Jardines del Bosque

Set within the titular Guadalajara neighbourhood, Jardines del Bosque follows 13-year-old friends Santos (Maximiliano Nájar), Lechuga (Beto Ramírez), and Daniela (Daphne Méndez) during the summer of 2014. The trio spend their time capturing pranks on camera, discussing conspiracy theories, and sharing an infatuation with Arlette (Fiona Palomo), the cool and mysterious older girl who moves in across the street from Santos. When she suddenly disappears alongside her boyfriend, the friends decide to investigate. Recruiting Santos’s adult cousin (Jesús Estrada), the group find themselves sinking into the city’s criminal underbelly.

Helmed by Álex and Diego Barragán, Jardines del Bosque is a marvellous coming-of-age tale that blends Stand by Me with Blue Velvet. Narrated by adult versions of the trio of protagonists, the feature taps into themes of nostalgia and friendship to remarkable effect without downplaying the impact of gang violence in the area.

There’s a real sense of joy woven throughout this film. Whether it’s watching the kids ride their bikes to up-tempo rock music, gleefully flee from the scene of their latest prank, or speculating if it was a witch or satanic cult who nailed a cow’s tongue to a tree, the filmmakers capture the sense of youthful freedom that summer promises. This feeling is further echoed by the euphoric soundtrack composed by co-director Álex Barragán, which colours scenes with a dreamlike wonder.

The three young actors share an incredible chemistry that’s written with a great sense of humour. Although there are a handful of laugh-out-loud moments, there’s a sombreness to how the film frames growing up. “You just think everything’s funny, everything’s a joke. Until one day, it’s not,” an older Santos reflects near the beginning. This line succinctly embodies the filmmakers’ central thesis. As the children get closer to the reality of what happened to Arlette, what starts out as an exciting childhood adventure becomes a loss of innocence that changes the direction of their lives. Though brief, the violence that arrives in the final act hits hard enough to completely change the tone of the feature as it arrives at its melancholic conclusion.

Jardines del Bosque is a masterful coming-of-age story from the Barragán brothers. By exploring the terrifying reality of gang violence through the eyes of children, the filmmakers put an inventive spin on the genre to deliver a bold and poignant examination of memory and violence.