During Brazil’s Carnaval, the country escapes the mundane in exuberant fashion: sexual freedom, elation, and ostentatious displays of art. But even the most joyous of celebrations cannot erase the cancer of femicide plaguing this country. Set to the backdrop of Carnaval, this series unlayers ten stories based on real events that reveal the cultural contradictions present in this “festive” country.

Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps.

On the eve of a future-defining championship, promising 17-year-old volleyball player Sofia is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Seeking an illegal termination, she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her at any cost – but neither Sofia nor those who love her are willing to surrender to the blind fervor of the swarm.

Justino, a 45-year-old member of the indigenous Desana people, is a security guard at the Manaus harbor. As his daughter prepares to soon depart to Brasília, Justino comes down with a mysterious fever.

Paralysed by fear of the future, a middle aged French bureaucrat escapes to Brazil where a destructive affair with a boy forces her to learn to live in the present.

In 2027 Brazil, civil servant Joana mainly deals with divorce cases. As a member of a branch of evangelical Christians known as the Divino Amor group, she uses her position to offer a kind of physical therapy to couples who want to separate. Although Joana and her husband Danilo regularly consummate their marriage, neither her constant prayers nor any other methods of assistance seem to be able t...