Listen is a 2020 Portuguese/British drama film directed by Ana Rocha de Sousa.
Bela and Jota are a poor Portuguese couple living in the outskirts of London with their three children. One of them is Lu, who has profound deafness. Lu's hearing aid breaks and Bela cannot afford a new one right away, leading to a misunderstanding at school when Lu is found with bruises on her back. Social services take away Lu and her siblings, leaving Bela and Jota to fight to get them back.
Tropes:
- Department of Child Disservices: The people working in Child Services are not ready to deal with the deaf Lu and forbid her from communicating with her parents through sign language (which is the only way she can communicate) since nobody around understands it. Also, it's a simple misunderstading that causes the kids to be taken away from Bela and Jota and they are very nearly placed with different families because of it.
- Door-Closes Ending: The film ends with Bela and Jota leaving the center where their kids were kept, having succeeded in winning them back. The camera stays on the closed door as the credits roll.
- Five-Finger Discount: One of the early scenes has Bela shoplifting several food items, showing how dire the family's financial situation is.
- Foreign Language Title: The film is officially called Listen despite being mainly a Portuguese work, and was released in Portugal with that title; even odder, it was originally trademarked as "Ouve-me", which is Portuguese for "Listen to me".
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: The social workers assume this trope is in play when they see Lu and Bela use sign language and forbid its usage to avoid any inappropriate communication taking place, even though Lu, being deaf, absolutely needs it to communicate with and understand others.
