''My Penguin Friend'' is a 2024 biographical

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

David Schurmann David Schurmann is a film director, producer, screenwriter, explorer, author and CEO. Early life Schurmann started filming at age 13 during the Schurmann Family first circumnavigation of the globe. He received his formal training in film and te ...

, written by Paulina Lagudi Ulrich and Kristen Lazarian, and starring

Jean Reno Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (born 30 July 1948), commonly known as Jean Reno (), is a French-Spanish actor. He established himself as a Leading actor, leading man of French cinema through his collaborations with director Luc Besson, and has w ...

and

Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza González (born 5 March 1956) is a Mexican actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for '' Babel'' (2006). Early life Barraza was born in Toluca, Estado de Mexico, the daughter of Celia (née ...

. It is based on the true story of fisherman João Pereira de Souza and Dindim the penguin, which went viral in 2016. It was first released in France on August 7, 2024, and was released in the United States on August 16, 2024. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Brazilian Fisherman João Pereira de Souza discovers an injured

penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

drifting alone in the ocean, near death and covered in oil from a spill. João rescues the animal and rehabilitates it, forging an unconventional lifelong friendship.

Cast

Production

On April 19, 2022, it was reported that Jonathan Lim had launched the American production company City Hill Arts, and that their first film would be ''The Penguin & the Fisherman'', to be directed by

and starring

. The film was later retitled ''My Penguin Friend''. On October 14, 2022, it was reported that

had joined the cast, as João's wife Maria. ''My Penguin Friend'' was filmed primarily on the tropical beaches of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and amongst a colony of nearly a million penguins in

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

. Production wrapped in February 2023, and post production took place in

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. The film was produced by Jonathan Lim, Robin Jonas, Steven P. Wegner, Andreas Wentz, Nicolas Veinberg, Shaked Berenson, and Patrick Ewald. On February 15, 2024, it was announced that US distribution rights had been acquired by Roadside Attractions.

Release

The trailer was released on May 17, 2024. The film was first released in France on August 7, 2024, and was released in the United States on August 16, 2024.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film made $1 million from 1,083 theaters in its opening weekend.

Critical response

Christy Lemire Christy A. Lemire (née Nemetz; born August 30, 1972) is an American film critic and host of the movie review podcast ''Breakfast All Day''. She previously wrote for the Associated Press from 1999 to 2013, was a co-host of '' Ebert Presents at ...

of '' RogerEbert.com'' gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "There's something radical about the old-fashioned approach of ''My Penguin Friend''. It's an earnest, crowd-pleasing family film – nothing snarky or self-referential, no on-the-nose needle drops - just a sweet, beautifully made movie that earns the emotion it'll surely draw from its viewers."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 8609660, My Penguin Friend 2024 films 2024 adventure films American adventure drama films Brazilian adventure drama films American films based on actual events English-language Brazilian films Films about penguins Films about animals Films about friendship Films about child death Roadside Attractions films