Brazilian filmmaker Chico Teixeira's Alice's House is a soul-stirring snapshot of working-class São Paulo. Though the tale of Alice (a world-weary manicurist), her ailing mother, and her male-dominated household (including Vinicius Zinn as Alice's hustler son) could take place anywhere, Teixeira focuses on a series of emotional explosions — marital infidelity, sibling rivalry, and sexual awakening — that rock the foundation of this family. Brazilian actress Carla Ribas makes her feature debut with an intensely raw and absorbing performance that, in a perfect world, would bring home an Oscar nod.