Starring Demián Bichir, Christian Slater, Evan Whitten

Directed by Jonás Cuarón

Netflix, out now

Thirteen-year-old Alex doesn’t want to spend the summer with his Mexican relatives but soon finds himself fighting to protect a mythical creature from a ruthless scientist.

The most surprising thing about the new Netflix family movie, Chupa, is that it took three people to write the screenplay, and there’s even a fourth credit for the story, which is essentially E.T. but with a cute chimeric goat-eating Mexican chupacabra cub instead of an alien.

There’s not a beat of this story you won’t see coming a mile off. Grieving kid resentful of his heritage, goes on a journey that will draw him closer to his roots. Tick. Quirky relatives who Alex resents at first but turn out to be salt of the earth. Tick. Christian Slater as a greedy scientist who won’t stop at anything. Tick. Kids in jeopardy, Chupa to the rescue. Chupa in jeopardy, kids to the rescue. Tick.

Having said all that, it’s lovingly executed. Baby Chupa is super cute; the Mexican location is fresh and positively depicted; the children can all act (especially Nickolas Verdugo, stealing the show as Alex’s whacky kid cousin, Memo).

Verdict: It’s an enjoyable, easy watch, good for a rainy afternoon with a tame 6-year-old in front of the telly.  6/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com