TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (2017) (Acorn Media Blu-ray Review)

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (2017)

Label: Acorn Media International
Rating: Cert: 15
Region Code: Region-Free
Duration: 83 Minutes
Audio: Uncompressed Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1 and English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Issa López
Cast: Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, Ianis Guerrero, Rodrigo Cortes

The poignant and unsettling Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) follows a group of Mexican street kids living in the squalid slum. Their parents have been kidnapped and murdered by the drug cartels, and they find themselves hunted by the cartels henchman, because one of the kids named Shine (Juan Ramón López), the leader of a gang of orphaned kids, stole a gun and an iPhone from cartel member Caco (Ianis Guerrero). On it is an incriminating video of their crime boss, who also a local politician, named Chino (Tenoch Huerta, Narcos: Mexico) murdering a woman. 

A new addition to the gang is Estella (Paolo Lara), a brave young  girl desperately searching for her missing mother (Viviana Amaya), who was also taken by the drug lords. A scene ealry on introduces a fantastical element to the film, when a shooting takes place near Estrella's school the classroom goes into lockdown. When her teacher notices Estrella's panic she hands her three pieces of chalk that she says will grant three wishes, to calm her down. Later in her way home Estrella passes by the crime scenes, when walking near a pool of blood an animated trickle of the blood follows her home, where it stains her mother's dress. This is a none too subtle bit of symbolism, with the blood trickle to follow her throughout the film, alerting her of immanent dangers.  

Despite Shine's protests Estrella ends up joining his rag-tag gang of parentless kids, continuing to search for her mum despite many signs signaling she won't be coming back. , Her search plunges her and the other kids into danger via life on the streets where cops turn a blind eye to evidence of murder and corruption, in addition to the dogged pursuit of the kids by the cartel members who are desperate to get their phone back. It's harrowing adventure fraught with real-danger colored by surreal fairytale elements like Shine's tale of a an unafraid tiger which turns into an animated plush toy and eventually a real-life tiger, and Estrella's visions of a plastic-wrapped corpse that haunts her. It's a gorgeous but deeply unsettling watch, and thankfully it's not completely hopeless either, but there are several jaw-dropping sequences in this film that hit hard.  

This was one of the most haunting films I've watch in recent memory, conjuring themes of ghostly revenge and tragic fairytale themes we've seen in Guillermo del Toro films like The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth; it's original but there's that shimmer of familiarity to the themes.  

What makes this film work is not just the deft script and direction, excellent cinematography and score, but the kid actors; particaurly the young leads Juan Ramón López and Paola Lara as Shine and Estrella, both of whom had me in tears more than once with their natural and intuitive performances. 


Audio/Video: Shudder exclusive Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) makes it's UK debut on region-free Blu-ray from Acorn Media International in 1080p HD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen with the original 'Vuelven' title card. This is an impressive 1080p image that showcases warm colors and nicely detailed shadows in the many darkened sequences. The depth and clarity are pleasing, giving us pleasing views of the gritty looking slums and the rea and imagined horrors that lurk in the dark.  

Audio comes by way of uncompressed Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1 and English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles. It's an immersive Spanish audio track that has some nice use of the surrounds to create atmosphere, plus the score from Vince Pope sounds fantastic. For those adverse to foreign language and reading subtitles the  English-dub while less nuanced is pretty decent. 

Extras begin with an Audio Commentary with Director Issa López who goes deep into the production, touching on teh casting, working with the kids, the symbolism, and the difficulty getting the film distributed, and everything in-between. There's also a 43-minute The Making of Tigers Are Not Afraid, a 63-minute TIFF Interview with Guillermo del Toro and Director Issa López, 8-minutes of Deleted Scenes, 4-minutes of the original Casting Sessions and it's buttoned-up with a Concept Art Gallery, a Graffiti Art Gallery and some Behind the Scenes Gallery. The single-disc release comes housed in an oversized keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork with that ugly Rotten Tomatoes icon on the front cover alongside the unsightly ratings log, with different artwork on the Blu-ray.  

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Issa López
- The Making of Tigers Are Not Afraid (43 min) HD 

- TIFF Interview with Guillermo del Toro and Director Issa López (63 min) HD 
- Deleted Scenes (8 min) HD 
- Casting Sessions (4 min) HD 

- Concept Art Gallery

- Graffiti Art Gallery

- Behind the Scenes Gallery

Tigers Are Not Afraid stands alongside other tragic and traumatic kids stories with surreal fairytale elements like The City of Lost Children, The Spirit of the Beehive, and del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone, while still being original in it's own right. The Blu-ray from Acorn Media looks and sounds fantastic and has some great extras, making this an easy recommend. 

Screenshots from the Acorn Media Blu-ray: 

Extras: