Esta mezcla febril de sci-fi, western y sátira política ofrece comentarios sorprendentes sobre la cambiante fortuna política de Brasil. Protagonizada por Sonia Braga y Udo Kier, Bacurau narra los extraños sucesos dentro de una comunidad rural, presentando un retrato de un mundo en peligro por la corrupción y la codicia en nombre del llamado “progreso”.

A feverish mixture of thriller, science fiction, western, and political satire, Bacurau is, above all, an angry commentary on Brazil’s shifting political fortunes—albeit one that makes room for Spandau Ballet tunes. Co-directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho (Aquarius, MVFF 2016) and Juliano Dornelles, the movie chronicles the surreal happenings that occur in a small rural town—which has vanished from GPS, an indication of the off-the-map peculiarity that follows. This ensemble piece, featuring everyone from Aquarius star Sônia Braga to genre legend Udo Kier, begins as a lament for a community cut off from society but soon morphs into a life-or-death struggle, pitting greedy outsiders against fiercely determined locals. The clash of tones and styles electrifies, but what ties this Cannes Jury Prize winner together is its sense of outrage: at globalization, at those who try to erase indigenous peoples, at an encroaching modern world that too often destroys everything in its path in the name of so-called “progress.”