Having premiered at Fantasia Festival, Párvulos is a Mexican monster flick set in a dystopian world as a trio of siblings struggle to survive while awaiting their parents’ return. The siblings’ chemistry enables the movie’s heartfelt journey through childhood’s end. It’s a film with a tragic backdrop that firmly wedges itself within reality. Some scenes feel unnecessary or need a content warning, but Párvulos does a good job of mixing tones to create an unnerving viewing experience, switching between gritty and ethereal modes. While it falters towards the end, Párvulos is a coming-of-age story combining survivalist horror with growing up and landing with a mixture that’s equal parts grim and hopeful.
Directed by Isaac Ezban and written by Ezban and Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes, the story quickly emphasizes family. As a young boy, Oliver (Leonardo Cervantes) narrates how his father said there are only two constants in life: family and change, and we see a montage of various animal families playing on screen. The movie wonderfully establishes the importance of family, further etched as two siblings, Oliver and Benjamin (Mateo Ortega Basillas), play in the water.
Next, Párvulos demonstrates its stakes and that its characters’ lives have changed. While Oliver and Benjamin swim, their eldest brother Salvador (Farid Escalante Correa) awakes and pulls out a record to play as he goes through his daily routine of exercise and drinking worms mashed with water and a spoonful of honey. This is a world where the kids are alone and struggling to survive. But alongside survival, there are larger discussions about family and pandemics blended with the coming-of-age story.
Párvulos Parallels Other Zombie-Style Films
Párvulos recalls other zombie films. But a standout is a scene from 1978’s Dawn of the Dead when families fought to protect their infected loved ones. But here, it’s children saddled with the responsibility to feed themselves and try to care for something caged in the basement. The importance of family supersedes all else in this dystopian world ravaged by infection. And the question of how far they will go to protect their family is never far from the audience’s minds. So, viewers cannot help but pray that the children survive with their hopes and dreams intact.
But that slowly erodes, especially in the eldest brother. Salvador better understands the risks than his young brothers do. There are brief moments of joy as Oliver and Benjamin play with a football while Salvador looks on, smiling. But the reality of their hardships is never far. Párvulos is both a commentary on growing up and a beautiful highlight of maintaining hope, no matter the odds. Growing up doesn’t have to mean relinquishing dreams.
Similar to the Pandemic
Párvulos features a pandemic in a worst-case scenario, where the virus wreaks havoc, but the vaccine is also unreliable. But it also feels like a warning that governments should prioritize their people over profits. While it’s not a focal point of the movie, the pandemic in Párvulos mirrors the overwhelming distrust people feel toward their government. Yet the film doesn’t stop there, segueing into a religious, often ableist aspect. The blessed receive salvation and the others damnation, either through the virus or zealots carrying out God’s will.
Isaac Ezban’s direction is so natural, executing a nuanced conversation about then and now, that this film requires rewatching. The panorama-style shots and Ezban’s use of color play a crucial role in the story’s emotional journey. Color is sparse and only appears for a “then” moment or an emotional escape, such as when Oliver and Benjamin play with hand-made cards over pizza and other past items. Here, the color expresses both, as it does in the scene with two kids innocently laughing during a game that only exists if they make it.
A Switch-Up That Occurs Sooner
Children grow up, become adults, and often care for one or both parents. In Párvulos, the situation arises sooner as the parents become like children, only concerned with necessities and no longer able to communicate. Now, the kids must teach them, and the question of when they cross into adulthood becomes imminent and thin. Thanks to the three boys’ performances, there’s an authenticity that leaves viewers torn, particularly with Benjamin’s thoughts and actions. He’s not even ten years old. However, he’s willing to grow up and do whatever it takes to help his parents. Benjamin refuses to give up.
Párvulos takes on a lot in this beautiful, tragic, and hopeful story of enduring for the sake of those you love. It’s a story of dreams, even at the end of the world, and accepting change while preserving family. Because for many, that is their world.
A moving, sweet, and creepy coming-of-age story, Párvulos weaves a sympathetic tale worth viewing.
