Tigers Are Not Afraid Movie Review
Nathan Swank
September 6th, 2019
Winner of numerous awards in film festivals around the world, Mexico film TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID, or its original title “Vuelven”, is a mesmerising horror fairy tale of sorts with impressively haunting visuals.
Set against the backdrop of Mexico’s aggressively escalating drug wars, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID follows young Estrella (Paola Lara) who is all alone after her mother has gone missing. People are being kidnapped or killed by the thousands. Streets are empty and buildings are abandoned, while children are fending for themselves. Armed with three wishes, Estrella joins a small gang of children trying to survive and stay away from trafficking and drug lords.
Writer and director Issa López creates a powerful and immersive world of terrifying reality. The horror comes in its honesty and the few chills comes within the surreality. Simultaneously sad, beautiful, and daring, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID shares some of the uniquely magical and creepy elements as Guillermo del Toro’s PAN’S LABYRINTH.
The young cast performs magnificently while dealing with a very dark topic. I was recently told about an observation between America and Mexico when dealing with coming of age films. America tends to make it about sex or even drugs, while Mexico usually follows children who have to come to terms with death. Now that’s very telling about our two different cultures, but I find the latter to have a little more weight and truth. Maybe is just a matter of preference in genre, but I definitely lean towards STAND BY ME over AMERICAN PIE. TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID is definitely a more mature film than one might believe when dealing with a predominantly cast of children. However, filmmaker Issa López blends the sophistication with the appropriate childlike view.
The “R” rating comes in the form of violence, death, and some scary imagery. With a brisk 83-minute runtime, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID comes highly recommended to anyone who likes a little more depth to their storytelling and substance behind their horror. It’s not a true horror film, but it is a frightening mix of surrealism within a very real problem happening on at least some scale throughout our world.
While TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID is not scary in the traditional sense, it does have a deeply impactful message through a horrifying backdrop. Blending innocence and evil, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID touches on some positive themes of kindness, friendship, and bravery through an imaginative telling within the world’s brutality.
[fbcomments]
