Overview
A small Brazilian village faces an unimaginable threat as it fights for survival against an unseen enemy.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- enigmatic
- exhilarating
- fiery
- political thriller night
- international cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Bacurau as a formally thrilling, narratively daring, genre-blurring political drama rooted in contemporary Brazilian sociopolitical concerns.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Bacurau's residents organize together to defend their settlement from foreign hunters and exploitative local power.
The remote Brazilian backcountry, armed resistance, satellite erasure, and bizarre invasion fuse contemporary western imagery with science fiction.
The human-hunting threat and foreign antagonists turn colonial violence and social exploitation into the film's central genre engine.
The village unexpectedly disappears from satellite maps while its water supply and public infrastructure are also manipulated.
Films like Bacurau, and why
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
shared contemporary western setting, anti-colonial politics, community resistance, and escalating genre violence
High-Rise
shared socially charged science fiction, grassroots solidarity, and formally inventive dystopian tension
The Most Dangerous Game
shared rural community under siege, human hunting premise, and brutal survival thriller mechanics
They Live
shared weird western atmosphere, political allegory, and explosive resistance against oppressive outsiders
Movie Details
- Directors
- Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles
- Release Date
- 2019-08-29
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Rating
- 7.6 / 10 (1183)
Cast
- Bárbara Colen
- Thomás Aquino
- Silvero Pereira
- Sonia Braga
- Udo Kier
- Thardelly Lima
- Rubens Santos
- Wilson Rabelo
- Carlos Francisco
- Luciana Souza
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Kino Film Collection
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Bacurau about?
- A remote Brazilian village transforms mourning and abandonment into a fierce, surreal uprising against colonial violence and predatory outsiders.
- What is Bacurau like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Bacurau as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Bacurau violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Bacurau as graphic.
- What did critics think of Bacurau?
- Critics broadly praised Bacurau as a formally thrilling, narratively daring, genre-blurring political drama rooted in contemporary Brazilian sociopolitical concerns.
- Which films are like Bacurau?
- Films with a similar feel include The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, High-Rise, The Most Dangerous Game, and They Live.
- How long is Bacurau?
- Bacurau runs 131 minutes.
- Where can I watch Bacurau?
- In United States, Bacurau streams on Kino Film Collection.
