The fictional Brazilian village of Bacurau—although, in reality, there are many like it—is the entrancing setting for this near-future dystopian film. The village matriarch’s funeral jumpstarts the action, but when the townsfolk discover that Bacurau has literally been wiped off the map and that there are strange mercenaries (led by Udo Kier) descending on their homes, the diverse cast of neighbors, family, and friends must band together to protect what’s theirs—at any cost. Realized in a truly unpredictable cinematic style that infuses all manners of genre convention (while constantly breaking the rules), Bacurau is one of the year’s most thrilling works; an engrossing portrait of a modest place and way of life besieged by bloodthirsty external forces. Content warning: graphic violence. A Kino Lorber release.