First of all, the village where the bloody events of the film unfolds has no political structure. There is no mayor or priest dictating rules of good behavior. When the politician in charge of the province comes to visit, everyone shies away, uninterested in hearing what he has to say. It is clear that the man is full of himself, with no true interest in the village. His gifts to the town are of very limited value, and the price he charges is quite literally a "pound of flesh", or rather a prostitute that he takes with him as his reward for being a great "ruler".
The little that is of value in the truckload of goods the politician dumped in the village is sorted into categories. Food that is out of date is separated from that which is still current. Medicines that are of benefit if taken correctly are separated from that which has known harmful side-effects. But the doctor and school teacher that do the sorting do not distribute the goods. They simply categorize them. It is up to everyone in the village to make up their own minds as to what they want to take for themselves. The experts give advice. They do not run things. They do not govern anybody.
The school teacher is very proud of his family. It's full of people of all professions and inclinations. There are doctors and engineers and architects and shop keepers. The list goes on and on. But there are no thieves. There is not a single thief in his family, a clear reference to the 5th Empire in which the only crime is to take something that does not belong to ourselves, be it someones life, liberty or property.
However, the village has no trouble accepting a retired "gun for hire" among themselves. They are not scared of him. In fact, he commands a certain degree of admiration. The reason for this is that he never killed anyone who wasn't a thief. He did not kill at random. Only those who had done serious harm to others had anything to worry about.
Bacurau is a dirty, dusty village, with plenty of vice. There's prostitution and drug taking. But there is no theft. No-one is hurting others or damaging people's properties on purpose. What makes Bacurau an example village in the 5th Empire is not wealth and prosperity, but freedom and respect. No-one is treated worse than others. Not even the prostitutes.
On the other hand, the villains operate with all sorts of rules. They are well organized and of relatively prosperous backgrounds. But they are breaking the golden rule. They kill for fun, and their chosen targets are villagers in Bacurau, which they find vile and dirty. However, they soon start to mistrust each other. They suspect each others of being dangerously unstable. They recoil in horror when others reveal their twisted fantasies. These people are firmly outside of the 5th Empire. They exist in a state of chaos.
Illustrating this even more firmly, we are introduce to a very dangerous man whom the villagers have decided to leave alone as he hides out at the local dam, outside of the village. This man is wanted by the police for horrendous murders and mutilations, but since he never posed any danger to the locals, and the retired hit man knows him as only dangerous to those who are dangerous themselves, they do not report the man to the police. When the locals realize that they are under attack, they ask him to come and help them. Even the most dangerous of men are let into the 5th Empire as long as they abide by the golden rule.
What follows is a serious of incidents in which the villains become increasingly unhinged, and eventually massacred by the retired hit man, his outlaw friend, and a number of other villagers.
When the politician returns to the village, it becomes clear that he was the one that put the village in danger by suggesting it as a good hunting ground for the villains. For this, he too is punished. Politicians are not beyond the law of the 5th Empire.
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