A struggling New York actor is kidnapped and forced to impersonate the late dictator of Parador, a Caribbean nation. The actor gets better and better at the role, with the help of the dead leader's sultry mistress, until guerilla fighters strike, and he wonders if it might not be a good time to move to a new role!

A few years from now, Bacurau, a small village in the Brazilian sertô, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their village has literally vanished from online maps and a UFO-shaped drone is seen flying overhead. There are forces that want to expel them from their homes, and soon, in a genre-bending twist, a band of armed mercenaries led by Udo Kier arrive in town picking off the inhabitants...