We Are What We Are (2010)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Awesome Movie

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I'm not entirely sure why several people recommended this film to me… I guess that everyone still assumes that an art-house horror flick is automatically a must see in case it a) got made in a Spanish speaking country – preferably Mexico, b) played at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and c) quickly received an American remake. Well, newsflash, "We Are What We Are" most certainly isn't a must-see. Quite the contrary, in fact, this is an incredibly dull film with loathsome characters, implausible and outdated plot elements and severe pacing issues. This irritating hybrid between uninspired cannibal flick and pretentious coming-of-age story starts out fairly promising, with the rather disturbing death of a seemingly sick and perverted man in front of a shopping mall. He turns out to be the patriarch of a cannibalistic family and the sole provider of human bodies on their diner table. It's now up to the oldest son Alfredo to go out hunting, and together with his psychopathic younger brother Julian he brings home a prostitute, much against the will of their mentally unstable mother. After this incident all family members go hunting for their own victims, but they are closely followed by a determined police detective. "We Are What We Are" is unimaginably slow-paced and boring, but most of all terribly pretentious. For example, the screenplay never talks about cannibalism but about "performing the ritual". You can tell that some of the plot evolutions were intended to be shocking and controversial, but they actually aren't taboos anymore since a very long time, like gay adolescents or vigilante prostitutes. The filming style is exaggeratedly melodramatic, with colorless set-pieces and a deeply unpleasant ambiance. I assume that the young and overly ambitious writer/director Jorge Michel Grau also deliberately stuffed his film with social criticism about the poverty and hopelessness in certain big Mexican cities, but first he should try to pen down better scripts before getting politically engaged...

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'

If it is an awful cliché to say a film about cannibalism is in bad taste, the film itself is far, far worse. It begins with the death of the head of the cannibal household, a natural death, although the human finger that was apparently removed from his stomach in the mortuary might have had something to do with his demise.With Daddy gone to meet his Maker, or more likely the other bloke, the big question is who is to take over? From the way his widow behaves, she has clearly been wearing the trousers anyway, little sister is obviously too much of a shrinking violet, so that leaves a contest between the two sons.For the moment they decide to cooperate rather than compete, and off they go to kidnap a child from the street for the ritual, as it is called. They make the mistake of trying to abduct one from a group, and are lucky to escape with only a few ruffled feathers.Next they decide to kidnap a prostitute, they succeed, but what does the matriarch say? How dare you bring me a whore. Next up is a homosexual who is picked up by one of the sons, but is not to the taste of the other. Needless to say, it all ends badly.Some people claim to find humour in this film; apart from a joke or two in the morgue, that was lacking too."Somos Lo Que Hay" has recently been remade in English as "We Are What We Are". Remind me not to watch it.

As I write this, two movies are in my mind: "Martyrs" and the subject of this review, because of the flavor that leaves on the mind after the final credit goes away, I am the guy who waits till the dark takes over the screen and the lights turn on, not because of a possible cliffhanger but is that, enough time to reflect on what I just saw. I grew up when the Mexicans where doing the worst of the worst in movies, today I am pretty happy that it has taken on a different direction, (regardless of the bad language on the movies). For two straight days, I have involved myself on Mexican films, and to my pleasure, I have found jewels. So if you are a "freak" like me, don't wait, find this movie, watch it, and regardless of couple of absurdities, you may recommend it to someone else! And don't waste your time asking questions that were already answered in the movie as one reviewer did!If you read a review of mine you may notice that I am a movie freak, fanatic, connoisseur, or else. Yes, I have seen pretty much everything: from the most disgusting, snuff, degrading, exploitive, and at the same time adventures, action, drama, comic, love stories, animation etc… etc... etc… And if you sit with me, and want to know how it ends before the filmmaker tells you, you just have to ask, arrogant? Yes, before my abc's I learned movies, do you want to challenge me? Then prepare yourself because I have seen from Russia, Cuba, Philippines… and all over the world, Independent or commercial, so not many movies can convince me, draw me out of reality!, But "We Are What We Are" is not your conventional movie, why? Because delivers easily, better than ten Hollywood movies, unless you are craving just for the horror, if that is what you are looking for, then stick to your conventional filmmakers.