Film Review: Somos Lo Que Hay (We Are What We Are)

A film I was quite looking forward to see, Somos Lo Que Hay (or We Are What We Are) is a 2010 Mexican film that was aimed squarely at the audience of Let The Right One In (the original, of course.) But the two films have almost nothing in common, save being foreign language movies.

Somos Lo Que Hay tells the story of a Mexican family whose father passes away in confusing circumstances. Now they must survive in the quite rough part of the city they live in, and just try to put food on the table every day. Thing is, the food they need is a bit harder to get hold of than a bag of chips. Yep, they are cannibals.

I thought this was a great premise for a film. And I knew it was safe from being a gore packed (despite what posters and DVD cases that were released over here say) and generic horror film, more a look at a family left to fend for themselves in an incredibly desperate situation.

And I was right, but unfortunately the entire family are so unlikable I just could not connect with the film at all. None of them are have many redeeming features at all, and the fact that they are just going out and trying to kidnap people in order to kill, then eat them doesn't really warm you to them. This makes any scene where you try and feel any kind of empathy towards them just cold. Hell, even the policeman on the trail of the family seems to be more interested in the prostitute gang that appear so heavily in the film.

There are a few chilling moments, the abduction and fate of a prostitute is quite shocking, and the whole film is very well shot, but I was just left feeling empty after the whole thing. It's not a long film either, and it still needed a ending that seemed tacked on, almost as an afterthought.

**

A couple of effecting moments and a great premise aside, this fails to deliver on what could have been a fascinating look at what a family has to do when the 'breadwinner' isn't around anymore. Instead, most of the cast are so unlikable you don't care what happens to them. A rare case of hoping it gets remade, so someone else can have a chance to get it right.