You Are Not Me

Fantastic Fest 2023 Greetings again from the darkness. Every year, Christmas is voted both the happiest AND most stressful time of the year. The reason why seems pretty obvious and is encapsulated in one word: family. Co-writers and co-directors Marisa Crespo and Moises Romera seize on this phenomenon by having Aitana and her wife Gabi, along with their recently adopted baby boy, make a surprise visit to Aitana's parents' home on Christmas Eve ... or if you prefer the word used by the parents, it's an 'unannounced' visit.

From the moment the front door is answered, Aitana (and us) notices the cold and strange reception. After being away for three years, she expected long hugs and oohs and ahhs. Instead, her wheelchair bound brother, Saul, is the only one happy to see her, and the curious vibe includes meeting Nadia. The layers take a while to peel back, but what's apparent is that Nadia has replaced Aitana as the daughter, and this includes sleeping in her bed, wearing her clothes, and being doted on by the parents.

The atmosphere shifts from odd to downright bizarre in the evening as a formal dinner party confuses Aitana. Is she in danger? Is her baby in danger? Is Nadia a threat? What is up with her parents' odd behavior? There are teases of the supernatural, demon worship, and a culinary cult. Does any of this play out? Does Aitana's nightmare come true? The filmmakers expertly toss out many questions, while we as viewers are reminded of ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) and THE WICKER MAN (1973) as the set-up progresses. No one would describe this as a typical Christmas flick (although there is an Old Nick); however, it's an impressive production that keeps us guessing.

Meet-the-parents horror films have created their own sub-genre. Since recent favourites like Get Out and Ready or Not, many films have filtered the real anxiety of meeting a couple's family through genre violence. But the Spanish thriller YOU ARE NOT ME takes a twist on this classic and shows us that the greatest terror is not meeting your partner's parents, but that you've stopped knowing yours and it's your partner who seems to know them best.

Aitana returns home for Christmas with her partner and the baby they have adopted and discovers that her parents have replaced her with a stranger... It's hard to go on without revealing more details but, as it moves towards an (unsurprisingly for genre fans) inevitable ending, the thematic play becomes richer, capturing the pain of familial rejection. The journey is very worthy and the epilogue is memorable.

For me, the biggest problem with the movie is that it's way too predictable. The final twist/explanation is set up throughout the movie in a way that makes it glaringly obvious what's going on. You see it coming from the moment the rich guy talks about raising pigs, so you spend the next hour waiting for the main character to catch up with the audience.

The cabal of old satanists is also kinda cliched and ridiculous and some of the dialogue and performances are pretty weak.

It's a small, low-budget movie and it shows, not so much in the production values (which are fine) but in the caliber of the actors involved.

It could have been a good movie but it is really bad and decisions they made during the drafting have been bad, there is the situation at Karate Kid put the wax, remove the wax, here we have the suitcase prepares the suitcase, the suitcase prepares the suitcase prepares the suitcase, the film could simply be resolved with the parents who instead of letting the daughter stay at home just angry because nobody gives him an explanation! And this is a side effect of the poorly written script could simply tell him that the daughter had to do it would have angry the same but at least it would have been safe, so predictable situations for but not for the protagonist as per screenplay, I add I do not understand where to the difficulty in choosing between the life of a newborn and the life of an adult between 40/50 years, this thing does not create me only sadness towards this script really bad and clearly ruined the subject.

Short review: 'You're Not Me' is a Spanish horror/thriller/mystery that I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of. It's a film that wants to put you in its lead character's shoes. It wants you to understand her frustration and bewilderment at the situation. So any frustration you as a viewer are finding while watching, just know that was the intention.

I love the ending of this film. It was worth the wait. I was so eager for the film to commit itself to whichever ending path it went down, and it did just that. While this isn't a perfect film, I do think most will find more than enough enjoyment in it one way or the other. 6/10.