Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

Estrella lives in a Mexican city devastated by the drug war. During a shooting outside her school, her teacher gives her three pieces of chalk, telling her they will grant three wishes. When Estrella gets home, her mother is missing, probably taken by the Huascas, a cartel trafficking ring. She wishes for her mother to return and begins to see her ghost, asking Estrella to "bring him to us".

Estrella joins a gang of orphaned boys led by Shine, who has stolen a gun and a phone from Caco, a gangster working for the cartel boss Chino, a corrupt politician. When Caco kidnaps Morro, Shine tells Estrella that if she kills Caco she can join the gang. She wishes she did not have to kill him, then finds Caco already dead.

Caco's brother Tio hunts the children. Morro shoots Tio, but is killed. On Caco's phone, Shine and Estrella find a video of Chino murdering a woman. Estrella makes a deal with Chino: the phone in exchange for his men disappearing. At the meeting, Shine hands over a fake phone, and Chino kills his own men. Pop and Tucsi run away.

Shine tells Estrella that the woman in the video was her mother. With her last wish, Estrella tries to erase Shine's burn scars, but Chino returns and shoots Shine. Estrella flees and falls into a room full of bodies, including her mother's. Her mother's ghost gives her a bracelet. Estrella lures Chino into the room with the phone and traps him, and the ghosts of his victims kill him.

Shine's ghost appears to say goodbye, then sets fire to the room of bodies. Outside, Estrella meets a tiger that has escaped from the zoo.

What happens to Chino? Estrella traps him in the room of bodies, and the ghosts of his victims kill him. The dead finally get the man they asked her to bring.

Did the wishes come true? The film leaves it open. Each wish seems to work in a twisted way, which is why Estrella fears using them.

Why does Shine burn the room? To give the dead, including Estrella's mother, peace and release.

What does the tiger mean? It echoes the stories Shine told about tigers, who are not afraid. Estrella has become one of them: brave enough to survive.

What does "bring him to us" mean? The ghosts of the cartel's victims want Estrella to lead their killer, Chino, to them.