Reaching For The Moon is a complex biopic of the Pulitzer Prize winning poet Elizabeth Bishop’s life, offering insight into the complicated nature of love and romance. Played by Miranda Otto of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Bishop cites a trip to Brazil as a “geographic cure” to bring her out of a nearly fatal battle with writer’s block. An innocent vacation becomes an unexpected journey in love and compassion when Elizabeth, a friend from college, Mary, and the extravagant architect and urban planner Lota de Macedo Soares come together—let us just say that intellects and ways of life collide. Director Bruno Barreto allows space for the characters’ intimacies to surge forth in searing on-screen performances, and provides sparse and lush settings that accentuate the vibrancy of Rio de Janeiro while still stirring lasting emotion within the viewer. Based on Bishop’s book Rare and Commonplace Flowers (2003), Reaching For The Moon allows its characters to speak for themselves through the turbulent 1950s.