PÁRVULOS
US Premiere
Filmmaker Isaac Ezban brings Fantastic Fest 2024 PÁRVULOS, the story of three siblings surviving in the woods by scavenging in a virus-ravaged world. The dangerous secret they harbor in the basement may be their undoing.
The cinematography is something to behold. The sepia-toned lens locks you into a compelling plot. It creates this magical, borderline eerie feeling. The production design team is aces with children’s drawings and makeshift inventions. The post-apocalyptic aspects are relatively subtle but incredibly effective. The end credits are outstanding. The original song “Our People Need Our Help” is a certified banger.
Two surprising performances will blow you away, but I won’t spoil that with specifics. I will only say that Norma Flores and Horacio Lazo give us everything they’ve got. Our three young brothers are magnificent. Mateo Ortega Casillas gives Benny the right amount of innocence and rebellion. Leonardo Cervantes delivers vulnerability and compassion as Oliver. Farid Escalante Correa gives Salvador a perfect mix of resentment and raging hormones. Together, they warm and break your heart.
The film’s tone takes an unexpectedly amusing twist once Benny learns the secret that Oliver and Salvador keep in the basement. Benny convinces his brothers that normalcy can return if they try hard enough. Their unrelenting determination hits a snag when a young woman crashes their holiday plans. The film takes another turn during its nearly two-hour run. A wildly dark finale holds you captive.
PÁRVULOS has enough meat on the bone for a series. Visually striking, beautifully acted, and ceaselessly compelling. Is it not only a highlight of Fantastic Fest, but one of the year’s best films, period.
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Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Omega Pandemic, a devastating global catastrophe, teenage Salvador has assumed the role of caretaker for his younger siblings, Oliver and Benjamin. Equipped with a host of survivalist skills, Salvador harvests resources from the forest nearby and hunts small game for their table while trying to instill a sense of normalcy through routine, games, storytelling, and holiday celebrations.
Director: Isaac Ezban
Cast: Carla Adell, Leonardo Cervantes, Felix Farid Escalante, Norma Flores, Noe Hernandez, Horacio Lazo, Mateo Ortega
The Twilight Zone is still one of my favorite shows in television history. Each episode has an unpredictable storyline and a twist ending. The new film THE SIMILARS (LOS PARECIDOS) might be using the beloved series as a blueprint for its overwhelmingly creepy premise. Director Isaac Ezban gives us a glorious gift is shock and awe in this homage to one of the greats. 
The film opens with a visual precision that is truly impressive. It is set in 1968, in a bus station, 5 hours outside of Mexico City. A massive rain storm has stranded an eclectic group of strangers. No buses are arriving at the station and vague messages are streaming from a radio connected to the speaker system. The singular phone is connecting sporadically and everyone is on edge. The mood gets more tense when the group begins experiencing odd symptoms, one by one. Why is this happening? Can it be stopped? 
From the lighting to the costumes and the superb writing, the story zooms into action from opening to end credits. Constantly making you guess and jaw drop, The Similars is one hell of a ride into the unbelievable. The cast is a director’s dream and their chemistry and delivery is both period appropriate and fantastic. There is not one single moment in its entire run that bored me or lost my attention. I was impressed at the level of weird and wanted desperately to know how it would all end. Writer/Director Isaac Ezban has given us a real gift with this film and I cannot wait to see what comes next.
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