Overview
A haunting tale where wishes come with a deadly price, revealing the darkness of childhood dreams.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- heartbreaking
- eerie
- foreboding
- halloween night
- arthouse horror night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's imaginative fusion of childhood trauma, supernatural horror, and hard-hitting realism, while some found its tragedy and supernatural effects hectic or emotionally manipulative.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Estrella's dead mother follows her, while her wishes materialize through a childhood perspective shaped by disappearance and loss.
Estrella and the orphaned boys endure missing parents, murder, gang threats, and displacement in a Mexican drug-war landscape.
Schoolbook wishes, a tiger motif, ghosts, guns, and cartel brutality coexist in the same stark world.
The mother's return as a dead presence makes Estrella's longing physically inescapable rather than comforting.
Films like Tigers Are Not Afraid, and why
The Devil's Backbone
childhood trauma, ghostly supernatural horror, and emotionally devastating dark fantasy
Pan's Labyrinth
children navigating wartime brutality through eerie fairy-tale fantasy and grief
The Orphanage
young protagonists, oppressive violence, and supernatural dread rooted in social trauma
The City of Lost Children
hard-edged coming-of-age drama blending marginalized childhood with poetic surrealism
Movie Details
- Director
- Issa López
- Release Date
- 2017-11-02
- Runtime
- 83 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (300)
Cast
- Paola Lara
- Juan Ramón López
- Ianis Guerrero
- Rodrigo Cortes
- Hanssel Casillas
- Nery Arredondo
- Tenoch Huerta Mejía
- Benny Emmanuel
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder Amazon Channel, Shudder Apple TV channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Tigers Are Not Afraid about?
- A grieving girl’s fairy-tale wishes summon ghosts and danger as she seeks refuge with orphaned children amid cartel violence.
- What is Tigers Are Not Afraid like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Tigers Are Not Afraid as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Tigers Are Not Afraid violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Tigers Are Not Afraid as graphic.
- What did critics think of Tigers Are Not Afraid?
- Critics broadly praised the film's imaginative fusion of childhood trauma, supernatural horror, and hard-hitting realism, while some found its tragedy and supernatural effects hectic or emotionally manipulative.
- Which films are like Tigers Are Not Afraid?
- Films with a similar feel include The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, The Orphanage, and The City of Lost Children.
- How long is Tigers Are Not Afraid?
- Tigers Are Not Afraid runs 83 minutes.
- Where can I watch Tigers Are Not Afraid?
- In United States, Tigers Are Not Afraid streams on Philo, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder Amazon Channel, Shudder Apple TV channel.
