Vuelven

I went into this with metered expectations despite hearing good things. I was very happy with the movie. Heart breaking and brutal this is a great film about orphaned children in Mexico with great dark fairytale elements thrown in. The whole movie you wonder what is actually happening and what is the children's imagination. The childeren are fantastic. I do have to warn you, this movie pulls no punches. It covers very dark subject matter. If child death scenes are a trigger for you this is not the film for you. Other than this, watch it! This is a great story that really needed to be told

Oh, wow, what a good movie! The film features mainly child stars, and they are fantastic! The visuals are good and there are a few very scary moments.

'Tigers are not afraid' has a distinct 'Pan's Labyrinth' feel to it, yet it is very different. The film depicts the sad and dangerous lives of young orphaned children during ruthless drug wars. It so effectively illustrates how these children - despite their circumstances - can still find joy and beauty in trivial things that might go unnoticed to the mature eye. They are ultimately just kids still.

The film soon spins out of control as the kids are being hunted by drug lords, and every day is a battle for survival. The climax is brilliant. This is a very disturbing film, yet also so beautiful. Awesome!!

In this dark fairytale written and directed by by Issa López, a gang of orphaned children battle to survive on the streets of Mexico amid the devastating backdrop of that country's drug wars. The kids are armed with three magical wishes to help them escape the clutches of the cartel that murdered their parents. This uncompromising movie sees López create a world that recalls the early films of Guillermo del Toro, imbued with her own gritty spin on magical realism to conjure a wholly unique experience. This is a movie with a real social conscience, López elicits solid performances from her young cast (who are all incredible). It's touching but unsentimental and quite often devastating (bad things happen to these kids), and is a movie that really gets its claws into you and refuses to let go.

This is a great and necessary addition to the horror genre, and is very much worth a viewing for those who think horror genre can't blend with realism and fantasy to create a metaphor of beauty.

Taking heavy inspiration from the work of Guillermo Del Toro (particularly 'Pan's Labyrinth (2006)' and 'The Devil's Backbone (2001)'), 'Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)' mixes harsh reality with dark fantasy. It's a little uneven in its blending of its two core elements; nevertheless, it's an engaging and palpable experience throughout. Even when it's at its most fantastical, it always retains a level of sobering realism. It isn't afraid to get heavy. The affair is sometimes a bit inconsistent when it comes to tone, as it attempts to blend the inherent innocence of childhood with the vicious circumstances of its setting, but it hits the right notes when it needs to. A large part of why it's so successful is that its lead actors are remarkably good, especially considering their young age and lack of experience. They ground the already grounded experience and make caring for the characters actually rather effortless. Ultimately, this is a well-made and compelling drama. 7/10