If you loved
Bacurau
Kleber Mendonça Filho · Film · 2019
What hooked you in Bacurau was the way a tight-knit community transforms into a formidable force against encroaching, systemic, and external threats.
Books on the same thread
All the Colors of the Dark
Chris Whitaker · Book · 2024
Explores: Grief, Childhood Trauma, Vigilante Justice.
Just as Bacurau centers on a town protecting its own, this story follows a community grappling with disappearances, highlighting the fierce, protective instinct that emerges when residents face outside dangers.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel García Márquez · Book · 1967
Explores: generational trauma, incest, fate vs free will.
If the mythical, self-contained world of Bacurau captivated you, this epic masterpiece offers a deeper dive into how a singular community's history and identity define its fate against political corruption.
Broken Country (Reese's Book Club)
Clare Leslie Hall · Book · 2025
Explores: Family secrets, Small town corruption, Economic hardship.
Much like the residents of Bacurau confronting foreign intervention, the protagonist here must return to her roots to face the corruption and buried secrets threatening the stability of her rural home.
Holly
Stephen King · Book · 2023
Explores: Missing Persons, Cults, Obsession.
This novel echoes the tension found in Bacurau by focusing on a determined individual who must navigate moral decay and dangerous, hidden forces that threaten to dismantle the safety of others.
Series on the same thread
FROM
John Griffin · Series · 2022
Explores: Trapped in a mysterious town, Monsters in the woods, Survival horror.
The trapped residents of this town share the same survivalist spirit seen in Bacurau, as they must organize and defend their community against a predatory, mysterious threat lurking just outside.
Brazil Avenue
João Emanuel Carneiro · Series · 2012
Shares a thread with Bacurau: Social Inequality.
This series mirrors the intense social dynamics of Bacurau, focusing on how personal vendettas and systemic inequality drive individuals to take matters into their own hands to secure their destiny.
Dark
Baran bo Odar · Series · 2017
Explores: Time Paradox, Family Secrets, Existential Crisis.
The intricate, generational mysteries and the sense of a town defined by its secrets will resonate with anyone who appreciated the layered, claustrophobic atmosphere established throughout the narrative of Bacurau.
Mare of Easttown
Brad Ingelsby · Series · 2021
Explores: Grief, Trauma, Family Dysfunction.
This investigation into a local murder captures the same feeling of a small town under pressure, reflecting the way Bacurau portrays the struggle to maintain order amid external, encroaching violence.
Podcasts on the same thread
Small Town Murder
James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: provincial life, tragic irony, forensic breakdown.
This podcast explores the dark underbelly of provincial life, offering a sociological look at the same kind of isolated, scrutinized towns that provide the backdrop for the events in Bacurau.
Bag Man
Rachel Maddow, MS NOW · Podcast · 2023
Explores: corruption, political scandal, accountability.
If the political resistance in Bacurau drew you in, this investigative deep dive into systemic corruption and accountability highlights the real-world power structures that often exploit the vulnerable.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Bacurau based on a true story?
Bacurau is a fictional film directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The story follows a small community in the Brazilian sertão that discovers its town has been erased from digital maps following the death of its ninety-four-year-old matriarch, Carmelita. It is an original work of cinema.
What is the setting of Bacurau?
The film Bacurau is set in a small, remote town located in the Brazilian sertão. The narrative begins shortly after the death of the community matriarch, Carmelita, and focuses on the residents as they realize their home has mysteriously disappeared from modern maps.
How long is the movie Bacurau?
Bacurau was released in 2019 and has a runtime of 131 minutes. The film depicts the residents of a small town in the Brazilian sertão dealing with the loss of their matriarch, Carmelita, and the subsequent discovery that their community has been removed from maps.
Who directed Bacurau?
Bacurau was directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The film tells the story of a small town in the Brazilian sertão that mourns the death of Carmelita, a ninety-four-year-old matriarch, only to find that their entire community has vanished from most maps shortly thereafter.