When it comes to filmmaking, it takes a lot to make it into theaters, but when you’re a filmmaker from another country you have to be a lot more creative if you want an opportunity to succeed in America, whether it’s your goal or not. Earlier this summer when working at the NY Film Festival I became very interested in a film called Somos lo que hay, or known in English as We Are What We Are, a Mexican horror drama about a family of cannibals living in the Mexican projects. A drama about cannibals should be enough to whet your appetite, but click more to find out if the film is any good and if the words cannibal and drama should ever be used again in the same sentence.
The film opens with a sick man walking around the streets of Mexico until he finally collapses and dies. The man was both the father and hunter of human flesh for his family. After his death, the responsibility of providing food is up to his teenage children, particularly Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), he must go out and find “meat” for the family so that their cannibalistic ritual can be performed and their life can be sustained. With a devastated and angry mother, a bold and intelligent sister, and a reckless brother, Alfredo must figure out how to lead and provide for his family, no matter what others think they are.
When you watch the movie and already know it’s about cannibals you get this uneasy feeling in your stomach because, although it’s rarely mentioned, you know they are looking for ways to find human meat and know that’s what they want to eat. The progression of the story translates this feeling really well but what sets this film apart from other films is that it recognizes its differences and capitalizes on the necessity of the situation that, like all people, cannibals must eat as well if they want to survive.
Although not nearly as good, the best film to compare this to is the Swedish vampire flick, Let the Right One In, another horror drama focused around adolescents. The real similarity, besides the genre aspect, is that both storylines have a strong sense of realism. Both films focus on the emotional toll of the character “defects” rather than using their problems in excess, the vampire gets blood only when it truly needs it and the cannibals only hunt when they truly need it. If it wasn’t for this drama/horror character development balance, this film, like Let the Right One In, would have just been another run of the mill horror flick.
Another aspect I liked is the use of greens and yellow in the film, which tends to be the case with many Mexican thrillers and most gory horrors. It was the cinematography that helped give the film a more realistic feel to it, especially since the setting was a Mexican project. You’ll notice it has the horror coloring of Saw but also a similar feel to the favelas in City of God. Using the dark grungy colors is what makes the bloody cannibalistic scenes both exciting and visually disturbing to watch.
There was one major issue and one minor issue I had with the movie. The first major issue is that nobody in the family seemed to have anything in common besides being cannibals, I understand that everyone has their own personality but for most of the film, this group of people didn’t seem like a family, just people bound together because of one strange circumstance but maybe it’s because of the minor issue this occured. The minor issue was the acting, I thought it could have been a bit better but, luckily, it didn’t take away too much of from the quality of the film.
We Are What We Are marks Jorge Michel Grau’s feature film debut and, with that in mind, it’s a damn good start. I think he can still grow and make better genre features but this film was a creative way to get the attention of the producers and distributors around the world. Although slow and even confusing at times, Grau manages to satisfy everyone’s thirst within the final climactic act.
We Are What We Are is an average horror drama that is bound to fascinate art house fans, genre fans and horror fans alike. It may not be as good as ‘Let the Right One In’ but it does its job of providing and combining an intriguing storyline with wonderful visuals resulting in a fresh film for the cannibal class.
Rating: An average cannibal horror drama that combines the story of Let the Right One In with the visual style of every Spanish horror/thriller
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