The Big Picture

The Settlers is a beautifully shot though brutal film about historical violence and the way it can leave lasting wounds through time. The film portrays the violent treatment of Indigenous people by settlers in Chile, highlighting the enduring impact of historical atrocities. The ending of The Settlers exposes the empty efforts at creating a superficial peace and calls for a closer examination of hard truths.

There is a moment in The Settlers (Los Colonos), writer-director Felipe Gálvez’s formidable feature debut, where it feels like we are being dragged from an almost classical Western into something approaching a devastating horror film. Of course, these two genres are not actually that far apart when you think of the real violence that each can carry with them and reflect upon. In The Settlers, what we observe can be beautiful to behold, with sweeping landscapes precisely captured by cinematographer Simone D’Arcangelo, just as it cuts deep into the open wounds wrought by the all-consuming darkness of this historical story.

The Chilean entry for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards, the experience explores similar thematic interests as Jennifer Kent’s staggering The Nightingale with some of what feels like shades of Kelly Reichardt’s magnificent Meek’s Cutoff. However, there are plenty of distinct wrinkles that it uncovers the longer its tapestry unfurls which make any such comparisons feel like only the beginning of what it’s getting at. In one regard, The Settlers tells a straightforward story about people riding around on horses after being charged with “protecting” a vast swath of land. In another, it is about tracing the trajectories of violence and power that can destroy all who come into contact with them. When this is all brought together in a mesmerizing yet still painful fashion, Gálvez ensures we must unflinchingly look at the enduring impact of this death in the eye. Anything less would be a slap in the face.

The Settlers In Chile in 1901, three horsemen are paid to protect a vast estate. Accompanying a British soldier and an American mercenary is a mixed-race sniper, who realizes that his true mission is to kill the indigenous population. Release Date December 20, 2023 Director Felipe Gálvez Haberle Cast Sam Spruell , Alfredo Castro , Mariano Llinás , Emily Orueta Runtime 97 minutes Main Genre Western Genres Western , Crime , Drama , History Writers Antonia Girardi , Felipe Gálvez Haberle , Mariano Llinás

What Is ‘The Settlers’ About?
Set in Chile on the cusp of the 20th century and in an environment that feels like it may as well be the end of the world, we are first dropped into this setting as we observe a group of laborers building a fence while being overseen by a man on horseback. A brutal accident happens and one of the workers loses a hand. The man on horseback subsequently comes over and, despite the pleas of the wounded man lying beneath him, executes him in cold blood. If the message this sent wasn’t already clear, he proceeds to tell them that they are only as good as the value they can provide to the owner of the land. If they can no longer provide this perfectly, they might as well be dead. This casual violence effectively sets the tone for the bleak and chilling descent that the film will then take us on. The man who did this killing is former soldier Alexander MacLennan (Mark Stanley) and the one doing the witnessing is Segundo (Camilo Arancibia), a mestizo (meaning mixed-race), who we soon discover is a talented shot. Thus, he has value. When MacLennan is commanded to patrol these lands, he will take Segundo and the American cowboy Bill (Benjamin Westfall) with him. Their job is to slaughter any Indigenous people they find as they roam. They end up doing exactly that.

The film never looks away from this brutality, both in its cold execution and bloody aftermath, though it carries just as much weight in the scenes where this isn’t happening. When the trio of travelers stop at one point and briefly connect with other ruthless people, one remarks that it is peaceful at this moment. This is then met by another man wishing they could shoot someone. They then get up to what begin as feats of strength or skill before ending in a bare-knuckle brawl just to kill time. We soon realize that many of them are almost existentially bored when not dominating another person. Thus, they’ll even turn on each other. In each situation, there are hierarchies within hierarchies with someone always being crushed underfoot. As we observe this in visceral detail, we see how Segundo is trapped by this and made into a force of death out of fear of dying himself. Following a devastating sequence that feels like we are being taken through a nightmare punctuated by screams and gunshots, killing becomes both a grim act of mercy in the face of unimaginable violence just as it is a desperate attempt to ensure that they do not find themselves next on the chopping block. It leaves a constant pit in the stomach, feeling almost like it is channeling the terror of Cormac McCarthy’s supposedly unfilmable novel Blood Meridian while bringing its own specific history. Nowhere is this more felt than in the unexpected yet completely fitting conclusion.

The Ending of ‘The Settlers’ Looks Us Right in the Eyes
Image via Cinema Tropical

Near the end, in a sudden shift in time and place, we are seemingly removed from all of this violence to see how a narrative is taking shape around its aftermath. Gálvez, along with his co-writers Antonia Girardi and Mariano Llinás, makes painfully explicit that all of the real historical atrocities carried out can be papered over by those claiming to address them. It is a searing indictment given emotional shape and form by the stunning performance of Mishell Guaña as Kiepja, a Selk’nam woman who is expected to play along with a forced reconciliation that obscures the full scope of the still festering wound. She doesn’t and, in many ways, neither does the film, as it instead asks us to look closer at the hard truths that lie beneath a perpetually self-serving push for a false absolution that can take hold anywhere.

Even as its shift in scope can be somewhat distancing, this is the film’s greatest achievement, as it reveals how empty the efforts at creating a superficial “peace” are when it means swallowing the suffering to smile for the camera that cares little for the history we all carry.

REVIEW’The Settlers’ is a beautiful yet brutal look at historical violence and the lasting impact it has on all who come into contact with it.In Chile in 1901, three horsemen are paid to protect a vast estate. Accompanying a British soldier and an American mercenary is a mixed-race sniper, who realizes that his true mission is to kill the indigenous population. ProsThe film is beautifully shot even as it brings into focus all the brutality and violence in painful detail. While on the level of films like ‘THe Nightingale’ and ‘Meek’s Cutoff,’ it brings plenty of its own distinct wrinkles to the experience. The film’s ending is an unexpected yet completely fitting one, staring us dead in the eyes for one final moment of truth.

The Settlers is now in limited release in theaters in the U.S. Click below for showtimes.

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