source: We Are What We Are

8.5 of 10. What horror and goth can be and should be. Not just scary, violent, disgusting, and bloody, but realistic; something that can and has happened. Where exactly it's set is not specified, but it feels like an Appalachian, backwoods location. Rather than going with another lost in the wilderness variation, this involves a small town and surrounding community with virtually no strangers wondering through. There's no easy mocking of talk'n styles, drunken hillbillies (or Squidbillies), or inbreeding. We get a much more developed, sincere story along with an actual plot setup and some mystery-like misdirection. Don't expect to be able to eat soup for a while after this.

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE is another Hollywood remake of a foreign horror flick, this time the Mexican horror movie of the same name. I was pretty much ambivalent about the original film, which I thought was overrated and rather dull, but this remake is even more boring and can be filed under 'pointless'. The film is about a typical family hiding a dark secret in their midst. I won't spoil it, but said secret feels more than a little passé and is merely an excuse for a few gruesome moments here and there. Otherwise, the film is sheer tedium to watch, occasionally enlivened by a familiar supporting face (Michael Parks and Kelly McGillis particularly coming to mind). The characters are hateful, the cinematography is dull and depressing with a grey, washed-out look throughout, and the whole thing has a mundane feel to it. I get that that was the intent - to make the horrific ordinary - but I do have to wonder what the point was. Writer/director Jim Mickle previously handled the much better STAKE LAND.

So thousands of years of evolution, colonialism and Europeans aspire to be cannibals and religious zombies? Does anyone see the complete corrupt pathology of making a movie like this and people not giving it the worst rating? It's sick, morbid and fatalistic. A premise of a secluded family, without much contact with humanity but living among 'regular' people who do not suspect or see any abnormality is part of the issue also. Any person who is of obvious difference (skin color, dialect, dress) would be immediately noticed and set upon...but cannibals that look like everyone else and believe in the same god, we accept you for who you are. That is a very deep seeded issue that has never been adequately addressed in the euro and anglo psych.

The Parkers, a reclusive family who follow ancient customs, find their secret existence threatened as a torrential downpour moves into their area, forcing daughters Iris and Rose to assume responsibilities beyond those of a typical family. Director Jim Mickle is known for his films "Stake Land" (2010) and "Mulberry St" (2006), and has really made a name for himself as a rising star in the world of horror. This is probably his best picture yet, and hopefully gets him the praise he deserves and his name to be more widely known. Mickle did not originally want to direct a remake of the original film, as he dislikes American remakes of foreign horror films. After speaking with Jorge Michel Grau, Mickle and Demici realized they could put their own spin on it. Michael Haneke, Japanese horror, and cult film "Martha Marcy May Marlene" served as inspirations. I think this film speaks for itself. The pacing, tone, atmosphere... it is very accomplished. Now, granted, I am not familiar with the Mexican version, so I can hardly compare them. But this impressed me.

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (2013) *** Bill Sage, Julia Garner, Ambyr Childers, Michael Parks, Wyatt Ruseell, Jack Gore, Kelly McGillis, Kassie Wesley DePaiva. Affectively creepy modern-day Gothic thriller about an odd family whose unsavory beliefs are about to be discovered when a rainstorm unearths their secrets and a curious local doctor with an ax to grind. Based on a Mexican 2010 film (which I did not see) the taut screenplay by Nick Damici (who plays the town sheriff) and director Jim Mickle manages to unnerve as well as bring a spring of sympathy to the family's brood who slowly realize that sometimes blood isn't thicker than water.

A few years ago, KillerReviews wrote a piece on how the future of horror was resting on the shoulders of Eli Roth, Ti West and Rob Zombie. We went on at length on how these three filmmakers have kept the genre afloat amongst a few lean years of mediocre horror entries. Just 18 months removed from the editorial, we can come to the counter of humble pie and report that we casually overlooked a few names – and one those is director Jim Mickle. Jim first grabbed our attention with Mulberry Street (2006) and followed it up brilliantly with Stake Land (2010). He's back behind the camera again in 2013 with We Are What We Are, a thriller that deals with a family of cannibals fulfilling their cultural traditions. A remake of the Spanish/Mexican film "Somos lo que hay" (2010), We Are What We Are was brought to Toronto to open the Toronto After Dark Film Festival last Thursday and delighted audiences with its disciplined and patient approach to storytelling. The film takes us inside the home of the Parkers where we meet family patriarch Frank (Bill Sage), daughters Iris and Rose (Ambyr Childers and Julie Garner) and young son Rory (Jack Gore). From an outside view, the Parkers look like your average quiet family. But when a tragedy strikes the family, the two young daughters are thrust into role that they don't exactly find themselves at comfort which leads to a fork their personal development between family and a societal right and wrong. At the center of their impasse is their father Frank who has continued the ancestral custom of cannibalism as part of the modern family tradition. The practice involves kidnapping townsfolk and keeping them locked up until the eldest female is tasked at preparing dinner. We learn through a family journal that the kinfolk exercise has been in practice through countless generations, but when a torrential rain storm begins to wash up human bones down river, a fellow local named Doc Barrow (Michael Parks) begins to connect various observations together which eventually lead him to conclude that the Parker's may have something to hide. Beautifully captured on screen, We Are What We Are tells a complex story without gratuitous scenes of unnecessary violence in order to relay the horrific idea of cannibalism. Hats are particularly tipped to the perfectly cast actors who brilliantly enliven the screen with their nuanced performances. Actors Ambyr Childers and Julie Garner are particularly riveting to watch as they struggle with the morality of their actions against their love of family and respect for their father's wishes. As the subtlety of the film's pace begins to mount towards the film's climax Nick Damici's screenplay will have audiences too involved in the details of the story to ponder ahead as to how the final reel will conclude. Iris and Rose will have adult decisions to make that could affect the continuation of the family bloodline and it is their actions that will fuel the more macabre and satisfying resolve. We Are What We Are might not follow the typical road map for a conventional horror film. The screen does not soak with blood, jump scares are nearly non-existent and character development drives the film instead of simple filler between family meals. Jim Mickle has proved for a third time that he is a force to be reckoned on the horror playing field. His ability to search out and work on good material combined with his ability to tell his story without falling to the pressure of fast audience gratification is a testament to his skills and patience behind the camera and he has quickly risen as a talent to watch going forward.

The Parker family is fasting following and old family tradition. When the matriarch, Emma Parker (Kassie DePaiva), goes to a hardware store in the nearby small town during a rainstorm, she does not feel well, has an accident and dies. Her husband Frank Parker (Bill Sage), who is the owner of a trailer camping area, grieves her death and forces her older daughter Iris (Ambyr Childers) to assume the responsibility for keeping the family tradition, feeding them and nursing her teenage daughter Rose (Julia Garner) and her young brother Rory (Jack Gore). He also gives Emma's journal to Rose with the history of their family to learn their traditions. Meanwhile Sheriff Meeks (Nick Damici) and Deputy Anders (Wyatt Russell) are investigating cases of missing persons in the skirts of the town. Doc Barrow (Michael Parks), who lost one daughter that has disappeared, is carrying out Emma's autopsy and finds an important discovery that will connect the missing cases with the Parker family. What is the tradition of the Parker family? "We Are What We Are" is a depressing and creepy remake of a 2010 Spanish movie "Somos lo que hay". The story is developed in slow pace in a depressive atmosphere and the acting is top-notch. Unfortunately the screenplay discloses the mystery too soon but the gore conclusion is gruesome and hard to be seen. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Somos o Que Somos" ("We Are What We Are")

Dark, slow but steady film about the apparently normal Parker family, who share a macabre secret ritual. Excellent acting and cinematography bring an immediate realism that really carries this film. WARNING: If gore and grossness get to you, stay away. While WE ARE WHAT WE ARE is not just a constant schlock-fest, there is some pretty disturbing stuff here: Short but graphic scenes of an autopsy, etc. There's been some debate about whether or not WAWWA is really a horror film, and I would vote a definite "yea" even though the whole mood and atmosphere are different (and better in many ways) than most contemporary horror flicks. There are some elements of suspense, but you know the big "secret" before it's halfway through--the cover also gives a decent hint--so it doesn't exactly work as a mystery. Regardless, the brief flashbacks to the family's ancestors in the 1780s add a great deal. Though none of the individual elements here are anything that hasn't been done plenty of times before, WAWWA's whole combination of qualities make it a different experience. It's obviously low budget but still far from being another super-amateurish cheapie. The makers of this film did an excellent job with what they had to work with. There are some blank spots--e.g., the body in the water--and a little stronger sense of place would have been nice. At the same time, it's probably better that they don't explain every little thing away.

Having seen and quite enjoyed the Spanish original I was a bit concerned about seeing it remade. My concerns were unfounded though as it turns out since, while the director did use the general idea of the original, he did not so much do a remake as a spin off. The setting, characters, general plot, and ending all very significantly deviate from the original, and there is even a detailed back story added which creates, if not sympathy, at least comprehension for the acts this family does. The movie itself is beautifully developed to create both a very plausible realism and very well defined characters. It is these characters that are the goal, and the movie does not resort to needless gore to satisfy cruder appetites. The acting is carried off quite flawlessly, and we do find ourselves at least rooting for the children to some degree. All in all it was well worth the watch. Would I say it is better than the original? Well, given that they are both very different it would be unfair to pit them against each other directly. I will say I did prefer the original overall as it was first, so it took some of the novelty out of the second, and the original made it more of a sort of very twisted coming of age tale than the second movie did, and I really liked that dimension of it. But if I look at them more as apples and oranges, I would say they both are very well done and each earns its place as a highly recommended piece of work.