Cristovam (Antōnio Pitanga), an Indigenous black man, has worked on a dairy farm in Southern Brazil after mother from Northern Brazil many years ago. After learning that he's about to receive a pay cut, he finds an abandoned, dilapidated house and moves into it. Meanwhile, he still experiences racism from the local townspeople.

      Memory House is an unflinching and poetic story about racism and other human rights issues in Brazil. Writer/director Joćo Paulo Miranda Maria and co-writer Felipe Sholl blend the social realism of Ken Loach's films like I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You with the lyricism found in Carlos Reygadas' films. They leave very little to the imagination, though, as the racism that Cristovam endures is shown quite explicitly and the same can be said about the violence and sex. There's a graphic sex scene involving him and Jacinda (Aline Marta Maia), a woman around his age who kindly offers him food at her home. Some bizarre, surreal events occur once he moves into the abandoned home, but those events won't be spoiled here. It's somewhat compelling to watch how Cristovam takes matters into his own hands. Those scenes, too, are rarely graphic and unflinching. Nuances isn't one of Memory House's strong points. Neither is suspense despite that the narrative sounds like it could've been suspenseful. Instead, the filmmakers opt for a character study of a man who's been wronged by racism over and over and has had enough while he expresses his rage that has built up inside him for years. He has every right to be indignant and angry, but the way that he channels that anger by using violence doesn't make him someone particularly likeable or even remotely a good role model. The filmmakers don't provide enough of a window into Cristovam's heart, mind and soul to allow audiences to grasp his thought and feeling process as he confronts his emotional pain.

      Antōnio Pitanga gives a decent, naturalistic performance as Cristovam which helps to ground the film in realism. Much like Carlos Reygadas' films, the pace moves very slowly and requires some patience. Some scenes feel a bit repetitive, but perhaps that's part of the point. The poetic cinematography adds plenty of style as well as some substance occasionally. Poetry is often a form of protest, so in many ways this film is a protest against racism. Writer/director Joćo Paulo Miranda Maria and co-writer Feloip Sholl trust the audience's patience and intelligence which is refreshing. However, they don't quite trust the audience's imagination enough, especially during the heavy-handed third act which won't be spoiled here. More emotional depth and subtlety would've helped the film to be far more emotionally engrossing rather than allowing Cristovam to remain at a cold distance from the audience. At a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes, which feels more like 2 hours, Memory House is poetic and unflinching with shades of Ken Loach and Carlos Reygadas, but emotionally cold without enough left to the audience's imagination.