It’s a rare event when you can run to all your socialist friends and urge them to watch a movie that’s a thrilling crowd-pleaser. We must face the fact that, usually, leftists are recommending solemn and informative documentaries to each other, or grim biographies of people who stand out in history because they once had a social conscience and did something about it — and probably paid a high price. And of course, there are always dark indie dramas about oppression, plus Ken Loach films. Our feel-bad movies are generally stuck on the fringes of international media.

But now there’s Bacurau.

You might’ve heard the hype for this Brazilian genre-busting wow of a film already. It’s a top earner for independent distributor Kino Lorber’s video on demand streaming arm, Kino Marquee. Though if you haven’t heard anything about it, that’s even better. It helps to go into Bacurau knowing as little as possible, so that the delights of confounded expectations can work to their fullest extent.