Aahana Swrup
Originally titled ‘Nando Entre Dois Mundos: Um Filme Sintonia,’ ‘Nando Between Two Worlds’ is a Portuguese crime drama film which delves into the life of a high-profile criminal and the cost of his choices. After the events of the original series ‘Sintonia,’ Luiz Fernando “Nando” Silva evades the law by faking his death and putting Brazil in his rear-view mirror. However, this also means he has to part ways with his wife, Scheyla, and two kids.
This decision was made for the sake of their own safety and to allow the gangster to continue serving the cartel, which ends up opening up a sea of distance between Nando and his family. However, when a deal gone wrong brings a new shadow of trouble onto his family back in Brazil, leading to the disappearance of his rebellious teenage daughter, Bruna, the father inevitably ends up returning home. Caught between honoring his loyalty to the cartel and his own family, Nando must reckon with the reality of the life he has chosen for himself. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Nando Between Two Worlds Plot Synopsis
Years after Nando’s departure from Brazil, the criminal has remained involved with the underground cartel’s business from overseas. As a part of this same business, he arrives in Belgrade, Serbia, for a meeting with the local gang, who are currently moving their product. However, as they talk of renewing their contract, some friction arises. As it turns out, Paulo, the man responsible for handling the cartel’s accounts, has noticed a disparity of 2 million in the Serbians’ payment for their old shipment. Nonetheless, the head of the European gang challenges the claim, insisting that his brother had paid all dues. Naturally, as tensions run high, a gunfight inevitably breaks out between the two factions. Nando and Paulo emerge on the other side with their life.
Yet, the accountant’s assassination of the gang leader puts them at high risk of retaliation from Petar Ilic, who is based in Brazil. Initially, Nando and Paulo make plans to go on the run and hide out in places like Italy. However, in the meantime, certain developments happen with Scheyla and the kids back in Brazil. Laura, the kids’ grandmother, has a stroke and is admitted to the hospital. In light of the high-stress situation, Bruna gets into an argument with her mother regarding Nando. As a result, the teenager runs away and remains missing the following day. This feud couldn’t have come at a worse time, since the recent dispute with the Serbians has put a target on the family’s back. Therefore, when the gangster learns about the conflict brewing in his family, he decides to return to Brazil.
Shortly after Nando’s arrival back home, Bruna returns to the hospital to check on Laura. As it turns out, she had stayed the night at a friend’s house and overslept, causing the misunderstanding. In the face of her father’s anger, the teenager remains indifferent. Nando hasn’t been around for most of her life. Therefore, she has learned to stop relying on him and holds a grudge against him for his perpetual absence in her life. Similarly, despite staying by her husband’s side for the sake of the children, Scheyla also holds Nando at arm’s length, used to his abandonment. Inversely, while his family life remains tumultuous, his reunion with his friend, Doni, and Rita goes well. On the other hand, the gangster also meets up with other members of his cartel to figure out a solution to the Serbian problem. After doing some digging, Nando discovers that Paulo is actually a man named Govinda, who had previously betrayed the cartel once before.
Thus, they realize that the Serbians never stiffed them in the deal, and Paulo had actually stolen the 2 million. To restore their relationship with the rival gang and wrap up loose ends within their own organization, they must catch the rat and bring him to their brand of justice. Soon afterward, Nando also learns that Buda, a leader in his own organization, had been working with the traitor this entire time. After Buda’s execution, Paulo surrenders to the Brazilian embassy in an effort to use his insider knowledge of the cartel against them through legal channels. As a result, Nando and his team shoulder the responsibility of assassinating the man during his journey from the airport. In the end, once the mission is complete, the gang leader finds himself at a fork in his path where he must choose between his family and his work.
Nando Between Two Worlds Ending: Does Nando Leave the Cartel?
As an orphan kid in a pavale of Brazil, Nando didn’t grow up with a lot of options in life. As a result, he ended up falling in with the wrong crowd, pledging his allegiance to a drug cartel as a teenager in hopes of securing a future for himself. As he grew older, life continued to throw curveballs his way until it eventually brought him to his current predicament. Years ago, he was forced to fake his own death to escape long-term incarceration. Afterward, once he realizes the kind of danger that his line of work brings, he decides to part ways with his family, at least geographically, to keep them safe. However, by choosing not to be in his loved ones’ lives, the gangster ends up isolated.
Scheyla and Bruna both develop a complicated relationship with him. Since they can’t trust him to stick around for any valuable lengths of time, they would rather not have him in their lives at all. It’s only a matter of time before young Enzo learns the same lesson. Ultimately, the reality of the situation becomes evident to the gangster after the family undergoes a great tragedy. Grandma Laura passed away due to health complications. However, even in this time of need, Nando cannot be there for his family during the public funeral, instead forced to attend from the shadows outside. Afterward, a conversation with Bruna makes the father realize that all his children really want from him is his presence.
Scheyla had told him a similar thing shortly after they rekindled their romance. She has been let down by him one too many times. Therefore, she tells him that if he’s planning on leaving this time, she would rather he never return. All of this makes Nando realize that if he continues down the path he is currently on, he will most certainly lose his family. If this rivalry with the Serbians proved anything, it’s that safety, even for his family, can never be a certainty. Therefore, it only comes down to a question of who he would rather continue serving: the cartel or his family. In the end, Nando chooses the latter. Even after he is offered a higher leadership role, he turns it down and takes his leave from the world of drug trafficking.
Who Attacks Nando at His House?
Once Nando leaves the cartel, he returns to his house to Scheyla and the kids, this time with the intention to stay. Despite their previous grudges against him, his family embraces him without any reservations. So far, their one complaint against him has been his inability to commit to being a part of their lives. Therefore, now that he is taking the first steps to fix his past mistakes, they’re happy to give him another chance. Yet, the family isn’t entirely out of danger just yet. They realize the same when an armed men enters their house, holding Nando hostage while his family is upstairs. When the ex-gangster tries to ask the man about his identity, he fails to get any straight answers.
From the looks of it, the attacker seems to be one of the many enemies Nando has made in his line of work over the past few decades. He could be the family of someone the protagonist has killed in his many cartel-related feuds. Alternatively, he could also be hired by one of his many enemies, or even a member of his old cartel who wants to punish him for his decisions. Either way, one thing is clear: the news of Nando’s exit from the cartel is starting to spread like wildfire, and it promises to bring many dangerous people out of the woodwork.
Fortunately for Nando, he survives this ambush after Scheyla, alerted to the development by Bruna, shoots the attacker down and saves her husband’s life. Even so, the instance will remain as a reminder of the danger Nando and his family have embraced by cutting their ties with the cartel. Being a part of the underworld, at such a high position as well, had afforded Nando certain benefits. Reliable security and relative security were one of these things. Now that he is no longer a part of the cartel, anyone is free to take a swing at him without the threat of a higher power coming down on them. Therefore, in this new life Nando has chosen for himself, he would only have himself and his family to rely on.
What Happens to Nando and His Family?
In the aftermath of the intruder’s death, Scheyla, who has never taken a life before, is shell-shocked at the development. Even before the attack, the family had already made plans to leave the city. Earlier, Bruna had made a wrong judgment of character and shared her father’s real identity with Murilo, a boy she had recently started seeing. Soon afterward, rumors and gossip about her connection to an underworld crime boss began circulating the school. Between that and Laura’s death, the family was in dire need of a change of scenery. Thus, the attack only reinforces their need to leave the town and find a new beginning.
In the end, Nando takes his family and drives away to an unknown location. It’s yet uncertain where he would find his new beginning with Scheyla and the kids. His past has already caused his family a lot of hurt and trauma. The recent events, especially, have left them traumatized. The future that lies ahead of them only promises even more danger. Still, despite everything, for the first time ever, Nando would be there with his wife and his children to face the complications of life together. His choices have brought the family to their current reality, and he’ll be there to shape a new life with them now that he has decided to sever his ties with the criminal underworld. Ultimately, the four of them are together, which is all that really matters.
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