Reviewer: Craig Phillips
Rating (out of five): ***
Mexican director Jorge Michel Grau's undeniably creepy if tonally uneven We Are What We Are (Somos los que hay) is on the one hand a melancholy dysfunctional family tale, and on the other hand, well... they'd like to eat it.
After their father perishes in a heap on a city sidewalk, the two sons, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julian (Alan Chávez*), help their haggard mother (Carmen Beato) with the family finances as well as the family appetite, despite not being especially equipped for either role. The most important thing? Continuing the family "ritual" -- the unpleasant task the patriarch done for them for years. Meanwhile, two curious cops, after seeing the coroner find a finger in the man's stomach, decide to investigate further -- at their own risk.
Rating (out of five): ***
Mexican director Jorge Michel Grau's undeniably creepy if tonally uneven We Are What We Are (Somos los que hay) is on the one hand a melancholy dysfunctional family tale, and on the other hand, well... they'd like to eat it.
After their father perishes in a heap on a city sidewalk, the two sons, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julian (Alan Chávez*), help their haggard mother (Carmen Beato) with the family finances as well as the family appetite, despite not being especially equipped for either role. The most important thing? Continuing the family "ritual" -- the unpleasant task the patriarch done for them for years. Meanwhile, two curious cops, after seeing the coroner find a finger in the man's stomach, decide to investigate further -- at their own risk.
- 8/1/2011
- by weezy
- GreenCine
The We Are What We Are Movie Trailer has premiered. Jorge Michel Grau‘s We are What We Are (2010) aka Somos lo que hay stars Adrián Aguirre, Miriam Balderas, Francisco Barreiro, Carmen Beato, and Alan Chávez. We are What We Are‘s plot synopsis: “A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge – how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies… and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they sate their horrific hunger? The task falls to the eldest son, Alfredo, a teenage misfit who seems far from ready to accept the challenge… But without human meat the family will die.
- 3/6/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
Writer-director Jorge Michel Grau faces a steep challenge with We Are What We Are. As the maker of an existential drama centered on a morose family of Mexican cannibals, Grau must find some way to connect his audience to the material, to unearth the humanity behind a gruesome, depressing subject. Let the Right One In and Let Me In, its American remake, established a template for this sort of enterprise, mixing the pangs of young love and the aching loneliness of the vampire’s everyday existence with the characteristic gore of a genre flick. Yet, cannibals are less sympathetic than vampires, the pop culture ghouls-of-the-moment, whose survival depends on human blood. There’s something far less romantic about humans who devour other humans just because they’ve developed a taste for them instead of, oh, McDonald’s. Filmmakers have traditionally understood this: Aside from one Hannibal Lecter, it’d be hard to finger a movie cannibal of...
- 2/19/2011
- by Robert Levin
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Reviewed by Rick Klaw
(February 2011)
Directed/Written by: Jorge Michel Grau
Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato, Jorge Zárate and Esteban Soberánes
In a debut feature reminiscent of the 1977 Wes Craven classic “The Hills Have Eyes,” writer-director Jorge Michel Grau offers a unique portrait of an unusual Mexican family with the disturbing and compelling “We Are What We Are.”
Following the sudden death of their patriarch/caretaker, the temperamental Patricia (Carmen Beato) and her three teenage children must fend for themselves. Father prepared the rituals and acquired the meat for this family of cannibals. Aided by his impetuous younger brother Julián (Alan Chávez) and his pragmatic sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitán), the eldest son, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), is now charged with this momentous task, a responsibility he seems ill suited for. Chaos and emotional turmoil follow as the family hunts for the flesh they need to survive.
Grau,...
(February 2011)
Directed/Written by: Jorge Michel Grau
Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato, Jorge Zárate and Esteban Soberánes
In a debut feature reminiscent of the 1977 Wes Craven classic “The Hills Have Eyes,” writer-director Jorge Michel Grau offers a unique portrait of an unusual Mexican family with the disturbing and compelling “We Are What We Are.”
Following the sudden death of their patriarch/caretaker, the temperamental Patricia (Carmen Beato) and her three teenage children must fend for themselves. Father prepared the rituals and acquired the meat for this family of cannibals. Aided by his impetuous younger brother Julián (Alan Chávez) and his pragmatic sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitán), the eldest son, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), is now charged with this momentous task, a responsibility he seems ill suited for. Chaos and emotional turmoil follow as the family hunts for the flesh they need to survive.
Grau,...
- 2/17/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Rick Klaw
(February 2011)
Directed/Written by: Jorge Michel Grau
Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato, Jorge Zárate and Esteban Soberánes
In a debut feature reminiscent of the 1977 Wes Craven classic “The Hills Have Eyes,” writer-director Jorge Michel Grau offers a unique portrait of an unusual Mexican family with the disturbing and compelling “We Are What We Are.”
Following the sudden death of their patriarch/caretaker, the temperamental Patricia (Carmen Beato) and her three teenage children must fend for themselves. Father prepared the rituals and acquired the meat for this family of cannibals. Aided by his impetuous younger brother Julián (Alan Chávez) and his pragmatic sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitán), the eldest son, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), is now charged with this momentous task, a responsibility he seems ill suited for. Chaos and emotional turmoil follow as the family hunts for the flesh they need to survive.
Grau,...
(February 2011)
Directed/Written by: Jorge Michel Grau
Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato, Jorge Zárate and Esteban Soberánes
In a debut feature reminiscent of the 1977 Wes Craven classic “The Hills Have Eyes,” writer-director Jorge Michel Grau offers a unique portrait of an unusual Mexican family with the disturbing and compelling “We Are What We Are.”
Following the sudden death of their patriarch/caretaker, the temperamental Patricia (Carmen Beato) and her three teenage children must fend for themselves. Father prepared the rituals and acquired the meat for this family of cannibals. Aided by his impetuous younger brother Julián (Alan Chávez) and his pragmatic sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitán), the eldest son, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), is now charged with this momentous task, a responsibility he seems ill suited for. Chaos and emotional turmoil follow as the family hunts for the flesh they need to survive.
Grau,...
- 2/17/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
A new poster Jorge Michel Grau's cannibalistic movie We Are What We Are hit the web today and we have it below you to check out thanks to Bd. It's below the synopsis. The film eats its way to VOD on February 18th. Enjoy.
Movie Synopsis:
"A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies... and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they sate their horrific hunger? The task falls to the eldest son, Alfredo, a teenage misfit who seems far from ready to accept the challenge... But without...
Movie Synopsis:
"A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies... and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they sate their horrific hunger? The task falls to the eldest son, Alfredo, a teenage misfit who seems far from ready to accept the challenge... But without...
- 1/14/2011
- by admin
- MoreHorror
We Are What We Are (15)
(Jorge Michel Grau, 2010, Mexico) Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato. 90 mins
Vampires are so last season, so bring on the cannibals! Why get a shake when you can have a whole Happy Meal? The cannibal lifestyle is by no means glamourised here, but if there is a revival, this could be its Let The Right One In - a downbeat, realist horror in which a father's death forces his flesh-eating family to fend for themselves. We're in for nasty gore and a grimy wallow in Mexico's underclass, but despite a frustrating lack of detail, the setting is ripe for socio-political metaphors and inappropriate comedy.
brilliantlove (18)
(Ashley Horner, 2009, UK) 97 mins
You can tell by that lower-case title how envolope-pushingly edgy this wants to be. And sure enough there's strong sex and hipster protagonists named Manchester and Noon. At heart, though, it's a natural, unashamed...
(Jorge Michel Grau, 2010, Mexico) Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato. 90 mins
Vampires are so last season, so bring on the cannibals! Why get a shake when you can have a whole Happy Meal? The cannibal lifestyle is by no means glamourised here, but if there is a revival, this could be its Let The Right One In - a downbeat, realist horror in which a father's death forces his flesh-eating family to fend for themselves. We're in for nasty gore and a grimy wallow in Mexico's underclass, but despite a frustrating lack of detail, the setting is ripe for socio-political metaphors and inappropriate comedy.
brilliantlove (18)
(Ashley Horner, 2009, UK) 97 mins
You can tell by that lower-case title how envolope-pushingly edgy this wants to be. And sure enough there's strong sex and hipster protagonists named Manchester and Noon. At heart, though, it's a natural, unashamed...
- 11/13/2010
- by The guide
- The Guardian - Film News
Wandering around like a zombie attempting to touch dummy breasts through a shop's window, the breadwinner of a family of cannibals starts coughing up vile black liquid. Dying of a heart attack outside a swanky shopping centre, his body is promptly dragged away and the mess below cleaned up. His family are left to fend for themselves which isn't easy when they are evicted from their market stall pitch where they mend watches and have never had to hunt for their meals.
After the initial wave of shock and despair, the remaining family deliberate over what must be done, all agreeing that food must be found for the next day. Their father was addicted to whores, but their mother refuses to eat prostitutes - even to the point of making a risky return of a prostitute's corpse as a warning to the others to leave her family alone, rather than take a bite.
After the initial wave of shock and despair, the remaining family deliberate over what must be done, all agreeing that food must be found for the next day. Their father was addicted to whores, but their mother refuses to eat prostitutes - even to the point of making a risky return of a prostitute's corpse as a warning to the others to leave her family alone, rather than take a bite.
- 11/10/2010
- Shadowlocked
Family dramas usually don't involve ritual murder and the consuming of human flesh. But that's not the only thing that makes We Are What We Are (Somos lo que hay) stand out in writer-director Jorge Michel Grau's first feature, and not just because it won two awards at Fantastic Fest this year (Best Film and Best Screenplay-amd Next Wave).
Grau's merciless, gritty thriller centers on a destitute family reeling from the sudden loss of their patriarch. But unlike most families, he's not the breadwinner so much as their only procurer of victims for their bloody rituals. They don't especially mourn for him but have to find his successor and keep to their rituals. Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) assumes it's his responsibility to be the man of the house, but he's ill equipped, despite the urgings of his sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitan), who clearly favors Alfredo over her other, impetuous brother...
- 10/13/2010
- by Jenn Brown
- Slackerwood
We Are What We Are PosterSomos Lo Que Hay, or for English horror fans We Are What We Are, is a Spanish language film, which now has an international trailer. The clip shows much more footage of a family of cannibals and their late night feeding patterns. Haunting night clubs, back alleys, and hideouts of the homeless, a brother, a sister, and a mother go about their nightly feedings, under a more watchful eye of the authorities. Have a look at this clip for We Are What We Are below, as IFC Films gets set to release this film in theatres throughout 2011.
The synopsis for We Are What We Are:
"A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always...
The synopsis for We Are What We Are:
"A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always...
- 10/8/2010
- by [email protected] (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
[Our thanks to Lauren Baggett for the following review.]
I'll enthusiastically and without reservation echo what Todd Brown said back in March - this is the film of the year. An astoundingly assured debut from Jorge Michel Grau, We Are What We Are transcends its reputation as "the Mexican cannibal movie" and delivers an unflinching, uncompromising vision that is at once enthralling, frightening, and oddly beautiful.
The plot follows a poor family in Mexico City for a few intense days as they deal with the loss of their ne'er-do-well patriarch. With their father gone, not only their livelihood is under threat, but also their survival. "The ritual", a cannibalistic rite which is never explicitly explained, must continue. The family must be fed, and the task of bringing home human meat must be passed on. Alfredo, the eldest child, is unwillingly thrust into the role, and he is forced to deal with his despairing mother, his fanatical sister, and a younger brother,...
I'll enthusiastically and without reservation echo what Todd Brown said back in March - this is the film of the year. An astoundingly assured debut from Jorge Michel Grau, We Are What We Are transcends its reputation as "the Mexican cannibal movie" and delivers an unflinching, uncompromising vision that is at once enthralling, frightening, and oddly beautiful.
The plot follows a poor family in Mexico City for a few intense days as they deal with the loss of their ne'er-do-well patriarch. With their father gone, not only their livelihood is under threat, but also their survival. "The ritual", a cannibalistic rite which is never explicitly explained, must continue. The family must be fed, and the task of bringing home human meat must be passed on. Alfredo, the eldest child, is unwillingly thrust into the role, and he is forced to deal with his despairing mother, his fanatical sister, and a younger brother,...
- 7/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Horror films are branching out to Mexican markets as Somos Lo Que Hay or We Are What We Are gets picked up by IFC Films for a 2010 Video-on-demand release. The story follows a cannibalistic family whose father dies leaving the remaining to starve. Gruesome, but sure to be a little tasty, the film's synopsis and further details are below.
The synopsis for We Are What We Are:
"A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies... and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they slake their horrific hunger? The task falls to the eldest son,...
The synopsis for We Are What We Are:
"A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies... and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they slake their horrific hunger? The task falls to the eldest son,...
- 5/23/2010
- by [email protected] (Michael Ross Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
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