WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (2011)

Country Of Origin: Mexico

USA Release: Friday, February 18, 2011 (Limited Theatrical)

How I Saw It: Comcast On Demand

MPAA Rating: Not Rated (contains Violence, Gore, and Language)

Running Time: 1 hour 29 minutes

Directed by: Jorge Michel Grau

Written by: Jorge Michel Grau

Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitan, Carmen Beato, Daniel Giménez Cacho

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE is a Mexican cannibal film, or Mexicannibals if you prefer to call them such. This is a movie that has been getting quite a lot of positive buzz and hype for nearly the last year. It appeared on many horror sites' top 10 horror films of 2010. Now comes the big question. Does it live up to the hype? Well, despite being a decent, dark film, WE ARE WHAT WE ARE falls far short of being perfect.

We are thrust into the lives of a poor Mexican family at the moment when they discover their father has died. This family is not like other typical families though. Far from it, this family has a particular taste for human flesh. The father used to do all the hunting for them, but now it is up to the sons, mother, and daughter to find their next meal using whatever means they can. Things get more complicated when a cop discovers he is on the trail of the cannibals and is determined to bring them to justice.

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE has some really solid moments and good things going for it. However, it does get bogged down with some real heavy-handed social commentary about how people metaphorically eat each other alive in society. They constantly remind you in this movie that the cannibals are a metaphor, which takes away from the story at hand. Also some of the acting seemed a little over-the-top at points, which took me right out of the film. The pacing is slow, but the last 20 minutes are great. It doesn't make up for literally almost an hour of cannibals stalking people and fighting amongst themselves.

There are things to like though. The cop storyline (though not nearly touched upon near as much as it should have been) was extremely interesting and involved me more than the actual cannibal storyline. That might have been the point though. The last 20 minutes of the film were extremely intense and disturbing. Especially the very last shot of the film, but these things do not make up for everything else failing to engage me.

Grade: B-: I am really torn on WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. It is not a bad film, but not particularly anything more than a decent effort at the cannibal subgenre, which has not really been done this way before. It's original and doesn't completely focus on just grossing you out. We just can't really care about characters who aren't developed and when the most interesting aspect of the movie isn't focused on the most, it doesn't bode well for the movie overall. I definitely didn't hate WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. I will say it's a well-made, decent effort. It has many flaws and just comes out okay, rather than a masterpiece. This one is worth a watch if you're bored and want something out of the ordinary.