“Autumn and the Black Jaguar” Lacks Adventure
Written by: Patrick Howard | January 16th, 2025
Autumn and the Black Jaguar (Gilles de Maistre, 2024) 2½ out of 5 stars
Autumn, played by Lumi Pollack (The Fallout), is a girl who adopts a black jaguar while her family lives in Peru. Sadly, her mother is killed by poachers, and she and her father must move back to New York after the chase for her mother’s killers runs cold. Autumn’s life is shaken once more when she discovers that her pet jaguar, Hope, is being hunted down. With the help of her schoolteacher, played by Emily Bett Rickards (CW’s Arrow series), she travels to Peru to save that other member of Autumn’s family: Hope, the jaguar.
Autumn and the Black Jaguar is a heart-warming kids’ movie. It’s hard for me to say that many adults would get any significant enjoyment from the film, however. The dialogue and atmosphere coat the narrative in a thick layer of cheese that no doubt doesn’t faze children, but renders their parents unbelievably nauseated. Nevertheless, with many children’s media aimed at an extremely young demographic, the adult characters serve at best as the metaphorical obstacle real children face when trying to develop their respective sense of trust. Emily Bett Rickards is the worst example of an adult character in a children’s story: the annoying babysitter.

A choice that would have heightened the film’s stakes would be leaving Autumn alone during her journey back to Peru. A child in danger and way over her head in the wild jungle is far more thrilling than a child who is far more experienced in dangerous terrain than an adult. Even the educational cartoon show Dora the Explorer understands enough to pit her up against obstacles, like a literal mask-wearing fox, by herself.
The heart of the story lies where it should, with Autumn and her pet jaguar. Children will instantly gravitate towards Hope as a beautiful creature who needs their protection. The film might even become a favorite classic among the individuals who grow up with it. The story’s animal- and environment-conservation messages are delivered in a visually compelling manner that will long stick with its young and impressionable viewers.
