Shadows of violence are part of the global cultural imagination of Latin America, an image that can be traced back to colonisation. Today, Latin America continues to face structural violence and systemic exclusion. The dichotomy and interplay between communitas and fragmentation underpins violence in the region and it is portrayed by its cinema. The films depict these complex contexts through narratives that shed ligth on Latin American societies, human interactions and the social factors behind violence and inequality.