The first half of Bacurau sets up the town’s social structure and leaves you in the about its real story. The film opens with Teresa (Bárbara Colen), and we see the town through her eyes. Domingas (Sônia Braga) is the new matriarch and just a little crazy. Plinio (Wilson Rabelo) is sort of the reluctant town leader as no one else wants the job. The unpredictable Lunga (Silvero Pereira) is the rebel, living in self-imposed exile. And Tony Jr. (Thardelly Lima) is the aforementioned regional mayor, who stops into town looking for votes.
Bacurau is a fun home-invasion-type thriller with the home being an entire town. What it lacks in significant Hollywood production values, it makes up in good storytelling accented by blood and guts. Bacurau makes some incredible high-stakes choices that U.S. productions might be afraid to make. There are some sad and even gruesome moments that are refreshing to see in stories like this (I have not yet seen The Hunt).
“…a fun home-invasion-type thriller with the home being an entire town.”
In all honesty, the production values are B-movie quality at best, but the gorgeous scenery of Brazil’s rural backroads more than makes up for it. The acting from the townsfolk are grounded and authentic to actual townfolks. In fact, it’s not one of these U.S. towns, where everyone is good looking except for the town drunk.
The group of evil Americans/Gringos is a little over-the-top with the appropriate stilted acting. It definitely comes across as Brazil’s idea of evil Northerners (Similar to Ip Man 4).
If there is a weakness to Bacurau, it is its two-hour runtime. The first hour is town politics with bits the mystery sprinkled in for a very slow reveal. The real action takes place well into the second half. That said, it’s a lot of fun. Great action, great gore, and the villains are ruthless. To me, what I loved the most was the juxtaposition of this small town of average Brazilians forced to take on well-equipped Americans. If you need one last convincer…you only have to read half the movie.
"…you only have to read half the movie."
