Easily the strangest film I saw in 2020. The Brazilian actors feel so genuine and legit, and all the American actors are the polar opposite: Cinemax caliber acting. The juxtaposition between the two is really off-putting, but it's one of the things that gives this strange movie it's own identity. Somehow it feels like there is some sort of symbolic parallel with the weird drone UFO that you see very early in the film. At first when you see it, you think "they can't really expect us to accept how cheap looking this thing is, can they?", but it turns out it was a conscious decision and served a purpose. I have to wonder if the production team purposefully did the same thing when they cast the American actors - I wouldn't doubt it, but I can't determine why they would metaphorically.
Bacurau is not exactly a super enjoyable film to watch, but it's a very intriguing experience with a unique tone of it's own. It's rather grim overall - almost completely humorless, but there's accomplishment in that. There is plentiful violence, as it is one of the main themes of the film. I enjoyed the music throughout the film, as disjointed as it felt - the John Carpenter song felt totally out of place, but as a big fan of it, I enjoyed it anyhow. The Geraldo Vandre song is the one that stands out the most - sounds like a Spanish King Crimson - it's great! Udo Kier was also a nice addition to an otherwise unknown cast - total legend - always equally creepy and enjoyable.
I wouldn't recommend this to the average person, but if someone asked me about it and they were curious, I would definitely tell them it's good. I'd be curious to see what this director would choose to do with a higher budget. Time for me to read up on them a bit...
