Safe Return Doubtful

Or Fiesta en la Madriguera – Mexico 2024 – Comedy Drama

Based on a novel by Juan Pablo Villalobos, of whose writing I am a big fan, this is the story of the life of a ten year old boy whose father is one of Mexico’s drug lords. The child grows up with every luxury except of course, that the only people he sees in the palace in the desert that his father has built for him, are his father’s associates, one of whom is his tutor. 

Amongst the boy’s luxuries are a collection of costumes and hats, a zoo of usually wild animals, and rare swords and guns. Not surprisingly, the boy is precocious, though intelligent and funny, wonderfully played by Miguel Valverde. He still wants for more, a hippopotamus for the zoo, so he and his father set out for Namibia to find one. 

Their days in the palace in the desert are numbered though, and the climax of the film is when their lives are under threat. 

It’s a simple story that has no pretence to be anything more than that, but the director, Manolo Caro, makes it special with some quirky cinematography and above all, an excellent soundtrack. 

IMDb score 5.6 / 10 – My score 8 / 10