Colombia  2019  102 mins  15

In this chilling and highly original film set in Colombia, ‘monos’ (monkeys) are a squad of ill-disciplined paramilitary teenagers whose real purpose is never fully explained, but whose noms-de-guerre (Wolf, Rambo, Dog, Boom Boom etc) suggest a frightening focus they never really live up to. They survive on both a mountain top above the cloud line, and in a dense jungle, and spend much of their time keeping teen anarchy at bay which is, of course, especially frightening for the adult prisoner they are guarding, a woman known simply as ‘Doctor’. Accidents and executions are only a heart-beat away in a film that draws inspiration from The Lord of the Flies. (S)