Set in the near future, the film follows Teresa, who comes home to Bacurau, a village in Brazil's semi-arid sertão, to attend her grandmother's funeral. Upon her arrival, Teresa immediately observes signs that Bacurau is in dire straits. Basic amenities are in short supply, mobile-phone coverage is fading, clean water supply is dammed and the truck that brings potable water arrives riddled with bullet holes. It soon becomes apparent that the corrupt government has forsaken the village completely: not only has Bacurau been literally erased from the map, but its citizens are under attack. As the responsible close in, the villagers must prepare an organized resistance to avoid greater damage.
Postcards depict the colonisation of the Amazon jungle to build Fordlandia, a land of rubber and recklessness. Locals tell stories of the spirits and folklore that haunt the decimated landscape.
Ex-convict, chain-smoking, intergalactic traveller WA4, is sent on a mission to Earth to assassinate Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek on inauguration day of the capital Brasília. His ship malfunctions and crashes into the future, landing in 2016 in the satellite city Ceilândia - initially built to keep the poor from populating the capital with shantytowns. There, he encounters a motley crew of outer-space warriors, and together, they plan out and stage a coup against the monsters occupying the National Congress.
A delicate and tenacious writer, widowed three years ago, engages in frequent conversations with a parrot. However, she's always observed by a large portion of raw meat.
After his mother's sudden death, Socrates, a 15-year-old living on the margins of São Paulo's coast, must survive on his own while coming to terms with his grief.