Paola Lara as the young Estrella in Tigers Are Not Afraid, which opens at SIFF today
An assured, suitably creepy horror/drama/coming-of-age film from writer/director Issa Lpez, Tigers Are Not Afraid takes place in an unnamed drug-war-ruined Mexican city, where young Estrella (Paola Lara) finds herself on the streets with a gang of tough, abandoned kids, led by the tiny, unpredictable Shine (Juan Ramn Lpez).
On the run with these boys—and hiding from a cruel local gang that vanishes adults and children alike—Estrella begins glimpsing eerie visions and hearing the raspy demands of vengeance-thirsty ghosts.