Shot in monochrome, with only the briefest splashes of colour used to brilliant effect, Parvulos takes the pandemic horror into uncharted territory as it weaves dark comedy with heart-pounding horror and lashings of nausea-inducing gore. Parvulos screened at Fantasia International Film Festival and is awaiting a United Kingdom release date.
Life is full of uncertainties, a maze of dead ends, new paths, and confusing but essential choices. From the moment we take our first breath, there are only a few fixed points that are unavoidable: the end of innocence, the death of those we love, social and personal change, and our own eventual demise. These constants sit at the heart of Isaac Ezban’s gruesome, imaginative and enthralling Parvulos, as three young brothers attempt to navigate a chaotic and dark world. A world devastated by a deadly virus and a host of potential vaccinations that were designed to cure, but only led to further destruction. It is a story rooted in primal instincts, brotherly love and unavoidable change where life hangs in the balance, decisions are fraught with danger, and a mysterious religious cult holds the only working vaccine, choosing those who live or die based on twisted religious ideology and deadly force.
In a remote house, hidden in the forests and mountains that now flourish free from human interference, Salvador (Farid Escalante Correa) cares for his two younger brothers, Oliver (Leonardo Cervantes) and the youngest, Benjamin (Mateo Ortega Casillas). Salvador feeds the boys worms, frogs, and stray dogs, and educates them about the dark, foreboding world they now inhabit. He remembers a time before this darkness, when their parents protected them, and he still had a left leg rather than a stump. But now, all he can do is attempt to protect his brothers at all costs and keep them hidden from the dangers surrounding them. But are the boys really alone?
Noises come from a bolted basement, and Salvador and Oliver wear protective gear collected from decaying childhood bedrooms as they unbolt the doors and feed the screaming creatures below. Benjamin does not yet know what lies beneath the house; he only knows they feed it dog guts, rats, and entrails. But anyone who knows a young boy will understand that curiosity often gets the better of them, and once he discovers the family secret, life will never be the same again.
Shot in monochrome, with only the briefest splashes of colour used to brilliant effect, Parvulos takes the pandemic horror into uncharted territory as it weaves dark comedy with heart-pounding horror and lashings of nausea-inducing gore. Ezban’s puzzle box movie never plays by the rules as we follow Salvador, Oliver, and Benjamin through their living nightmare of impossible choices and narrow paths, which we know from the outset can only lead to tragedy. Salvador may be the leader, but he is only a young man, barely eighteen, and his suffering and inner turmoil are brought to the screen by Farid Escalante Correa, whose performance is nothing short of exceptional. At the same time, Oliver, played with heartfelt emotion and fear by Leonardo Cervantes, attempts to take some of the burden from his older brother, knowing he needs to step up as second in line despite his worries and tender early teenage years. However, it is Mateo Ortega Casillas’s performance as pre-teen Benjamin that truly makes Parvulos tick as the story twists and turns toward its shocking and traumatic conclusion.
Parvulos isn’t just brave and bold in its style, vision and performances; it is bathed in a gothic beauty rarely seen in pandemic apocalypse movies as it explores the fixed points in life that can’t be changed as innocence is replaced by reality, hope is replaced by fear, and death stalks our young brothers despite their tender age. But a warning to the curious: Parvulos doesn’t pull its punches, and while the horror may be diluted by moments of musical escapism and dark comedy, Ezban’s movie is designed to make you squirm and squirm you will.
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