There was a time in the genre when zombie and apocalypse films were a dime a dozen. Walmart DVD shelves were chock full of low-budget, Z-grade films churned out by Wild Eye Releasing and The Asylum, to name a few. By around 2013/14, the meta for the genre would shift slightly toward found footage. It was for the best, we needed a break from the constant flood of zombie movies. By 2020, with the threat of a worldwide pandemic with its boot on our throat, zombie and apocalypse films would start to make their way back into the genre’s zeitgeist. Over the past few years, the festival circuit has been running the best of the best in the subgenre, and that’s *almost* the case with Párvulos.
Párvulos follows three brothers, Oliver (Leonardo Cervantes), Benjamin (Mateo Ortega Casillas), and older brother Salvador (Farid Escalante Correa), as they navigate a post-Omega-virus world. With murmurs of a vaccine, the brothers will do anything they can to get their hands on it. With a secret in the basement, and a handful of colorful characters along the way, the brothers will be challenged every step of the way.
Director Isaac Ezban tells a wonderfully mono-chromatic tale of love and loss, from a script written by Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes and Isaac Ezban. Salvador has the unfortunate job of mentoring his two younger brothers through this awful apocalypse, and it’s clear the burden weighs heavily upon him. At this age, he should be hanging out with friends and making connections and relationships with people his age. Instead, he’s destined to shepherd two young kids who lack the necessary survival skills. The weight on his shoulders is unbearable, and we get to see these near-breaking-point moments here and there. Correa handles this role with grace and care, providing an incredibly authentic performance.
It wasn’t until Noé Hernández graced the screen that I was completely sold. Hernández is hands down one of the greatest, and creepiest, Spanish actors of our lifetime. He chews up the scenery without care, haunting each scene like the specter of a deranged lunatic. Párvulos takes chances and tries to exist on the fringe of what zombie and apocalypse horror films are, and have been. It won’t work for everyone and may seem trite and derivative. The ideas are there but it doesn’t necessarily take the chances it could have. But for those it does work for, everything will click into place.
Ezban’s use of black and white, with color interspersed sparingly, is a unique choice that works in the overall sense. While it may work, its usage feels stylistic rather than substantive. Cinematographer Rodrigo Sandoval captures the crowded and musty interior of the boys’ home with an overall feeling of claustrophobia. The audience is forced to exist within these cramped walls, and like the brothers, there is no chance of escape for us.
Overall, Párvulos isn’t the most original or groundbreaking zombie/apocalypse film, but what it does, it does well. With excellent practical effects, multiple antagonists aside from the zombies, beautiful character relations, and an overall sense of survival at all costs, Párvulos got the job done [for me]. It’s less a film about zombies and more about how these characters share and grow their relationships when faced with extreme adversity. At the end of the day, family is what matters in Párvulos and in that sense, it works as a compelling zombie/apocalypse film.