High on a mountaintop in Colombia, a raggedy pack of teenagers who answer to names including “Rambo,” “Smurf,” “Wolf,” “Dog” and “Bigfoot” receive supervision, intermittently, from a little person on horseback. These boys and girls have guns, an adult hostage from the United States and, soon, a cow. Their overseer tells them to look after the cow with care, as it is a source of milk. Consequences will rebound if harm comes to the cow.

And what do you know. The excitable, sometimes hormonally charged kids let things get a little out of hand one night and, oops, they kill the cow. Which they then rip apart for meat. The ripping apart is depicted in great, bloody, muscle-tearing detail. Thank you, God, for the gift of cinema.

“Monos,” directed by Alejandro Landes, is one of those allegories that is cagey about exactly what it is allegorizing. (The title can yield multiple meanings in translation, including “monkeys.”) Child soldiering is an unfortunate fact throughout much of the world, but this paramilitary gang has traits that suggest an extrarealistic interest or intent.