Fantasy adventure has mythical beasts, peril, life lessons.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
a lot
The full-grown chupacabra, which feeds off the blood of goats like a vampire, is depicted as a scary creature with retractable claws and wide wings, capable of stopping a moving vehicle. When scientists try to capture an adult chupacabra, the beast beats them back, knocking several people over. When it's hit by a car, it has to abandon its cub in the wild. References to a child's parent dying of cancer. They are also bullied and called names at school for being different (and Mexican). In one scary scene, they are attacked by a lion and nearly fall to their death. A grandparent has dementia and sometimes gets lost. Old footage of lucha libre wrestling shows people being knocked out in the ring. Reference to someone being thrown to the ground in a long-ago fight that left them in a coma with a skull fracture. A grandparent fights with their grandchild to teach them a lesson, but ends up getting hurt themselves. A scientist chases and threatens a group of people with a taser, and shoots tranquilizer darts at the chupacabras.
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1990s-era brands are glimpsed or mentioned, like the Beastie Boys, Jurassic Park, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pac Man. Also: Nike, Jansport, VW, Game Boy, Walkman, Mexicana, and various news outlets.
Positive Messages
a lot
Heritage is something to be proud of. Cultural differences should be celebrated. Speaking two languages is better than one. It's important to process grief and try to move on from loss. Family cares for family. Wild animals deserve preservation and care, not capture and destruction.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Memo and Luna immediately embrace their English-speaking cousin as part of the family. Chava is protective of his grandkids, as they are of him. They're all kind to and protective toward the abandoned chupacabra cub. Chava tries to help Alex process the grief of losing his father. Alex learns to be proud of his roots. Backed by profit-driven investors and a belief they can help humanity by capturing and harnessing power from the chupacabras, scientists risk lives in their pursuit.
Diverse Representations
a lot
The film is set in Mexico, where a young boy being raised in the United States by Mexico-born parents is sent for spring break to get to know his extended family better. There, he learns about various aspects of Mexican culture, including specific kinds of food, entertainment, and modern legends like the chupacabra. He learns to appreciate his heritage and second language, rather than be ashamed of them, as he has been back home in his all-White Kansas City school. He's bullied by White classmates for being different, called "taquito" and teased for the Mexican food he brings for lunch. He and his Mexican family members speak to each other in a mix of Spanish and English.
Parents need to know that Chupa is a fantasy adventure set in 1990s Mexico directed by Jonás Cuarón (Alfonso'sson) that focuses on a child of immigrants learning to appreciate his heritage and culture. Expect some violent and potentially frightening scenes, as well as themes of family, love, and loss. The main character, Alex (Evan Whitten), lost his father to cancer and is dealing with grief. He's also bullied at school for being "different" (read: Mexican). In Mexico, his grandpa Chava (Demián Bichir) has dementia that the doctor says is progressing rapidly, and sometimes he goes missing. Alex is caught up in an adventure involving the discovery of an abandoned cub of an elusive, if not mythical, creature, the chupacabra. A group of scientists -- one of whom is played by Christian Slater -- are trying to capture the creature for their own profit and ostensibly to help humanity. They shoot tranquilizer guns at the creatures and chase them and the humans into perilous situations. But the creatures fight back. In one scene, Alex is nearly attacked by a lion and falls off a collapsing bridge into a deep canyon. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
This movie is about finding your roots, love, connection and the real value of family or in their case “Familia” .
My 5 year old and 10 year old were glued to
the screen the entire time. These characters all felt real and authentic. Lots of laughs from this one so watch it with your kids it’s worth it…. !!
Also don’t worry about the “Chupa” (Chupacabras) it looks super cute like an overgrown cat with wings …. Mom Chupacabras not so cute but she’s protecting her baby ….so what can you expect? Recommend it.
The storyline is easy enough to follow. With the exception of a few moments of fairly intense adventure, it’s easy to watch. It takes place in Mexico, and there are quite a few scenes that require reading subtitles or understanding of Spanish. For that reason, this movie is best suitable for kids who are fluent readers.
What's the Story?
In CHUPA, 13-year-old Alex (Evan Whitten) is being raised by his Mexico-born mom in 1990s Kansas City. His dad recently passed away, and Alex is the target of bullies at school for being shy, and for being Mexican. Against his wishes, he's sent to Mexico to spend spring break with his extended family, including grandpa Chava (Demián Bichir), younger cousin Memo (Nickolas Verdugo), and older cousin Luna (Ashley Ciarra). He bonds with his cousins and discovers his grandpa was a famous wrestler who is now experiencing memory loss. One day Alex finds a strange creature on his grandfather's property. It's a chupacabra, a cub of the legendary creature. Meanwhile, scientist Richard Quinn (Christian Slater) is on the hunt for the cub and its family, hoping to harness their powers, and he'll stop at nothing to capture his prey.
Jurassic Park meets E.T. and Gremlins in this sweet but imperfect Mexico-set kids adventure. Though Netflix has encountered some online teasing for the movie's title, which can have sexual connotations in Spanish, Chupa in the film is the innocent nickname a child gives to the cub of the legendary figure of the goat-blood-sucking chupacabra. The magic of the pink-and-blue feathered creature is one of the film's strengths, especially the adorable moments of boy-beast bonding. Chupa's parents might be fearsome, but the cub looks and sounds like a huggable stuffed animal. Charming scenes show Alex tearfully singing Chupa a lullaby his own deceased dad used to sing to him and telling the creature he doesn't have to be alone anymore -- "I'll be your family" -- and Chupa harnessing his own powers to save Alex.
The film's themes of love, loss, and family are layered into a tale of a first-generation Mexican American middle-schooler learning to appreciate his roots, a uniqueness that makes him an outcast back home. Veteran Bichir and newcomers Ciarra and Verdugo make an appealing family unit. A lot of worthwhile messages are delivered here, and some unique cultural aspects are highlighted, like the masked, acrobatic wrestling phenomenon of lucha libre. Mexican American audiences in particular may appreciate the celebration of Mexican culture seen through the eyes of a boy raised in the United States, as well as the mix of Spanish and English in the script. That said, there's nothing subtle in the way the film sets up and resolves the personal issues of the main character, nor in what he learns of Mexico. Though Slater appears to be having a ball, his bad guy scientist feels like an amalgam of other characters we've seen before on screen.
Why did Alex reject his Mexican culture at the start of the movie? Did you understand his feelings? What did he learn during his visit to Mexico that seemed to change his attitude? What role did communication play in this change?
Talk about the legend of the chupacabra. Had you heard about it before? What other mythical creatures can you think of?
Did you think Quinn crossed a professional line in his pursuit of the chupacabra, or was he just doing his job? Were his intentions good or did he have other motivations?
The film is set in the 1990s. Where did you see the time period reflected in the movie?
MPAA explanation:
some action, peril and thematic elements
Last updated:
August 25, 2023
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Jennifer Green
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