Parents' Guide to

Tyger Tyger

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Stylish but empty story of drugs/users; language, nudity.

Movie NR 2021 93 minutes
Tyger Tyger Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 16+

Based on 1 parent review

Laura35
Laura35 Adult
February 28, 2021
age 16+

Be honest with your kids.

See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In TYGER TYGER, Blake (Sam Quartin) robs a pharmacy during a pandemic and comes away with a trunk-load of pills. She and her friend, the unspeaking Bobby (Nekhebet Kum Juch), head toward the fringes to Free City to distribute the supposedly life-saving meds. Along the way, they kidnap -- and then enlist the aid of -- Luke (Dylan Sprouse), who has a heroin dependency. They then meet Joe (Craig Stark), who grants the trio entry into the strange place, which is filled with artwork and free-thinking outsiders, like Emerald (Thea Sofie Loch Næss). Before long, Blake and Luke realize that they have feelings for each other, but what if there's more to this place than meets the eye?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This arty indie has lots of style, and it often feels like a psychedelic-fueled outsider artwork, but it lacks a sense of rebellion or force; it eventually seems to be meandering aimlessly. The writing and directing debut of Kerry Mondragon -- who is in recovery himself -- Tyger Tyger takes its name from William Blake's 1794 poem "The Tyger," although it's unclear whether there's a correlation or whether the poem is just another of the movie's art pieces on display. The film did luck out on timing, given that it's set during a pandemic, complete with mask-wearing, but it doesn't really seem to click with much else during the COVID-19 era. There's no sense of communal experience.

While Tyger Tyger focuses on characters who are rebels and outsiders, the movie doesn't seem to have much to say about those in control of the situation or what's going on in the world. (It doesn't rebel against anything.) Indeed, it doesn't even have much to say about drug dependency, other than the idea that it just is. You get the idea that the characters would be just as happy working as fashion models, staring blankly at cameras. Still, despite the wobbly cinematography, Mondragon does establish a genuinely unsettling mood, and his little world manages to mesmerize, along with the sounds of characters saying things that sound profound but probably mean nothing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Tyger Tyger depicts drug use and drug abuse. Are drugs glamorized? Are they used for healing? Are there consequences for abusing drugs? Why does that matter?

  • How are guns and violence shown? Are they used to shock or thrill? How did the film achieve this feeling?

  • How is sex depicted? What values are imparted?

  • What does the movie's ending mean? What does it say about everything that happened before?

  • How does the movie compare to the William Blake poem that Luke recites?

Movie Details

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