“A Few Years from Now” in Western Pernambuco

Abstract

In this essay, Bruno Guaraná argues that Bacurau presents a cinematic intervention that is twofold: first, into global genre cinema, as it disrupts generic conventions of both the Western and the horror film and relocates the narrative to the margins; and second, into Brazilian cinema—in particular, regarding its depictions of the sertão, or hinterland. Guaraná calls attention to the role played by the film’s narrative and musical soundscape in engineering this audiovisual reeducation.