Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Really Surprised!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

When you're dealing with a group of cannibals, and realize that cannibalism is not their craziest feature, you know you have some really deranged individuals...This film builds an amazing character background, what one would call "a social worker's nightmare". A family that the word "dysfunctional" merely starts to describe. Contrary to most films use characters that seem unreal, or "movie like", this movie acquaints us with a family that most people, at one time of their lives have actually met, in a way. Extremely poor, incapable of social interaction, violent, isolated and insane. Criminally insane, in a reality where there absolutely no heroes around (literally there is not a single moral character in this movie, at least by common standards). The film deals with what seems at first glance to be an "over the top story", in the most realistic of ways. It feels very very real, and the choice of actors with distinctly "Mexican" features in their appearance is an excellent means to bring the films reality to life.So, why only 5/10 stars? Well unfortunately, a movie has to be entertaining (and by entertaining I don't mean making you "have fun" but keeping you engaged and caring about what's going on) and this one unfortunately... isn't. The characters, settings and images are great but not much happens during the movie plot-wise. Since you can't really care or relate with any of these characters, at least there should have been a more intriguing story, but there isn't. Even though, it is really worth your time, especially if you want a reminder of how sick the institution of family in general can be.

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 Quite the contrary, in fact, this is an incredibly dull film with loathsome characters, implausible and outdated plot elements and severe pacing issues.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...

'WE ARE WHAT WE ARE': Three Stars (Out of Five)Mexican horror film (with English subtitles) about a family of cannibals in which the teenage children must take over the hunting duties of the father when he passes away. The film is similar in theme and character structure to a recent (2006) American low budget horror film called 'THE HAMILTONS', except that film dealt with a family of vampires. This one is not quite as well made or interesting as that flick but neither are horror classics. It is a decent 'B' horror film none the less with some pretty good acting. The directing and script are adequate (by Jorge Michel Grau) for the genre but of course not very original. Still the film is dark and disturbing and delivers that much at least.The story begins with a man (Humberto Yanez) stumbling through a mall and becoming obsessed with some mannequins in a shop window. After being shued away he passes out and dies in the middle of the mall floor. His wife Patricia (Carmen Beato) and three children are alarmed when he doesn't return home and his two sons, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julian (Alan Chavez), fill in for him at the street market where he worked as a watch repairman. After getting in a couple fights (over debt their dad owed) and kicked out of the market they return home to the news that their father has passed away, from their sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitan). As their mother freaks out and locks herself in her room Sabina informs her brothers it's now their duty to find someone for their regular cannibal ritual. The two brothers then set out into the city looking for prey.The film is very dark (both thematically as well as lighting) and brutally violent. It is very shocking to watch this seemingly normal family resort to such violent behavior like it's a regular way of life. The sons do of course have trouble with it at first, especially the more emotional Alfredo, as the sister Sabina seems more mature and adept at their traditional way of life. In that way the film is intriguing and like I said disturbing but none of the characters are really relatable and in the end the film paves no new paths. It's just another generic horror film told in a slightly different fashion (at least from the average American film). Worth seeing if you're a horror junkie, otherwise it's probably a skip.Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4tG6zhJxO8

Even if you don't know what the movie is about, the opening scene will make it very clear, without any words, what is about to come. And it is shot very nicely (in a raw way). And the movie does hold onto that mood until the end of it.Unfortunately I did not like the ending that much. It's not about how a movie ends, but about how people act (or react) to the circumstances. We are used to certain behavior in movies, but it'd still be nice to see people actually having a mind of their own and not something that feels "scripted" (no pun intended). But I might be nitpicking. If you like movies to be weird and all over the place and a horror movie mixing drama and social commentary, then you found another "candidate" ...