Bacurau (Nighthawk) (2020)
90%RT Audience Score: 84%
Awards & Nominations: 52 wins & 73 nominations
Formally thrilling and narratively daring, Bacurau draws on modern Brazilian sociopolitical concerns to deliver a hard-hitting, genre-blurring drama.
Nighthawk is a wild ride that starts off slow and then takes you on a rollercoaster of blood, chaos, and catharsis. It’s like a mix of a Western, sci-fi, and political outrage all rolled into one. And let’s not forget Sônia Braga’s performance as an alcoholic doctor – she’s all out and it’s glorious. This movie is one of the best of the year and a lightning bolt right into the middle of our anxieties. It’s the sort of movie we’ll look back on and say, “Yup, that got it just right.” So buckle up and get ready for a ride that you’ll want to experience again and again.
Production Company(ies)
Columbia Pictures, Pascal Pictures, Marvel Studios,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2020
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):Portuguese, English
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Country of origin:Brazil, France
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): May 12, 2020
Genre(s)
Mystery & Thriller/Drama
Keyword(s)
Nighthawk, Mystery, Thriller, Drama, Fantasy, Portuguese, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, Saïd Ben Saïd, Emilie Lesclaux, Michel Merkt, Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Sonia Braga, Udo Kier, Barbara Colen, Julia Marie Peterson, Karine Teles, Chris Doubek, box office, budget, reviewed by Kambole Campbell, David Sims, Ela Bittencourt, Cody Corrall, Ty Burr, Peter Rainer, Brian Eggert, Dorothy Woodend, Allen Almachar, Witney Seibold, Jason Shawhan, starring Sonia Braga, Udo Kier, Barbara Colen, Julia Marie Peterson, Karine Teles, Chris Doubek, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, written by Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho, MPAA rating, genre-blurring, modern Brazilian sociopolitical concerns, hard-hitting, cathartic bloodletting, western, science fiction influences, structural injustice, rollercoaster ride, anxiety over Brazil’s Bolsonaro regime, burning of the Amazon rainforest, COVID-19 horrors
Worldwide gross: $3,554,178
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,055,905
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,230
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 442,302
US/Canada gross: $58,115
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $66,319
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,719
US/Canada opening weekend: $14,691
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $16,765
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,571
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Udo Kier – Michael
Barbara Colen – Teresa
Julia Marie Peterson – Julia
Karine Teles –
Chris Doubek –
Director(s)
Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles
Writer(s)
Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
Producer(s)
Saïd Ben Saïd, Emilie Lesclaux, Michel Merkt
Film Festivals
Berlin, Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
52 wins & 73 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (168) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (156) | Rotten (12)
It’s a curious film that defies categorisation, opening quietly before descending into a cacophony of cathartic bloodletting by the chaotic finale.
June 10, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Kambole Campbell
NME
TOP CRITIC
I don’t want to spoil a second of Bacurau, but it’s one of the best filmic distillations of that impending 21st-century sense of doom, a concentrated vision of the apocalypse that somehow manages to strike a hopeful note.
January 27, 2021
David Sims
The Atlantic
TOP CRITIC
Mendonça and Dornelles’s film is… an attempt to grapple with unspeakable, horrifying evil — but an evil that must be understood in social and historical rather than biblical terms.
May 2, 2020
Ela Bittencourt
Harper’s Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It’s a rallying cry against structural injustice told through a satisfying blend of western and science fiction influences.
April 17, 2020
Cody Corrall
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
It resonates. And despite the beauty of the weathered local faces this movie celebrates, it resonates for anyone, anywhere, watching it.
April 5, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
This movie gets a lot of points for being strange and Sônia Braga is all out as an alcoholic doctor.
April 4, 2020
Peter Rainer
FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
TOP CRITIC
The result screams Western, sci-fi paranoia, and political outrage in the same breath.
February 21, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
The Brazilian tale eviscerates injustice while celebrating coming together. Pandemic perfection.
November 8, 2021
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
It’s the cinematic equivalent of a rollercoaster ride – one that you want to experience again as soon as possible.
November 1, 2021 | Rating: A-
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
Glorious, odd, and way off the beaten path. One of the best films of the year.
September 13, 2021
Witney Seibold
Critically Acclaimed Podcast
…a lightning bolt right into the middle of the anxiety over Brazil’s Bolsonaro regime, and with the burning of the Amazon rainforest and ensuing COVID-19 horrors, it hasn’t lost a bit of its visceral immediacy.
September 10, 2021
Jason Shawhan
Nashville Scene
It is, quite simply, the sort of movie we’ll look back on from the future — assuming there is a future — and say, “Yup, that got it just right…”
July 2, 2021 | Rating: A
Jason Adams
The Film Experience…
Plot
In the Brazilian film “Nighthawk,” a small village fights back against a group of wealthy outsiders who threaten their way of life.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Sônia Braga is “all out as an alcoholic doctor” in her role in Nighthawk, according to one critic review.
Kleber-Mendonça-Filho.jpg
