By Terry Sherwood
One wonders if the zombie franchise is (no pun intended} Dead? I am not a fan of zombies in general yet sometimes you have a twist to the story lately it’s been zombie comedies with teenage and undead angst. The brilliantly gory yet tasteful Mexican film Parvulos by Director Isaac Ezban continues exploring themes of family through a mix of brutal horror and odd family moments as he did in the previous underrated The Similars. This is not a cliché apocalyptic world that seems to populate these films, TV series or games but an almost Noir world of large homes and estates in the country all silent. Párvulos is lovingly directed with top cinematography as it is photographed in black and white with bursts of colour in moments you do not expect,
The title of the film translated into English refers to infants or children. Hence you have a story co-written by Issac Ezban and Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes of three young brothers who are forced to live without parents after a world-ending pandemic. The children are the one-legged older teen Salvador (Farid Escalante Correa), who grinds worms and honey for a protein drink. as he sets about a series of chores while teaching younger brother Oliver (Leonardo Cervantes) and baby brother Benjamin (Mateo Ortega Casillas). The two older brothers keep the story alive that their parents will return plus they harbour what turns out to be two monsters they must feed in the basement of their home.
Childhood innocence is at play here as the boys fight over movies, hide when awkwardly self-pleasing themselves, and fight about having a pet frog that ends up being made into a meal for all. All distinctly human moments in the growth of children to adolescents and adulthood.
I am against animal cruelty in films of any kind, so I warn of a sequence in which the children hunt a stray dog for food for themselves and what lurks in their basement. The event is handled as something plausible to the story situation, not poor sensational writing meant to provoke a reaction. The old Salvador demands that his brothers learn how to skin it.
A wonderful moment of juxtaposition when the middle brother Benjamin ropes his siblings into taming dangerous monsters, reading them fairy tales in between feedings. The whole effect in the spirit of the hardship faces a need for human connection, plus resilience and unbreakable family bonds. This fact is brought out at the beginning of the picture and the film’s conclusion in a voice-over referring to two things constant in the world – family and change
The dark horror of the situation is on full display Salvador, Oliver, and Benjamin may be sweet but naïve kids, but this world isn’t. The film doesn’t shy away from gore or putting the children in peril. Safety is never guaranteed. At one point a woman Valerie (Carla Adell) comes upon their home and insinuates herself into their lives. She loves the house and asks about her parents and the monster in the basement. Later she tenderly introduces the older Salvador to sex as payment for what she ate plus her own physical need for connection. Salvador even in the afterglow refuses her permission to stay. Valarie blunders into the basement only to be devoured by the two creatures one being male and the other female in the basement as the horrified children look on. The children then place her body on a pike outside along with the previous owners of the home who were killed.
Parvulos shifts gears to become a story of tending to the parent and trying to restore the social order. The children notice that Valarie’s “meat’ had a profound effect on the zombies in the basement. So begins a bizarre program of trying to rescue the monster whose identity is finally revealed. Salvator witnesses a zombie sexual assault in the basement that is fascinating to him yet repulsive as he knows who the two are. One supreme moment with the zombies as Salvador contemplates killing them with a crossbow to the head as he sees they are suffering. The female zombie despite the appearance, the teeth chattering and shrieking knows what he wants to do. She crawls over and places her head near the bolt, yet Salvador cannot pull the trigger. The story then takes a darker turn now for the children as it is only human flesh that causes the improvement, so the children begin a campaign of murder and rehabilitation through Christmas dinner. Parties, magic shows, celebrations, walks outside on leashes and reading fairy tales like you do with infants.
The horror escalates with lots of blood, hearts ripped out, screams, entrails, and animals, with religious zealots in the form of people called ‘Trumpets’, a possible cure that is found to work as the plot barrels toward its finale. The family will always continue in the world since the children will do anything to survive and keep their family intact. This picture has a similar impact to another Mexican masterpiece Issa Lopez’s Tigers Are Not Afraid as you find children doing extreme things on their own to survive.
Parvulos is a brilliant poignant coming-of-age story of family love and loyalty in a harsh brutal world It is at its strongest when focused on the brothers who fill the story with an adorable level of playfulness that constantly puts them all in danger. Set against a horror motif of a zombie apocalypse the film packs an emotional thunderstorm as it illustrates the idea that children do take care of their parents as they get older. No matter what the constant idea of Family and change exists. The love for parents never dies in the world. Highly recommended viewing.
Parvulos screened as part of Frightfest Halloween 2024.
Bloody Flicks 