76
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 95TheWrapMonica CastilloTheWrapMonica CastilloOnce the spell of Tigers Are Not Afraid ends and the credits roll, its story lingers in the air. It’s a story of sadness, loss and survival, a fairy tale tailor-made for our anxious times.
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe filmmaker has such a strong command of mood, character and performances – especially impressive given the age of her cast – that her world quickly, seductively overwhelms.
- 83The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakLópez’s fairy tale is one seeking to remind us of an innocence not yet stripped clean.
- 83The A.V. ClubKatie RifeThe A.V. ClubKatie RifeThe Tigers’ rooftop hideout is like something out of Hook, and the film moves along at a brisk, Spielbergian clip; however, the combination of dark themes mixed with whimsical fantasy strikes a tone more similar to Guillermo del Toro’s early work.
- 80Film ThreatBobby LePireFilm ThreatBobby LePireTigers Are Not Afraid isn’t quite the masterful dark fairy tale it aspires to be. The humor is entirely unnecessary and tonally misplaced. But what it gets right, it does brilliantly. The acting is superb, the mix of fantasy and realistic drama is sublime, and the story is haunting and fascinating in equal measure.
- 80Village VoiceApril WolfeVillage VoiceApril WolfeBy telling this story through the children’s eyes with a magical-realism element, López makes the tragically unthinkable somehow more palatable.
- 80Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternIt is by turns harrowing, affecting, unexpectedly funny, truly scary and fantastical. (The cinematographer was Juan Jose Saravia.) The fantasy grows overlush from time to time, but Ms. López has created an original work of art in genre disguise.
- 70The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThematically underdeveloped yet pleasingly creepy, Tigers Are Not Afraid balances its mild terrors with appealing moments of childish creativity.
- 70Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangThe emotion and the horror might have taken still deeper root if the world of the movie felt less hectic and more coherently realized, if the supernatural touches and occasional jump scares welled up organically from within rather than feeling smeared on with a digital trowel.
- 50Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSlant MagazineEd GonzalezIt never resolves its commingling of the fanciful and the mundane into a particularly coherent argument about the legacy of trauma.