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The film is a striking blend of realism and fantasy, it is the story of a pack of kids, orphaned by the drug wars, surviving in this underbelly of Maxico. Film's major cast is consist of child actors and they are mesmerizing to say the least.

The films follows a girl Estrella, who comes home from school, which closed early under emergency because there was gun-fight going in the neighbor. She comes home and finds out her mother is missing, to make things weird, in a good way, director added this flavor of fantasy to this. This girl has these three pieces of chalk that her teacher had given to her as three wishes she can ask for, just like in fairy tales as she tells her. So she asks for her mother to come back as her first wish, and then there's this line of blood constantly following her wherever she goes. Alone and scared she leaves home and finds a group of urchins, poor and destroyed, surviving on their own, she joins them. This group of kids is led by this small but tough-talking boy Shine, who somehow has got his hands on a pistol and a cell phone, that later plays a very important role in the film.

Film's imagery is absolutely stunning and heartbreaking, amazing metaphorical shots, some I could get some I could not but they were absolutely beautiful to look at. There is this stuffed tiger, talking, corp of Estrella's mother following her. Writer-director Issa Lopez has done a remarkable job at delivering the message of these underprivileged kids with utter realism and fantasy simultaneously. And all that with some very good performances from these are very, very young kids. If you have some free time, it would not be a bad idea to give this film a go.

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.

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

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

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.