The feature début of Beto Brant is set on the border between Paraguay and Brazil, in a dusty town filled with grubby hotels and bars. The story that unfolds there is full of unexpected turns in the plot and parodies on the clichés of the gangster genre. A man is to be killed in a bar in the border area. While they wait for events to unfold, the murderers tell a story in which it is difficult to see who is guilty and who isn’t. Present and past start to get mixed up. The practised killer Alfredo (Wolney de Assis) tells a young car thief the story of his old friend, the legendary Paraguayan murderer Múcio. This nervous man who once guarded the girls of a brothel, but eventually turned into a ruthless assassin, looked as if he was doomed when he started an affair with the boss’s beautiful and sensual wife.Os matadores provides a fine portrait of the hard-as-nails murderers who however also demonstrate great human insight. Superior entertainment made on a low budget.
