No crezcas o morirás

I recently watched this film and while it's certainly no blockbuster, I was surprised that I didn't find myself bored or wishing I had something better to watch. This film was far more dramatic than I expected, especially considering that nearly the entire cast were adolescent kids. As mentioned in some other reviews, the poor decisions made by characters is actually somewhat believable considering their young age.

That said, this film deserves far more than anything below a 5 out of 10. I scored it a 6, simply because it surprised me with decent, yet brief SFX and reasonably high production values. The acting also exceeded expectations. I anticipated some teen angst, but it wasn't over done or gratuitous. The film worked fine for a budget indie flick about some teen's perspective of the apocalypse.

I've seen far worse and I suspect this film's rating suffers from blown expectations of those expecting an action flick with tons of "disaster porn" that's usually associated with films of this genre. To paraphrase another review, this film is just fine for watching on a late night or rainy day.

How many variant of movies can you make about the zombie genre? I guess this is another original idea about only adults becoming zombies, leaving the children being 'normal'. Was it a good idea to make this movie? It could have been if the movie was stronger with better action scenes and zombie attacks. But then only for lovers of this genre. What you get instead is just a movie like you saw so many times before. Nothing that you will remember about in the future. The actors (almost all kids of course) are just okay without any being brilliant. The story is just too weak to be interesting. And on top of that they don't give you any explanation about what could have start this disaster. I would just skip this movie if I were you.

4.6 rating on IMDB??? People here seem to miss once again the point: Alone (European title for Don't Grow Up) is neither Army of the Dead nor WWZ: How can it be if you check up HOW & WERE this movie has been made. Have you? WOW, I seriously doubt that!!! So don't wonder folks...!

As a matter of fact, this movie is a (very) low budget seemingly dedicated to those who liked (loved?) for instance film-experiences such as Carriers (2009) or Children of Men (2006), even if this movie NEVER intends to compete with Alfonso Cuaron's total masterpiece.

Thierry Poiraud (yes, the guy who brought you the funky Atomic Circus: The Return of James Bataille with Jason Flemyng back in 2004) is a very solid and yet gifted too director, even if he worked on this one without his brother Didier as on Goal of the Dead...

The portrayal of the whole situation (music, sound, images, direction) is definitely an achievement and has all the ride along high kinetic power and strong impact (what for such a low budget, is kind of miraculous!):

Especially the young actors are all excellent and there terrible fate is perfectly well portrayed here, the action is violent and believable, but most important: The whole situation stays always highly plausible and human.

Watching this movie, even not in a so called "rainy Saturday night with beer and fries" climate, stays an overwhelming, stunning experience. But the main compliment to the movie makers & actors, even if the whole thing may be a bit predictable, is that Alone is NEVER boring, far from that! BUT IT ISN'T (AND CAN'T BE) A FULL THROTTLE ACTION FLICK for LOW BRAINERS!

So if you want to experience an atmospheric, deeply human, sincere and nearly naturalistic horror adventure/journey, don't look any further. Thierry Poiraud's gift to the audience is worth every single minute of the 81 min. Running time, believe me!

And don't forget: Don't Grow Up... Alone!

Don't grow up isn't the genre's best out there but it certainly deserves a look especially if you're into horror.

And why is that? Well it does act more like a drama, and on character development but the premise and the world it builds is scary. Of course little is shown so there is a lot left for the imagination, completely the opposite compared to The Children. So if you do like this one, go watch what I just recommended. Far better, more tensions and more action on screen.

Overall Don't Grow Up is a little indie project, not quite original, nothing new in the direction, same bad decisions taken throughout the movie just like in any other but it works alright for a very late, lonely night.

Cheers!

This movie will likely be seen a lot better at a certain age than at other ages. And it's OK, if a movie tries to appeal to a certain group of people. This might have resonated somehow with me, if I was younger and I can understand if people see it that way. I'm also pretty certain that the same people probably would change their mind a decade or so after they've watched it.

That being said, the nature of the young grown ups and their flaws is intriguing. Even though they are delinquents, they are not entirely unlikable. They do have a tendency to draw the wrong conclusions and make the worst choice possible. Other than that, what kind of movie would we have here?