Review: Bacurau

Image courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonca Filho's "Bacurau" was one of two fierce movies about inequality to debut at last year's Cannes Film Festival - the other, naturally, was Bong Joon Ho's Oscar-dominating "Parasite." Equally bloody - but less acerbically funny - the picture, set slightly in the future, starts off depicting the lives of a small, forgotten Brazilian village and culminates in a gory genre-driven finale.

As the film opens, the village of Bacurau - an area so small that it doesn't show up on all maps - is holding a ceremony to honor the death of one of its most beloved citizens. The villagers march down the street in a small parade, of sorts, led by a guitar-strumming village elder.

At the same time, something odd is taking place around the village. There's a man known as Lunga (Silvero Pereira) who is wanted by the police, although the villagers don't seem to be too concerned about this - in fact, when we finally meet him, it appears they consider him some sort of folk hero. More menacingly, a group of white people - mostly Americans, but led by a German (Udo Kier) and including an Aussie - are camped out at a nearby house, where they are planning some sort of action.

The villagers of Bacurau start to notice drones flying above their homes, and during a bike ride, two men discover a family slaughtered on their farm. Shortly thereafter, the two men meet their own tragic fate. Meanwhile, cell phone service in the village is down and other people - including a young boy - wind up dead.

If you don't want the film to be spoiled, read no further. Still there? Well, it turns out that the village is under attack. The group of white people, whom we see toting guns early in the film, are a group of hunters who are on an expedition to hunt people - in this case, lower class people who they assume won't be missed. During a meeting, they brag about their kills, and after murdering a couple fleeing the village in a car, two of the hunters celebrate by having sex in a field.

Incorporating themes of colonialism, political corruption and the concept of a society in which the rich play games with the lives of the poor - one that's currently playing out in real time in our own country - "Bacurau" quickly transitions from a political drama into a bloody action movie.

The final 30 minutes of the film are fairly brutal, although the blood splattered sequences contained within are more of a cathartic than disturbing nature. "Bacurau" is a strange, always watchable movie with a rhythm that changes throughout as well as a great sense of place and some strong visuals. If there's any fault, it's that the villains are somewhat one-note, although Kier chews the scenery in every moment he appears onscreen. Sonia Braga is also great as a no-nonsense village elder.

The film comes at a pertinent moment in time. In the film, the villagers realize that no one is coming to rescue them and decide to come together as a community to stop the encroaching oppressors who have come to play violent games with their lives. It's a genre movie about solidarity, which feels urgent at a moment when the powerful are playing games with the lives of everyday people amid a global threat. In other words, "Bacurau" is good stuff.