Párvulos : Fantastic Fest Review

There are two types of people in this world: those who would survive an end-of-the-world situation, and those who would walk into the fire. I am definitely the latter. I have no desire to live in that world and would much rather just bite the bullet, so to speak. I know I wouldn’t want to live in such a world, based on all the movies depicting what it could look like. But while I don’t want to experience it firsthand, I love a good movie about surviving the apocalypse. Párvulos, a film by Isaac Ezban, is another solid addition to the genre that reminds us of the important things when all other things end.

In a world where a pandemic has gone horribly wrong, three brothers—Salvador (Farid Escalante Correa), Benjamin (Mateo Ortega Casillas), and Oliver (Leonardo Cervantes)—live in the middle of nowhere, having survived the worst so far. We meet the boys in different situations: Salvador is at home, while Oliver and Benjamin are out hunting for what we assume is food. It doesn’t take long to see that their prospects are slim, given what Salvador prepares for breakfast and the meager animal they manage to kill during the hunt. But the boys aren’t alone in the house. In their basement, they’ve locked something away that the two older brothers are responsible for.

The monsters in the basement turn out to be their parents, who were transformed into flesh-eating zombies by a bad batch of vaccines. While the two older boys have resigned themselves to just feeding them, Benjamin begins to believe that their parents are still in there somewhere and tries to train them to behave more “normally.” However, the boys don’t live in a normal world, and danger surrounds them, leaving us to wonder if they will survive.

Written by Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes and Isaac Ezban (who also directs), Párvulos focuses on family and the importance of it, especially family is all that you have left in the world. The movie is shot in muted colors, which amplifies both the violence and the tension on screen. It also makes the action feel grittier and adds to the discomfort of watching it. All of this contributes to the haunting, coming-of-age story that isn’t afraid to delve into darker territory to raise the stakes.

Párvulos is a good zombie movie that is both deeply human and at times violent. At its core, it’s a story about what we will endure for the ones we love, set against the backdrop of an apocalyptic world. That human element is highlighted by the performances of the three boys, whose authenticity really pulls at your emotions. Where Párvulos falters is in its runtime, as it feels a little too long, and the final act stretches somewhat to unnecessary places. However, this isn’t enough to dull Párvulos’s shine, as it remains a beautiful apocalyptic thriller. Its biggest strength lies in the powerful story and striking cinematography, which leaves you with images that will linger long after the credits roll.