The Settlers (15)

★★★★ An ultra-violent study of Chile’s butchery of its indigenous people, Europe’s early 20th-century exploitation of Tierra del Fuego is told in an unsparingly bloody drama-thriller by first-time director Felipe Gálvez Haberle. ~ The Guardian.

---

A revelatory take on the Western from debut writer-director Felipe Gálvez, "Los colonos" is Chile's Best International Feature Film entry to the 96th Academy Awards.

At the turn of the 20th century, three horsemen embark on an expedition across the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, tasked with securing a wealthy landowner's vast property.

Accompanying a reckless British lieutenant and an American mercenary is mestizo marksman Segundo, who comes to realize, amidst rising tensions within the group, their true mission is to murderously “remove” the indigenous population.

---

★★★★ A masterfully staged film styles Chile’s genocidal past as a spaghetti western to chilling effect. ~ The Irish Times.

★★★✭ A brutally violent anti-western, it is dark and unconventional but also terribly realistic. ~ Little White Lies.