An isolated community transforms from a neglected settlement into a united armed resistance against an organized foreign hunting operation.
Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
A Funeral Returns Teresa Home
Teresa returns to Bacurau for Carmelita's funeral and brings medicine. The community's fragile daily life is established alongside signs of social and political neglect.
Key Events
Carmelita's Funeral — Teresa returns to Bacurau for Carmelita's funeral and brings medicine to the settlement. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
Teresa Returns Home — Teresa reconnects with her impoverished hometown after many years away. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
Bacurau Disappears Online — The town vanishes from online maps and satellite images, while mobile phone service fails. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
The Drone Appears — Residents report sightings of a mysterious UFO-shaped drone near the settlement. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
Water, Silence, And Suspicion
The settlement suffers from a water dispute and receives an inadequate political visit. The tanker arrives damaged while the town disappears from digital maps and loses communications.
Key Events
The Drone Appears — Residents report sightings of a mysterious UFO-shaped drone near the settlement. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
Water Dispute Deepens — An upstream damming scheme leaves Bacurau in an ongoing dispute over access to water. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
The Politician's Visit — A mayor visits seeking votes and offers old food and tattered books, but no water. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
The Damaged Water Tanker — A tanker finally reaches Bacurau, but it has been riddled with bullets. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
Horses Stampede — Horses stampede through town, prompting an investigation of a nearby farm. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
Murder Reveals The Hunt
A horse stampede leads investigators to a murdered farm. The violent motorcycle encounter exposes the foreign hunters' grotesque points-based killing game.
Key Events
Horses Stampede — Horses stampede through town, prompting an investigation of a nearby farm. Characters: TeresaLocation: Bacurau
The Farm Massacre — Investigators find the farm family murdered before the motorcycle couple kills them. Characters: TeresaLocation: Nearby Farm
Foreign Hunters Gather — The motorcycle couple reunites with Michael and the mostly American group of foreign hunters. Characters: MichaelLocation: Rural Area Near Bacurau
Points Become the Rule — The hunters argue that killing two men deprived them of chances to score points. Characters: MichaelLocation: Rural Area Near Bacurau
The Couple Is Killed — After receiving unheard instructions through earpieces, the foreigners kill the motorcycle couple. Characters: MichaelLocation: Rural Area Near Bacurau
Bacurau Takes Up Arms
The foreign hunters begin targeting the townspeople. Pacote recruits Lunga, and the residents organize an armed defense after further violence and a blackout.
Key Events
The Hunt Begins — The foreign hunters begin hunting Bacurau's townspeople under Michael's leadership. Characters: Michael, TeresaLocation: Bacurau
Pacote Seeks Lunga — Pacote seeks Lunga, a revolutionary sheltered by the community, and asks him to join the fight. Characters: Pacote, LungaLocation: Bacurau
Lunga Joins Resistance — Lunga accepts Pacote's appeal and joins the armed resistance against the foreigners. Characters: Pacote, LungaLocation: Bacurau
The Town Arms Itself — Teresa, Pacote, Lunga, and the residents prepare Bacurau for the approaching attack. Characters: Teresa, Pacote, LungaLocation: Bacurau
Electricity Is Cut — The foreigners kill a nine-year-old boy and cut off the town's electricity. Characters: Teresa, MichaelLocation: Bacurau
The Hunters Are Hunted
Bacurau's residents gradually overpower the foreigners and capture Michael. The political authority connected to the operation is exposed and punished.
Key Events
Locals Counterattack — As the foreigners hunt, Bacurau's residents gradually overpower and kill them. Characters: Teresa, Pacote, Lunga, MichaelLocation: Bacurau
Michael Is Captured — Michael survives the counterattack but is captured by the townspeople. Characters: Teresa, Pacote, Lunga, MichaelLocation: Bacurau
The Mayor Returns — The mayor arrives in a luxury minibus to collect the foreign hunters. Characters: MichaelLocation: Bacurau
Political Denial Collapses — The mayor denies knowing the foreigners until the captured Michael calls to him for help. Characters: MichaelLocation: Bacurau
The Mayor Is Exiled — The mayor is sent away half-naked, tied to a donkey, and left to die in the desert.
Location: Desert Near Bacurau
Michael Is Buried Alive — Michael is buried alive in an underground cell while shouting that this is only the beginning. Characters: Michael, Teresa, Pacote, LungaLocation: Underground Cell
Story Breakdown
Teresa Returns Home — Teresa's return for a funeral reconnects the protagonist with Bacurau and its vulnerable community.
Funeral Gathering — The community gathers for Carmelita's funeral, establishing the settlement's social bonds.
Medicine Delivery — Teresa returns after many years and brings medicine to Bacurau.
Digital Isolation Emerges — Strange technological disruptions make Bacurau increasingly invisible and isolated.
Map Disappearance — Bacurau vanishes from online maps and satellite images.
Signal And Drone — Mobile service fails while residents report a UFO-shaped drone.
Water Politics Collapse — A water dispute and cynical electoral visit reveal the settlement's political abandonment.
Upstream Damming — Water from the local river is blocked upstream in a corrupt scheme.
Damaged Water Tanker — The town's eventual water delivery arrives riddled with bullets.
The Hidden Hunt — A chain of unexplained violence reveals that outsiders are treating the region as a hunting ground.
Murdered Farm — Investigators discover a murdered family at a nearby farm.
Points Game — The foreigners argue over points awarded for killing people.
Foreigners Attack Bacurau — Michael's group openly hunts the townspeople and intensifies terror in the settlement.
Village Hunt — The foreign hunters begin targeting Bacurau's residents.
Blackout Violence — The foreigners kill a nine-year-old boy and cut the town's electricity.
Resistance Finds Its Leader — Pacote and Lunga connect personal initiative with revolutionary experience to organize the defense.
Pacote Seeks Lunga — Pacote approaches the revolutionary sheltered by the community.
Lunga Joins — Lunga accepts the call and joins the armed resistance.
The Community Counterattacks — Bacurau's residents reverse the power dynamic and defeat the invading hunters.
Locals Overpower Hunters — The residents gradually kill the foreign hunters during the counterattack.
Michael Captured — Michael survives but is taken prisoner by the townspeople.
Authority Faces Judgment — The aftermath exposes the political connection to the hunters and delivers collective punishment.
Political Denial — The mayor denies knowing the foreigners until Michael calls for his help.
Buried Alive — Michael is buried alive in an underground cell while warning that it is only the beginning.
Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps.
