Acorn Media International, out now

‘Once upon a time…’

A massive hit on the festival circuit and on Horror streaming channel Shudder, there’s definitely a reason why Issa López’s movie received high praise from the likes of Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro, and has a rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. So this is a very welcome release, especially as it comes complete with a variety of extras.

We begin the film with a sobering message about the damage the drug war in Mexico since 2006 has caused: 160,000 lives claimed and 53,000 people who have simply disappeared. Nobody knows what percentage of those are children, and entire areas are ghost towns now (something that will be explored literally). We experience this dire situation first-hand pretty much immediately through the eyes of orphaned Shine (Juan Ramón López) – who makes the mistake of stealing a gun and phone from gangster Caco (Ianis Guerrero) one night – and young girl Estrella (Paola Lara), who is in the middle of being taught about fairy tales in class when the war catches up outside.

Needless to say, classes are soon cancelled, and when Estrella returns home she finds her mother (Viviana Amaya) is nowhere to be found. She eventually discovers, when Shine tries to steal from the house, that the woman ended up in the hands of Caco’s drug gang, the notorious Huascas, and is unlikely to still be alive.

She then seeks refuge with Shine and his own gang of scavengers – second-in-command Pop (Rodrigo Cortés), Tucsi (Hanssel Casillas) and little Morrito (Nery Arredondo), who carries around a little stuffed tiger. But Estrella is armed with three wishes the teacher ‘granted’ her in class, the first of which she’s already used to try and bring her mother back – who now appears as a ghostly presence trying to help her daughter. When Shine decides they’ll only let Estrella fully into their gang if she kills Caco, the deadly game of cat and mouse (or maybe that should be hunter and tigers?) ramps up between the gangsters and the kids. Will our young heroes be able to get out of trouble unscathed?

Using urban fantasy and mythology to comment on the real-life hideousness of the state of affairs in Mexico, López creates something truly unique with this one. The legend about tigers is at the heart of everything that happens here, from Shine’s graffiti rendering to the glimpses of Estrella’s imaginary (or are they?) animal ‘guide’. Tigers are never scared, so the children can’t be – no matter what they go through. They are warriors, as Estrella’s mum always called her. Fearless and brave, even in the face of death.

There are so many touching moments in this movie and the children – who hadn’t acted before this, and therefore have a massive air of authenticity about them – provide most of these. Estrella and Shine’s budding friendship, Morrito being looked after by all of them, the way these street-kids use random trash to provide entertainment (the football match and talent show are particular highlights). But it is the bittersweet, yet satisfying, ending that will haunt you more than any dead ghosts looking for revenge. Like Pan’s Labyrinth before it, the final scenes will stay with you for a long, long time.

In terms of extras, we have the usual things like galleries – this time of concept art and graffiti art, as well as the obligatory behind the scenes photos – and director’s commentary. But it is the 45-minute detailed ‘Making Of…’ you’ll probably be more interested in, where we hear not only from the director (‘The centre, the nerve of it, is this out of control phenomena in Mexico…’), but from the likes of producer Marco Polo Constandse (‘In Tigers, I found a really interesting script.’), DOP Juan Jose Saravia (‘We had no money at all… Here’s where ingenuity rules!’), editor Joaquim Martí (‘This gang of kids takes us through an apocalyptic scenario… How is it possible societal structure has decayed so far?’) plus actors Lara, Amaya and Juan Ramón López (‘We did things that made us feel free.’). And we’re taken through every stage of production, from the script read-through to the challenging filming of things like the ‘coughing up birds’ scene.

Then there’s the hour-long conversation between Issa López and Guillermo del Toro filmed after the screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is simply a joy to watch (GdT: ‘There are two types of movies. Movies that wake you up, and movies that put you to sleep!’ IL: ‘I was always dreaming of recreating the kind of stories that kept me sane when I was a kid.’), and a very brief look at the casting process.

Verdict: All in all, the perfect packaging for a genuine modern classic. ‘Tigers are the Kings of this kingdom of broken things.’ 10/10

Paul Kane

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