SNACK at The Glasgow Film Festival 2020

Bacurau

Even if you’re a film fan used to the more extreme side of cinema, you might want to brace yourself for this head-spinning, ultra-violent Brazilian genre mashup.

Lightly easing us into a world of subtle sci-fi, events take place in the near future where a young woman named Theresa (Bárbara Colen) returns to the titular hometown for her mother’s funeral. She and her fellow citizens soon discover that their small town, deprived of basic amenities and all-but-forgotten by the state, have been sold off as targets on a hunting ground for rich foreigners. Together they prepare to fight back. It’s not a film for the faint of heart but if you’re willing to embrace its deep dive into no-holds-barred revengeful, Western-inspired violence then it’s a self-aware blast. As a bonus its genre pleasures come tinged with political commentary on the colonised history of the country, corruption in elected offices and scornful attitudes of the haves for the have nots. Directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles provide a confident and heady mixture that makes for rewarding shock-value cinema.