{Fantastic Fest 2024} Parvulos

I loved my first experience with Isaac Ezban’s filmmaking. Evil Eye was beautiful and dark and like being fully immersed in the grimmest of fairy tales. He new exactly how to get the maximum out of his teenage actors and in general created an atmosphere and child like dread. It was not a fluke. Ezban’s latest film, PARVULOS, captures this essence through and through. He is a force to be reckoned with and PARVULOS proves it.

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.

As the crushing sense of obligation and a rush of hormones begin to overwhelm Salvador, their solitude is shattered by a woman attempting to break into their remote compound on Christmas Eve. After a tense introduction, Valeria is welcomed in for the evening. The dumbstruck, socially inept boys are transfixed by the brash young woman with her ravenous appetite and news from the outside world. While the brothers are nestled all snug in their beds, Valeria scavenges for supplies in anticipation of hitting the road at dawn. When she spies the dead bolted door bearing a crudely drawn skull and crossbones, her curiosity is piqued. Perhaps it houses more valuable resources?

The most striking element of PARVULOS are the phenomenal performances from the three stars as their relationships takes center stage. If we didn’t believe that they loved each other the film wouldn’t have the heart needed to increase the stakes of the film. If we also didn’t believe that they fought from time to time and that their relationships were complex as a result of the apocalypse the film wouldn’t have a brain. It has both in spades and that makes the stakes for all of the principals incredible high despite the film feeling incredible tight.

One note of concern, either by accident or intentional (even scarier)The film leans into a vaccines are ‘bad perspective’. It doesn’t matter if it is either by accident or by design, the result is at least a passing conversation about the danger of new vaccines. 2020 giving me PTSD again. Either way it leaves a bit of a stain on the exposition and adds a layer to the film that complicates my relationship to it. That being said I don’t think it feels intentional.

The zombies look incredible and that is chiefly because the make up design is great. The zombies almost look comedic in nature and there is certainly some Shaun of the Dead in this film. There is some much needed levity as the boys take their zombies outside for a walk complete with sunglasses. The entire scene columnizes in zombie sex which feels a bit like watching two dogs doing it complete with high pitched wines of…..pleasure?? The scene is only made worse/better when you take into account that the zombies are also the parents of the boys. Lots of therapy will be in order after this is over.

The movies second act settles into a lighter version of the zombie apocalypse that feels more at home with other films of similar ilk like Shaun of the Dead or Fido. These moments demonstrate Izban’s command and creativity. There is a scene where the entire family recreates a family dinner and it is clever, heartfelt, and incredible sad. As a high school teacher i have seen the kabuki theatre of disfunctional families play acting these moments of normalcy. They are all trying and that feels like the point.

There is also a sweetness that sneaks up on the audience that stems directly from the young boys desire to take care of their sick parents. It is impossible to seperate the disease from our conceptions of aging. Watching the people who took care of us their whole lives suddenly suffer because of their bodies is nothing new to me but also hit me surprisingly hard.

Izban knows how to shoot a movie and despite the film’s limited budget the film feels grand in presentation and theme. Despite its limited locations every scene in PARVULOS feels of the universe that the film takes place in. It really is an act of genius that manages to create a universe in our imaginations without showing us the true scope. We get this scope only as we meet other characters. We learn along with the boys that the world outside of their small home and surrounding woods is infinitely scarier than the zombies that are living in the basement.

The Trumpets are a badass name for bad guys too. As the film shifts from a traditional zombie narrative to the truly bad folks ‘the flaming trumpets’ Izban leans into a folk horror aesthetic that looks great and seems to only enhance the fear factor. The film’s final act is a brutal as it is heartfelt. Over the span of the film we have watched the boys play act at being grownups and the film’s darkest irony is ultimately that no matter how much they act like adults they are ill-equipped to handle this new world. Their cries and tears are childlike and its in that realization that PARVULOS is quite effective at tugging on the audiences heartstrings.

Ezban feels like the model director for a Fantastic Fest experience. He is clever and creative and never shies away from using a good genre trope. That being said with his deft eye and sense of style each trope feels different and every story he tells is new. I can’t wait to see what story he spins next. I watched PARVULOS as part of Fantastic Fest and hopefully you can check it out soon as well.