Kids are heroic in grisly Mexican film Tigers Are Not Afraid

Tigers Are Not Afraid
Consolidated Kahala
Pupule rating: 3.9 (out of 4)

We live in an era when the biggest film about kids currently playing in theaters is Good Boys, a sometimes raunchy, gross comedy that I wouldn’t want anyone under 15 to see. Part of me wishes I hadn’t wasted time seeing it.

Then there’s Tigers Are Not Afraid. Some call it a fairy tale, but I mostly  disagree. In fairy tales, none of the good guys die. In fairy tales, there is hope of reunion with the ones we love. These are impossible in Tigers, which is set in a Mexican ghetto and centers around a group of homeless, yet street-smart kids who have figured out how to survive and avoid being captured by the local, homicidal and, some say, satanic worshipping, human sacrificing cartel/gang.

Not a fairy tale, but for one thing: several moments in the film wander into cinematic out-of-reality scenarios. Spooky are the victims who speak to Estrella, the brave girl whose mother was abducted. At times the difference between good and evil seems vague, and Estrella and the street kids she joins waste little time chasing hope.

There are statements in this strange, beautiful broth. Maybe the writer/director didn’t need to show us how even a couple of the kids are naive enough to trust law enforcement. Or that the most innocent would become the most brave. The one constant is that fighting evil means risking life, and these kids are heroic. We forget they’re kids sometimes. It’s a timeless theme, good versus evil, and it also seems that we get mode of it in exquisite films from South Korea and Mexico than we do within our own borders these days.

These are the truly good boys — and good girl.

This movie was made in 2016, so I’m grateful it’s playing here in Honolulu even three years later. I'm glad I got to see it on a movie screen. 

Note: Be earned, the grisly nature and graphic violence are not suited for younger children.

#pickledmangohawaii #notafairytale #tigersarenotaftaid