Film Reviews

We Are What We Are

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• Details: Mexico / 90mins (16)

It's hard to pin this one down. A family drama, sure, but it's also a thriller, a horror and a detective story, all served up in a blistering attack on contemporary Mexican life. It can't help feel underwritten at times, however.
A haggard man stumbles through an unnamed Mexican city. He stops outside a department store where he sees his reflection. Horrified at what he sees, he vomits a tar-like blood and keels over. Cleaners scurry about, drag the body away, and swab the pavement. In a moment there's no trace of him left. The autopsy finds a woman's severed finger in his stomach. What gives? The man is a husband and father of three - quite possibly the oddest family in Mexico. When news reaches home that he has died, all eyes turn to eldest son Alfredo (Barreiro) to become 'the leader' and there's talk of continuing the 'ritual' and 'going to the bridge and doing IT there'. What ritual? Doing what? What the hell is going on?
In his feature debut writer-director Grau keeps his cards close to his chest, but then lets it all unfold quite suddenly: the family are actually cannibals and feed on prostitutes and anyone else who happens by. Daughter Sabina (Gaitan) urges Alfredo to take control but he's too weak for this, burdened by his conscience and his closeted homosexuality. Next in line would be Julian (Chavez) but he's "clumsy and violent" (so is the film, if truth be told). On the case are two ambitious but morally ambiguous detectives.
The unexpected outbursts of violence are shocking, even though Grau keeps them off screen for the most part (the squelch of ripping skin and crunch of breaking bones are more than enough to satisfy the gruesome imagination, thank you very much). Also unexpected is the black humour Grau manages to slide in unnoticeably. The director incorporates an old school horror soundtrack that oddly fits the tone, but still juxtaposes this new (flat wouldn't be correct term - it's more understated) take on the genre. A metaphor for a dog-eat-dog society (highlighted by the fact that 19-year-old Chávez was gunned down in Mexico City not long after shooting wrapped), We Are What We Are tackles violence, death and corruption in everyday Mexican life. The detectives flirt with young prostitutes and are not solving the case with any sense of justice in mind; one says to the other "Do you know how much money we will get by cracking this?"
We Are What We Are is underwritten, however, and plays out like an early draft, as bizarre and lucky plot developments lead to an all too easy and rushed climax. The two detectives aren't integral to the story and their presence, although hammering home Grau's message, is distracting. The family dynamics could have done with a little finessing, too. Rough around the edges, this paradoxically works in its favour when it comes to the family's amateur attempts at murder, but not when it comes to wrapping up loose ends.

Review by Gavin Burke