I hadn’t heard or read anything about this film when I went to see it which was quite refreshing, all I knew was that it was about a family of cannibals. So I prepared myself for a ‘gorefest’ in typical horror film fashion, but this is not a typical horror film. There is gore but not an unnecessary abundance like you would expect. The film is difficult to define as the subject matter on the surface appears as a horror film but the film does not utilise horror conventions. So, the subject matter, ‘We Are What We Are’ is about a family consisting of two brothers, a sister and a mother dealing with the death of the father, the main breadwinner, and as they are cannibals this means capturing and killing people in order to survive. Rather than this becoming an excuse for gore, the film deals with the familial struggles as the older brother is given the role of patriarch. We see the power relations between the siblings and mother and the killings are more ritualistic than gratuitous.
Stylistically the film is very dark in colour and the mise-en-scene reflects the poverty of the family and the Mexican suburb in which they reside. Throughout the film I was constantly reminded of ‘Let the Right One In’, due to the content and aesthetics, which is a compliment to ‘We Are What We Are’ and let’s hope Hollywood doesn’t remake it. The focus on keeping traditional rituals alive in a modern society is interesting and there are a lot of social comments that can be interpreted from the film.
The opening of the film sees the father die in a sterile, modern shopping centre where he is cleaned up quickly and efficiently. This juxtaposes with the shabby run down house and old fashioned watch mending trade of the family, emphasising the ancient ritual and tradition that they adhere to. The struggles of the family trying and failing to get a body become almost comedic in parts, in a dry deadpan way and the fact that the mother is judgemental of their victims, they kill a prostitute to start with, is humorous as they themselves would be the outcasts in society. The acting is gripping and believable, particularly from the actress who plays the daughter, and the ending is suitably macabre. I have deliberately not discussed the plot in depth as I feel the least known about the film the better. The social commentary within this film is refreshing and it is an enjoyable directorial debut. ‘We Are What We Are’ is by no means an outstanding film but at the same time I have nothing negative to say about it.
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