Review of We Are What We Are (2010) by Christian P — 09 Nov 2013

We Are What We Are begins with a man dropping dead in a mall. We watch as his body is hauled away by the mall's custodial staff and his blood mopped up. A human life treated like garbage. From the outset, this movie has a depth rarely seen in horror films.

The death of the man in the mall leaves his family without a leader to perform "the ritual," the hunting and eating of other humans. The father's absence sets off an intense family drama between the mother and her three teenage children. Who will fill the vacuum and decide whom they eat? This family of impoverished social outcasts targets other outcasts such as homeless children, prostitutes, and gays. Cannibalism functions as a metaphor for how society consumes its own. I imagine all this depth will be lost in the American remake.