We Are What We Are

After years of well crafted TV serials, we are used to a specific language of spoon-fed clues to describe the strange, alien or fantastic. In this Mexican "cannibal" film, the audience is made to work fairly hard to discern anything.

The grinding logic of the film eventually pays off. The closing doors, family stress and fear of the outside from inside the dysfunctional home paint a picture of a family that is twisted yet recognisable.

There is a possibly fantasy link that explains things, but that is thrown in. Poverty, or inability to control the future is the driver for everything. The ending is slightly more traditional, but the experience remains unrelentingly strange.

In Mexico, the patriarch (Humberto Yáñez) of a family of cannibals dies in a shopping mall. He is a watchmaker that supports his family and his sons Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julián (Alan Chávez) go to the street market to work in his booth. However the manager evicts them from the market since their father owes three-week rental to her. When they return home, their sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitan) informs that their father has died in the mall. While the three siblings discuss who will be the family provider for their rituals, their mother Patricia (Carmen Beato) locks herself in a room. Alfredo and Julián initially assume the responsibility but they are clumsy and soon two corrupt police detectives track them down.

"Somos lo que hay" is an unpleasant Mexican low-budget movie with displeasing characters. A couple of days ago, I saw the good 2013 remake and I was curious to see the original feature. I found it very disappointing, with nasty characters and situations. Further, it is difficulty to say if the author of this horror movie wishes to show social problems in Mexico (poverty, prostitution, corrupt police etc.), drama or whatever. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): Not Available on Blu-Ray or DVD

I am a huge fan of European films and of horrors and with this film being compared to Let The Right One In in many reviews I read, my expectations were high. This apparently does for cannibals what Let The Right One In did for vampires.. Unfortunately the film didn't live up to my expectations. An enjoyable film needs to have at least one of the following: strong dialogue, interesting storyline, intreging characters, excitement, terrific direction; We Are What We Are, I felt, had little or none of any. I didn't know enough about the characters to care about them getting food and saw no reason why they should kill the innocent (or whores as they muchly discussed) so that they could eat? Nor did I like the mother, or the youngest brother. I felt no attachment to the incestuous relationship. I felt that the mockery of the police was pointless and frustrating. I stayed in the cinema to watch the film and I wasn't bored just highly disappointed. Would I recommend this movie? No... Do I feel like I wasted 90minutes of my life watching it? No... It was just an OK portrayal of a family coping with their issues. Don't rush to the cinema to see it (unless like me you have unlimited membership) just wait until its shown on Channel 4 if ever it is.

Billed as a 'cannibal gore-fest' (on the DVD cover) this definitely is not. It so isn't, but what it is, is a clever drama about cannibals, with very little cannibalism. It is very much like, and maybe fueled by films like 'Let Me In'.

The film is about a man, who is a father and husband that dies from flash poisoning. He leaves behind a family of four, who will now have to hunt for their own flesh as he was the provider. The family is led by an erratic mother, intent on keeping the 'ritual' alive and keeping her family hidden. This however remains difficult as the sons try to step up and do the hunting (of prostitutes) and mess up, alerting local detectives and prostitutes.

The ending is good and some elements make this film a creditable experience, with some unique flavour (not blood) and I am left admiring it for what it is.

A relatively fresh take on a genre that has to be tread upon with care and with the threat of great peril in mind.

'We are What We Are' is the portrayal of a dysfunctional family. However the representation of it is amplified, with much intensity as the film rolls closer to its end.

It is an interesting watch however, it keeps the secrets to itself. I am hoping the director intended to be it like that.

I'm confused, really. It's one of those films where you cannot figure if it's a plain and straight, mediocre narrative (with some great sequences) or maybe you missed out on some key plot contrivance and hence missed 'the point'. For Instance the back-story of 'Jug Face (2013)' was in the opening credits, sort of like hand-drawn stop-motion short.

Anyhow, Hollywood is about to release a re-make; let's see how they tackle the dinner matter.

Watch it, if only to let me know the 'what'