EL JEREMÍAS

EL JEREMÍAS is a coming-of-age comedy from Mexico about an 8-year-old boy with the IQ of a genius, but, as his talents grant him more recognition, he learns the path to fame is a lonely one which will never fill the void of a family’s love. EL JEREMIAS is a charming comedy with strong Christian, moral values, but some foul language and drug references warrant caution for older children.

Jeremías lives with his mother, father, grandmother, aunt, and cousin in a lower class home in Mexico. Jeremías is a sweet boy, but doesn’t fit with the other children at school. His peers don’t understand his intelligent jokes, and he gets bored with the simplistic lessons from his teacher.

Eventually, Jeremías eventually makes friends with two old men in the neighborhood and spends his afternoons playing chess with them. He finally feels like he found his crew, and this creates a comical moment in their contrasting ages. The older men are amazed to see how quickly Jeremías picks up chess. They urge his parents to take him to get an IQ test. His father finds this idea ridiculous and refuses to take him. One day when his father is at work, his mother secretly takes him to get evaluated, where it’s determined Jeremías is in fact a boy genius.

When the family learns he is a genius, they praise him and celebrate with a family gathering full of lots of Mexican beers. Jeremías loves this new attention and likes being known as the boy genius. He receives his own computer and enrolls in medical school. There, he exceeds the test scores of those three times his age. However, when he has to witness an exposed dead body in class, he faints, reminding viewers this genius is still just a child.

Jeremías decides medical school probably isn’t him. He begins to ask himself, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” This question is on his mind throughout the course of the movie, where he can’t seem to find the “right” answer to it. For example, his former classmates don’t know, his medical student friends respond by saying being a doctor pays well, and his parents confess they never had time to think about it because they got pregnant too young.

Jeremías decides that only someone like himself, a genius, might know the answer. So, he becomes obsessed with a successful psychologist/author of books about child geniuses, and thinks maybe the psychologist has the answer. He emails the man, who responds with a visit to his home.

The Doctor invites Jeremías to join him at his home with a few other child geniuses in his program for gifted kids. His Mother doesn’t want him to go live in the city by himself, but his Father agrees. Jeremías is whisked away to a fancy apartment with three other highly gifted children. He spends his days with the best teachers and finally feels a sense of normality being around children, who understand his witty, intelligent sense of humor.

Although his popularity is increasing among the public, his heart is lonely and sad. Will Jeremías find the missing ingredient that will fulfill his life and purpose?

EL JEREMÍAS is a heartwarming comedy with a positive Christian, moral worldview. Family and prayer are extolled. The mother keeps a Bible by her bedside and talks about God in one scene. Best of all, Jeremías discovers that life without family is empty and hopeless. EL JEREMÍAS does contain some foul language and drug references, however. So, caution for older children is advised.