Chilean period drama The Settlers is a starkly quiet film. With sparse use of dialogue that mirrors its visuals of the vast empty swathes of the Andes mountains, the films takes on a tragic and violent subject. It is a quiet film, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a silent one, and the grasp of this concept is what elevates Felipe Gálvez Haberle’s directorial debut.
Set in 1901 in the Tierra del Fuego region in Chile, The Settlers chronicles the genocide of the indigenous Selk’nam people. To reclaim large portions of land, businessman José Menéndez (Alfredo Castro) sends off a team on an expedition across the Andes to drive out the indigenous people. Comprising a former British Army Lieutenant Alexander MacLennan (Mark Stanley), and an American gunman Bill (Benjamin Westfall), the duo is also accompanied by Segundo (Camilo Arancibia), who is a mestizo (mixed race man, who is part indigenous) selected for his skill as …