Párvulos

A plague has wiped out a good proportion of the earth’s population, leaving just those that are uninfected and those infected as zombie like creatures that will eat anything.

Dog is a favourite which Salvador (Farid Escalante Correa)) dispatches with a bow and arrow. He then prepares the animal skinning and gutting. Its lesser fare for he and his younger brothers Oliver (Leonardo Cervantes) and Benjamin (Mateo Ortega Casillas), they have frog, much to Benjamin’s disgust as he considered it his pet.

They are in desperate straits. Hiding out in a large house, constantly on the lookout for strangers and food, they have developed a system that suits them. Though this is rocky as there is a secret in the basement and only Salvador and Oliver are allowed to go down there. The secret preys on seven year old Benjamin; he's considered too young to know and in some respects it’s a game to him. That and his natural curiosity change the family dynamic during the film.

For Salvador it’s a matter of survival and bringing up his brothers as best he can, trying to be a parent and a brother. An existence he's resigned to until Valeria (Carla Adell) turns up, armed and dangerous. She's found the rucksack that Salvador had lost and tracked them to the house. She has news of a serum that has been developed that can both cure and prevent the plague. But there are limited supplies in the area and there are others who are after it.

Writer and director Isaac Ezban covers a lot of territory in Párvulos (which translates as Pre-schoolers), with references to the pandemic, mutated vaccines, lawlessness, fairy tales and religious zealotry. Yet it never becomes overwhelmed or cluttered. The central theme of survival is maintained along with strands on family and loyalty.

Ezban’s film is grim and grubby, and he maintains an air of dread and menace for the duration. The violence is unpleasant and at times unexpectedly cruel. There are also moments of what could be absurd comedy, intended or not, they don’t sit quite right.

Its beautifully filmed in monochrome with occasional splashes of colour for effect. That and the excellent sound design and dirge like score that suit the visuals and narrative brilliantly.

Párvulos had its UK premiere at Halloween FrightFest 2024.