you might like it, but be cautious, especially don't go after it with a great expectation seeing plenty of praise everywhere. 7/10

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2025-10-10

  This is a lovely, gentle film about a blind lad (Ghilherme Lobo). At school he meets new student (Fabio Audi) who helps him on his quest for independence from his loving, but overbearingly controlling parents; from his best girlfriend "Giovana" (Tess Amorim) and from the practical limitations of his visual impairment. Slowly, they fall for each other and this becomes a story about identity and confidence. The plot isn't going to surprise you; but the performances are strong and convincing and the dialogue flows well too. There's a good bit of Belle & Sebastian music thrown in, too.

  Read full review ↓
• kinrich302026-08-30
  ★ 10/10

  This is another wonderfully written and acted movie and extremely worth watching. One of the few that deals with a character being gay and having a disability (blind).

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Lacuna Filmes

  BR

• PA

  Paraná Filmes

  BR

Key crew

• Production ManagerCristina Alves
• ProducerDiana Almeida
• Costume DesignCarla Boregas
• Production DesignOlivia Helena
• Costume DesignFlavia Lhacer
• CastingLuciano Baldan
• ProducerDaniel Ribeiro
• EditorCristian Chinen
• Additional SoundtrackArvo Pärt

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• friendship
• sao paulo, brazil
• coming of age
• lgbt
• lgbt teen
• blindness
• curious
• gay theme
• intimate

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2014-05-30· Seattle International Film Festival
• Theatrical2014-11-07NR

Also known as

International titles

• Today I Want To Go Back AloneUS
• 爱的模样CN
• 他的样子CN
• Hoje Eu Quero Voltar SozinhoBR
• Сегодня я пойду домой одинRU
• No Quiero Volver SolitoAR
• Hoy Yo Quiero Volver SolitoCO
• Amikor látlakHU
• HazakísérlekHU
• Με την πρώτη ματιάGR
• Siandien noriu grizti vienasLT
• The Way He LooksUS
• 그의 시선KR
• Сьогодні я хочу повернутися на самотіUA
• 愛情的模樣TW