Tigers Are Not Afraid stars Paola Lara as Estrella, a young girl in a Mexican city that’s caught up by the Mexican Drug War. While her school is evacuated one day by nearby gunfire, she’s handed a piece of chalk that she’s told will grant her three wishes. Soon after, her mother disappears and she finds herself tagging along with a local street gang, led by young orphan Shine, played by Juan Ramon Lopez. When Shine steals the phone containing incriminating criminal activity of a crime boss who’s also a powerful politician, Estrella and the gang find themselves caught up in a dangerous cat-and-mouse chase that soon begins to blend fantasy and reality.
One part Pan’s Labyrinth, and another part City of God, this is a film that brings together elements of horror and fantasy films and still manages to tell a compelling story that’s reflective of many problems going on in the world today. This is an incredibly grim movie, with subject matter revolving around poverty, gun violence, corruption, and losing family members. It hits the audience with a lot, and at times it may feel overwhelming to take in.
But the film never looks to manipulate its audience into feeling bad for any of its characters. Because one thing that it maintains, despite venturing into such dark territory, is a sense of hope. Characters such as Estrella and Shine are interesting to watch because they both have strong wills. They get a lot thrown their way, but they keep their heads up, even when they’re frightened and feeling at their lowest. They remind themselves to stay strong, just like a tiger - hence the movie’s title - and always try to push through, despite being in an absolutely dreadful situation. The excellent acting from each of its performers also helps drive that feeling home quite well.
Vivid imagery such as the tiger comparison is a recurring element in this film, and is one of its strongest points. As children tells stories at the beginning of the film, animations are seen acting out parts of their stories. When characters experience a vision, it’s heavily stylized but very strongly animated that it dominates the scene. As strong-willed as a character may be, the people and animations they envision immediately take over the scene and even though it’s questionable at times whether or not the vision is real, they embody such real fears and emotions the characters are experiencing, and seeing them try to overcome these obstacles is very compelling.
Even though there are so many fantasy elements in the story, at its heart is a true-to-life story. The fantasy and horror elements are used to supplement real emotions and real issues characters are experiencing, and are utilized in a very clever way to heighten what someone is going through, whether it be something happy or something truly traumatizing. Through this, the film manages to tell a highly emotional story while giving it this great sense of style that feels balanced.
In addition to tackling issues such as life on the streets, the film’s use of a political figure as its central antagonist also tackles great social commentary, such as the influence that powerful figures can have over a society. There’s one such scene where the kids attempt to hand over the evidence on the phone to two police officers. Once they see who’s in the video that they’re attempting to turn in, they refuse to help the children, knowing the consequences of getting involved in something as controversial as that. Class divide and the corruption that comes with power is a recurring theme throughout this movie, and blends in really well with a lot of the personal drama these characters experience.
Tigers Are Not Afraid mixes real-life drama with elements of horror and fantasy, and manages to blend all three tones in exceptionally well without ever coming off as jarring or imbalanced. It’s a gripping tale filled with great social commentary, that also manages to be visually astounding and at times, truly frightening. It’s a horror film that stems from real-life fears, and is propelled by its extremely well-written characters and fantastic performances. It heads into some dark territory that may be uncomfortable for some, but at its heart, it’s both a technical achievement, as well as an achievement in great storytelling.
Recommendation: Watch It
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