'Sergio': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and everything else about biopic starring Wagner Moura on Netflix
Brazillian actor Wagner Moura created a storm with his performance as Pablo Escobar in the Netflix docudrama ‘Narcos’. Moura’s role as the notorious drug kingpin received both audience appreciation and critical acclaim. Fans of the actor should thus feel excited about ‘Sergio’, an upcoming biographical drama about Sérgio Vieira de Mello.
This is perhaps the opposite of his role as Escobar; Vieira de Mello was posthumously awarded a United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 2003. The film is directed by Greg Barker and is written by Craig Borten.
Release date:
‘Sergio’ had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2020. It is scheduled to be released on April 17, 2020 by Netflix.
Plot:
Per IMDb, the biographical drama is set in the chaotic aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
Who is Sérgio Vieira de Mello?
Sérgio Vieira de Mello, per his profile on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights on 12 September 2002. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1948, Vieira de Mello joined the United Nations in 1969 while studying philosophy and humanities at the University of Paris (Panthéon-Sorbonne).
During his career, he served in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations in Bangladesh, Sudan, Cyprus, Mozambique, and Peru. Less than a year after he was appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, asked Vieira de Mello to take a temporary leave of absence from his post to serve in Iraq as Annan's Special Representative there. On 19 August 2003, just three months after he arrived in Iraq, Vieira de Mello -- and 22 of his colleagues -- were killed when the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad was attacked.
In a posthumous profile of Vieira de Mello in The New Yorker, detailing his stint in Iraq and his death, Samantha Power wrote of the day of the tragedy.
On August 18, 2003, Vieira de Mello received two airline tickets that would fly him to Brazil for a month’s holiday. The next morning, he took the stairs up to his third-floor office, greeting colleagues along the way. He read the latest dispatches from the UN headquarters in New York and answered emails.
“Around 4:20 p.m., he warmly greeted Gil Loescher and Arthur Helton, two American researchers who had arrived in Iraq that morning to examine the humanitarian costs of the war. He ushered them into his office, and they took seats near his office window. Two members of his team—Nadia Younes and Fiona Watson, a Scottish political-affairs officer—joined the discussion,” wrote Power.
As they sat down to talk, a brown-and-orange Kamash flatbed truck was approaching the gravel road that ran behind the Canal Hotel. After pulling up directly beneath Vieira de Mello’s office, the driver detonated the bomb. Power wrote: “The last words uttered in the room, a split second later, belonged to Vieira de Mello. ‘Oh, shit,’ he said, sounding more resigned than surprised.”
Cast:
Wagner Moura as Sérgio Vieira de Mello
The 43-year-old Brazilian actor, filmmaker, musician, and journalist received international acclaim for his role as Pablo Escobar in 'Narcos'. His other notable roles include 'Elite Squad', 'Elite Squad: The Enemy Within', and 'Elysium'.
Ana de Armas as Carolina Larriera
The 31-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress began her career as a teenager, appearing in notable films like ‘Una rosa de Francia’, and shows like ‘El Internado’. Her Hollywood roles include ‘Knock Knock’, ‘War Dogs’, ‘Hands of Stone’, and 'Knives Out'.
Trailer:
The trailer that dropped in January leaves little for audiences to guess about the story. Visibly, the movie is about the eponymous character and his death. A minute into the trailer, we see the bomb blast that claimed his life. What the trailer does show is yet another powerful performance from Moura, who stands not as a U.S. stooge, but an idealist in one of the most volatile regions in the history of modern geopolitics.
If you like ‘Sergio’, you will also like
'Walk the Line', 'Malcolm X', 'Capote', 'A Beautiful Mind', and 'My Left Foot'.