Tigers Are Not Afraid is the best thing I saw at Fantasia last year, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Its decayed Gothic beauty, the use of a cartel as its supernatural force, its monkey’s paw twist on the power of wishes, and its absolutely unflinching portrait of children facing hopeless odds made for a brilliant spectacle that shook me deeply. I’ve been searching and waiting to see when it would finally arrive in some format in which everyone who needs to watch it (which is everyone) will finally have the chance. That’s happening soon–with a bit of a catch.
Shudder has officially snatched up the rights to Tigers Are Not Afraid and will premier the film sometime later this year. That’s great news, except for all the people who don’t have Shudder and aren’t interested in forking up for yet another streaming service.
I get it, with services like Hulu, Netflix, and the upcoming Disney+ offering a near-bottomless selection for one low price, it can be hard to get into more niche streaming platforms like Criterion‘s and Shudder’s. Tigers Are Not Afraid, however, is worth the price at least for one month to see it. The movie deserves to be a classic of its genre, praised by both Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro, and it’s a bit disappointing to see it reach such a limited distribution.
Shudder is an excellent service that deserves a film of this quality all to itself, but I wish they planned a theatrical release or something alongside its streaming debut. Either way, if you get a chance to see it please do so. It’s a gem.
‘Tigers Are Not Afraid’: AMC’s Shudder Gets Its Wish, Locks In Acclaimed Mexican Horror Fable [Deadline]
