Chupa, Netflix's new film about a young boy befriending a chupacabra, is being roasted for its ill-advised title. The chupacabra (also known as the chupacabras) is an urban legend said to have originated in Puerto Rico, a small vampiric creature who drains the blood from goats and other livestock. In Spanish, the creature's name literally means "goat sucker," so the shortened version "chupa" or "to suck" is actually a slang term for a particular sex act.
This week, Netflix began their rollout for Chupa, sharing a trailer, poster, and promotional stills featuring the cast, which includes Let the Right One In star Demián Bichir. Spanish-speaking Twitter had a field day with the announcement, making fun of the title and questioning if any Spanish speakers were involved in the final decision-making process. Check out select online reactions below:
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Everything We Know About Chupa
Although it seems very probable that English-speaking people were in charge of the promotional material for the film, Chupa does feature the involvement of quite a few Spanish-speaking creatives. This includes director Jonás Cuarón, the son of Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. Jonás' best-known film is probably 2015's Desierto, starring Gael García Bernal and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, though he is currently attached to helm the upcoming Bad Bunny-starring Sony Spider-Man Universe film El Muerto.
In addition to Bichir, the cast includes a variety of performers both fresh and familiar. Mr. Robot and The Rookie child actor Evan Whitten will be playing the character who befriends the chupacabra, alongside an ensemble that features Ashley Ciarra and Nickolas Verdugo. Also on hand is Christian Slater, who seems to be playing a scientist on the hunt for the creature.
Following a young man and his cousins discovering the chupacabra while on vacation visiting their grandfather in Mexico, the film features a gentler vision of the creature than is usually depicted. In fact, Chupa has already drawn comparisons to Steven Spielberg's E.T. for its tone as a family-friendly creature feature. The film drops on Netflix on April 7, so audiences will soon be able to decide for themselves if those comparisons hold up.
Source: Various (see above)