User Reviews

Billed as a 'cannibal gore-fest' (on the DVD cover) this definitely is not. It so isn't, but what it is, is a clever drama about cannibals, with very little cannibalism. It is very much like, and maybe fueled by films like 'Let Me In'.

The film is about a man, who is a father and husband that dies from flash poisoning. He leaves behind a family of four, who will now have to hunt for their own flesh as he was the provider. The family is led by an erratic mother, intent on keeping the 'ritual' alive and keeping her family hidden. This however remains difficult as the sons try to step up and do the hunting (of prostitutes) and mess up, alerting local detectives and prostitutes.

The ending is good and some elements make this film a creditable experience, with some unique flavour (not blood) and I am left admiring it for what it is.

'We Are What We Are' (Somos Lo Que Hay) has been acknowledged by many as the 'first Mexican cannibal film,' and whether or not this statement is true, 'WAWWA' isn't by any means a typical cannibal film. If anything, this film is more like a socio-political examination of the current run-down Mexican slums, with the story of a family of cannibals lightly sprinkled on top to allow engagement of behalf of the audience. While the socio-political examination and subsequent criticism of Mexican society is executed well, the story itself falters and could have done with a stronger, more focused script.

Beginning with the death of the family's patriarchal father (Humberto Yanez), who stumbles drudgingly through a modern shopping centre before collapsing in a dead heap in broad daylight. Instantly, director Jorge Michel Grau provides the audience with the issue of class divide in modern Mexico. As he lays on the concrete motionless, prospective middle-class shoppers casually avoid who they believe to be a dying or dead homeless man, before the cleaning crew of the shopping centre are called in to remove the body. The lack of respect, and humanity with which the public treats the dying father, alludes to the fact that Mexico is attempting to raise its public image both domestically, and internationally, and to do this, the lower classes must not be seen nor heard. The following scenes establish not only the family dynamic, but the sub-plot of the corruption in the Mexican police force. During the autopsy of the father, the pathologist reveals the family's dark secret; that they are cannibals (through finding a whole finger in his stomach), while the Police, initially uninterested in case, and now believe that this could be their big break financially. "Break this case and we will meet the President." The Police and authority throughout are portrayed as corrupt, lifeless soles that do their jobs for the acclaim, and celebratory status, rather than to curtail social dis-order in the Mexican slums. Crimes between the lower classes seem to be a free-for-all for justice, unless the social rewards are substantial enough to garner a response from the middle-class authoritarians. Essentially Grau provides the visual metaphor of the lower-classes 'eating' each other (through the representation of the family), and succeeding in doing a job that those who live beyond their means, do not wish to engage with. However when the classes collide, with the cities, the countries, reputation at stake, the authority must strike down with a powerful fist, to preserve a reputation suitable for wealthy locals and tourists alike.

Back in the family's household, with the father presumed dead by their daughter Sabina (Paulina Gaitan), and with their mother becoming increasingly withdrawn (Carmen Beato), it is left to the older brother Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) to take over the patriarchal role of the family, while also keeping his hot-headed, psychopathic younger brother Julian (Alan Chavez) in line. His first business as the new head of the house-hold is to find a suitable woman for the family's cannibalistic rituals. Instead of concerning himself with the use of shock-tactics and horror clichés, Grau focuses more on the destruction of the nuclear family and how each member of the family becomes increasingly unstable as more and more responsibilities and lumped upon them. Alfredo fails to become a hunter like his father and feels effeminate; the mother becomes distraught and erratic as she attempts to overcome the news of her husband's death, while Sabina, as the young, female of the family, rapidly descends inwards as she is forced almost instantly into the nature of adulthood.

The performances by all the members of the family, and the supporting cast of prostitutes and policemen, are somewhat disturbingly beautiful. In the slums of the city, they must day by day, year by year, drag themselves up and attempt to create a living in the world of the prostitutes or a meal on which to survive in the world of the family themselves. While the direction, and cinematography by Santiago Sanchez, creates this perfect divide which is simply roads away between the slum-dwelling lower-class, and the youthful, nightclub enjoying middle-class patrons. However, this film does harbour one large indiscriminate flaw which casts a dark shadow over the whole film in general; the lack of depth and development in the script. It deals suitably with relaying the corruption, and the class divide within developing Mexican cities, but when the script comes to the family itself, it fails to ignite any truly engaging aspect of the story. We know little of the family's history, nor if it has any ambitions for future, aside from surviving. While certain characters could do with substantial improvements to their characterisations, such as probing the sub-plots involving Alfredo's sexuality, and Julian's uncontrollable teenage rage, or fundamentally providing any information beyond the very little we know about the 'ritual' being committed daily (?) by the family. 'We Are What We Are' is an adequate family-drama, with a hint of horror, and an underlying sub-plot of socio-political change within such a developing country. It may not be the best foreign film of the year, but one which certainly deserves a viewing.

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" ...

After years of well crafted TV serials, we are used to a specific language of spoon-fed clues to describe the strange, alien or fantastic. In this Mexican "cannibal" film, the audience is made to work fairly hard to discern anything.

The grinding logic of the film eventually pays off. The closing doors, family stress and fear of the outside from inside the dysfunctional home paint a picture of a family that is twisted yet recognisable.

There is a possibly fantasy link that explains things, but that is thrown in. Poverty, or inability to control the future is the driver for everything. The ending is slightly more traditional, but the experience remains unrelentingly strange.

In Mexico, the patriarch (Humberto Yáñez) of a family of cannibals dies in a shopping mall. He is a watchmaker that supports his family and his sons Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julián (Alan Chávez) go to the street market to work in his booth. However the manager evicts them from the market since their father owes three-week rental to her. When they return home, their sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitan) informs that their father has died in the mall. While the three siblings discuss who will be the family provider for their rituals, their mother Patricia (Carmen Beato) locks herself in a room. Alfredo and Julián initially assume the responsibility but they are clumsy and soon two corrupt police detectives track them down.

"Somos lo que hay" is an unpleasant Mexican low-budget movie with displeasing characters. A couple of days ago, I saw the good 2013 remake and I was curious to see the original feature. I found it very disappointing, with nasty characters and situations. Further, it is difficulty to say if the author of this horror movie wishes to show social problems in Mexico (poverty, prostitution, corrupt police etc.), drama or whatever. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): Not Available on Blu-Ray or DVD

When I saw the beginning and the first 10 minutes, I thought what have I let my self in for, this is going to be awful, but it got better, and by the middle seemed to have an OK story line and the cinematography improved. But at the start the shots were unbearably bad and throughout the whole film the acting was atrocious, some of the worst acting I've ever seen in a film.

However, this film is OK at the end, not really one to go out of your way to see, but if your bored, and have nothing better to do and are at the cinema already, It's watchable. Although my flat mate said, it was one of the worst films he has ever seen, worse than piranha 3d, but what does he know, his favourite film is Phone Booth.

A 6/10 and an OK watch, for South American film fans, but not for those usual Hollywood film fans.

This movie had a terrific premise: The father of an isolated, poor family dies, so the family tradition is passed down to the children: the tradition of consuming human flesh!

I was expecting either a very campy horror flick, or a balls to the wall docu-drama, but all-in-all, a powerful movie.

I'm pretty objective about recent movies, so I'm not a wee bit personal, when I'm saying that this movie not just ignored all my expectations, but gave absolutely nothing instead.

Let's get one thing out of the way: the acting was terrific. Great casting choices, great performances. I admit that. But to what end?

There is so much wrong with this movie, it's easier to tell what was right. Besides the acting, the music was also pretty moving. It was terrible in this movie, but on it's own, it was pretty good music. ... Now for the bad parts: literally, everything else.

The plot. So we have this family, with a fiendish agenda. Why are they determined to eat people? did they really eat them before? If so, why do they want to stop now? What do they want to accomplish with cannibalism? What are their reasons? We never get to know.

The personal stories. What do the 3 kids want? Is Alfredo really gay? What's his history with his parents? And Julian? What drives Sabina? And the mother? Why does she think they should not eat prostitutes but something else, and why does she hates her children? Why does she do all the things she does in the movie? There's no logic in her motives. The only two characters who were remotely interesting and entertaining (two workers at the local morgue), had about 5 minutes of screen time only.

The gore. Alright. This is supposed to be a cannibal movie. It's okay to have no gore, if we have a strong story, or the movie takes a turn, and just starts to show the story from a different perspective. Which it doesn't. Also, no consumption of human flesh is shown. There are some very violent scenes, but since there is no one to care about in this movie, they are absolutely weightless.

The cinematography. Good god. There were some pretty nifty camera movements, and they didn't even come off as gimmicky, self-righteous idiotism. Respect for that. Too bad, the lighting just destroyed all of the shots. Seriously, I don't think I ever seen a movie as badly lighted as this one. It wasn't just dark, most times it was pitch black, with a very short depth of field. It was confusing to say the least, and stupid to be fair.

The direction. What were you thinking? No, that is not just a theatrical question. I'd like to know what was the aim of this movie? What were the reasons behind it?

In this movie, We know nothing, we see nothing, and we care about no one.

I rarely say this, but probably this was the most eventless 90 minutes of my life.

Although more raw & primal than Jim Mickle's remake, We Are What We Are (also known as Somos lo que hay) fails to make the most of its succulent premise and is an unpalatable entry in the world of cannibalism horror that neither features a good dose of gore nor packs a meaty plot or fleshed characters to keep our interest alive.

The film follows a family that's forced to fend for themselves when its patriarch dies under mysterious circumstances. With their sole provider gone, the children are left with no choice but to take up new responsibilities, and must do whatever it takes to put the necessary meat on the table and keep their family's ritualistic traditions alive.

Written & directed by Jorge Michel Grau, this Mexican horror tries to make us invest its world through its story but the plot is too weak & characters too distant for that to happen. Add to that, much of its violence takes place off-screen and lacks the flesh-tearing shock appeal that viewers expect in a cannibalistic tale. The entire approach is a total misfire.

More than anything, We Are What We Are is a story of family & responsibility that's driven by the internal tensions between the surviving members who must find out a way to fill in the void left in the wake of the family head's demise. Performances are serviceable at best but it's all spread unevenly, which in turn makes its runtime feel longer than it is.

On an overall scale, We Are What We Are had potential but the film is never sure of what route to take. The narrative decision might have worked if the script was more polished & characters better sketched. It's watchable, no doubt, and contains a few disturbing scenes but the overall experience still leaves an unsatisfactory aftertaste. A rare example that was bettered by its Hollywood remake.

I am a huge fan of European films and of horrors and with this film being compared to Let The Right One In in many reviews I read, my expectations were high. This apparently does for cannibals what Let The Right One In did for vampires.. Unfortunately the film didn't live up to my expectations. An enjoyable film needs to have at least one of the following: strong dialogue, interesting storyline, intreging characters, excitement, terrific direction; We Are What We Are, I felt, had little or none of any. I didn't know enough about the characters to care about them getting food and saw no reason why they should kill the innocent (or whores as they muchly discussed) so that they could eat? Nor did I like the mother, or the youngest brother. I felt no attachment to the incestuous relationship. I felt that the mockery of the police was pointless and frustrating. I stayed in the cinema to watch the film and I wasn't bored just highly disappointed. Would I recommend this movie? No... Do I feel like I wasted 90minutes of my life watching it? No... It was just an OK portrayal of a family coping with their issues. Don't rush to the cinema to see it (unless like me you have unlimited membership) just wait until its shown on Channel 4 if ever it is.

We are what we are is the rarest of beasts, a macabre tale that has the power to delight and disturb in equal measures with its unique take on a family under turmoil. Unlike the majority of horror films that focus on the victims and their struggles against evil, this unflinching portrayal of cannibalism follows a family of killers and their struggle to survive in the harsh and unforgiving environment of the Mexican suburbs.

After the head of the family meets a gruesome end, it falls upon his eldest son, Alfredo, to take responsibility for the surviving members; his younger siblings and his grieving mother. Each of them have their own agendas and it is not long before these conflicting issues result in horrifying consequences for both the family and the people they prey on for food. The less known about the storyline the better, which is why my description of the plot is suitably vague, as the majority of the films more unsettling moments come as a complete surprise for the unsuspecting viewer.

Apart from Antichrist, this is the only film I have viewed where audience members have left the cinema during the more graphic scenes, and this certainly confirms that We are what we are is a very powerful film, not for the faint hearted but very rewarding for those that persevere. With cinematography on par to that of the hauntingly beautiful shots seen throughout Let the Right One In and a subject matter as realistically brutal as the gruesome deaths of the unsuspecting victims in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this is a perfect example of an atmospheric horror that chills you to the core by combining a stark yet realistic situation with unflinching scenes of violence.

The majority of modern horror films rely on cheap scares and shock tactics to batter the viewers senses and it is encouraging to see that there are still directors out there who clearly have a great respect for the genre and shift their focus towards creating a brooding atmosphere and a compelling storyline. This brave and accomplished attempt at reinvigorating a stale genre certainly marks Jorge Michel Grau as a promising director for the future and whilst We are what we are may not be the masterpiece that horror fans are hoping for, it certainly comes pretty damn close.

8/10

A relatively fresh take on a genre that has to be tread upon with care and with the threat of great peril in mind.

'We are What We Are' is the portrayal of a dysfunctional family. However the representation of it is amplified, with much intensity as the film rolls closer to its end.

It is an interesting watch however, it keeps the secrets to itself. I am hoping the director intended to be it like that.

I'm confused, really. It's one of those films where you cannot figure if it's a plain and straight, mediocre narrative (with some great sequences) or maybe you missed out on some key plot contrivance and hence missed 'the point'. For Instance the back-story of 'Jug Face (2013)' was in the opening credits, sort of like hand-drawn stop-motion short.

Anyhow, Hollywood is about to release a re-make; let's see how they tackle the dinner matter.

Watch it, if only to let me know the 'what'

If it is an awful cliché to say a film about cannibalism is in bad taste, the film itself is far, far worse.

It begins with the death of the head of the cannibal household, a natural death, although the human finger that was apparently removed from his stomach in the mortuary might have had something to do with his demise.

With Daddy gone to meet his Maker, or more likely the other bloke, the big question is who is to take over? From the way his widow behaves, she has clearly been wearing the trousers anyway, little sister is obviously too much of a shrinking violet, so that leaves a contest between the two sons.

For the moment they decide to cooperate rather than compete, and off they go to kidnap a child from the street for the ritual, as it is called. They make the mistake of trying to abduct one from a group, and are lucky to escape with only a few ruffled feathers.

Next they decide to kidnap a prostitute, they succeed, but what does the matriarch say? How dare you bring me a whore. Next up is a homosexual who is picked up by one of the sons, but is not to the taste of the other. Needless to say, it all ends badly.

Some people claim to find humour in this film; apart from a joke or two in the morgue, that was lacking too.

"Somos Lo Que Hay" has recently been remade in English as "We Are What We Are". Remind me not to watch it.

I guess this is a film that will ultimately appeal and be enjoyed by a limited audience. Dark, grim, nihilistic and amoral, it's no feel good movie and has no redemption story either.

We are watching a dysfunctional family in Mexico in the days following the death of their patriarch. At a loss from his passing, the family is desperate to know how to proceed. The problem? They are cannibals and need to formally complete a ritual in the coming day. So where do they get the body? Who is to be responsible for carrying on the family leadership? The mother is impossible, the sons are difficult and the daughter is the youngest and not one that the rest seem to address.

Add in immoral cops and hell-bent prostitutes, and you've an unsettling mix.

The setting in a poor Mexican estate gives the whole film a dark and grim feel. The camera work is good, but it's the soundtrack which is what makes this work. Okay the acting and story are good but not always gripping. The film is trying to avoid being too gruesome and the body count is kept minimal for a horror, which is nice for a change.

The biggest problem is that as much as it's interesting, not sure if the whole idea really stretched out to be a full film (it was quite short as it was). Just needed some more work on the script and more explanation of what was going on and any motives. Just felt I didn't know what was going on too often which was frustrating.

For horror, it's a different twist as cannibal films are usually full on but this isn't and thankfully not another cheap shot of torture porn. Worth it if you like horror films, but won't appeal much to most else.

A 6 to 8 rating. Many will dislike this feature. the ending may also frustrate many. The film doesnt explain much, but i also like that. Filmed in realistic day to day life in poor/mid class city, Some social commentaries. I like it better then remake. The family was well cast. soundtrack was subtle and appropriate. Will feel a bit long in editing/cinematography

Strangely, people have been regarding WE ARE WHAT WE ARE as something of a gem; after all, it's a film that garnered a Hollywood remake, so it must be good, right? Er, no. This Mexican cannibal film is entirely by rote, a predictable narrative populated by unappealing characters and a distinct lack of depth. It held my attention throughout, but only just, and that's partly because it's mercifully short.

Instead of focusing on the blood and guts of the cannibal storyline - this is surprisingly subdued given the subject matter - WE ARE WHAT WE ARE is a film that explores family dynamics. Mainly it involves characters arguing or screaming and shouting at each other, and it's a fairly tiresome exercise, mainly because the script isn't as hot as it should be. If at least one character in the entire movie had been likable it might have been a different story, but as it is it's a chore.

Things do start picking up in the final third of the film, with lots of action and bloodshed as antagonists start entering the story, but it's not enough to make this a classic or anything approaching a decent film. The cult reputation of WE ARE WHAT WE ARE is destined to remain a mystery, I think...

Just need to clarify the translation, the remake is translated to "We are what we are" but it should be "We are what's left" I think the incorrect translation lends way to confusion in the ending. Enjoyed it but wasn't over the moon about it, definitely worth a watch. We know the movie is a work of fiction, but is it? With so many Mexicans disappearing on a daily basis, poverty and the police whatever approach, this movie feels like something that could happen now. The disregard for prostitutes and homosexuals is also quite flagrant as to how things are in México. Worth a watch but not if you have to walk at night in the streets of México.

A bad story and script sink this Mexican drama, which begins with a man walking down a street and stopping at a window to stare at a mannequin. He vomits blood and dies on the sidewalk. An autopsy reveals that he was poisoned. This opening has little to do with the rest of the film. A mother with two teenage sons and one teen daughter live in a place filled with clocks which are apparently there for repair by the patriarch of this strange family. Dad is soon out of the picture, and mom tells her offspring that they must carry on the ritual. This activity involves abducting strangers who will not have a fun time. Eating Raoul meets the Mexican Brady Bunch without Paul Bartel's sense of humor. The production value is slightly above that of a porn movie, and the acting is barely competent. There is no reason to watch this.

This is a beautifully shot and constructed, a family drama and teen coming of age story built on a horror premise...the controversial & hard to digest sub-genre of Cannibalism! But if the gore hound fans are looking for gore & gruesomeness all over, they need to be patient. This character piece with art house attributes delivered much more than a full blooded horror; though the cannibal sequences are deliciously graphic when they arrive at close to the end, the director takes his time to getting there. The story is about a family with an awful secret binding them together as well as tearing them slowly apart, it's a dark exploration of family bonds & blood rituals where the family that eats together stays together! This is a shocking satire not only on family dysfunction but also on poverty, society and the law. Even the director himself described the film's themes as "family disintegration, urban violence, and social deprivation, the fight among minorities to survive and be noticed." A little more depth to the characters and some more understanding of the motivations may be needed but it would have taken away the brutal feeling of the film. But Somos Lo Que Hay aka We are what we are is still a very promising debut from a talented young director (Jorge Michel Grau) of Mexico.

The premise was very intriguing and, let's get this out of our way right now, the lack of gore throughout most of the movie was actually an interesting and refreshing choice.

Unfortunately the positives end pretty much there... The story plods along with nothing really happening, besides family members arguing about "what to do" after the father's untimely demise. The needed ritual to keep the family's eating habits going is much talked about but there's nothing clear about it, and the little we're hinted about in the rather confusing finale is far from satisfying.

Then there's the cookie-cutter social message about poor people struggling in a cold, heartless world, but it's left at a couple of generic shots to the middle-class or to the police (cue a completely gratuitous offer of a very underage prostitute to one of the cops who's after the cannibals, a non-sequitur thrown in just in case the general angsty feel of the movie wasn't heavy-handed enough to get the point across).

As said, even the climax feels rushed, underdeveloped and leaves so many questions unanswered, while still retaining the "or is it..." cliché open ending every dreadful horror movie has.

Bottom line: as a horror movie it's sub-standard on every possible account. As a social drama, it skims over some interesting points and premises, but none of them is adequately with the required insight.

Frankly, I feel this movie gets so much attention because it's a non-Hollywood production AND it fits all the criteria for Artsy Film Festival bait.

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...

Depending on how you like your horror films, Mexican writer/ director Jorge Michel Grau's filmmaking debut might either be an atmospheric genre flick or a frustratingly slow exercise in pointlessness - and we'll be upfront by saying that it was pretty much the latter for us. The tale of a family of cannibals struggling to survive after the sudden death of its patriarch, Grau's macabre tale set in Mexico City tries to be allegory on the desperation and subsequent perversity of the lower class, but that metaphor is somewhat lost in a thinly written and deliberately paced story that is likely to test the patience of many viewers.

Indeed, too little happens too slowly and too seriously in the not- quite-brief-enough 89 minutes that Grau tries but ultimately fails in holding his audience's attention. What starts out somewhat riveting with a disoriented middle-aged man collapsing dead on the sidewalk turns into a ponderous family drama with a dysfunctional mother Patricia (Carmen Beato) and her three children - Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), Julián (Alan Chávez), and Sabina (Paulina Gaitan). Now that there is no one to bring home the meat, Patricia and her sons are faced with the task of finding a human sacrifice to complete what is simply known as "The Ritual", essentially meant to identify someone among them who can take over Dad's place as head of the household.

Grau's storytelling unfolds in telenovela-fashion, as brother fights with brother, sister sides with one of the brothers, and mother starts by having a nervous breakdown and then returns to reassert her authority in the family. It almost seems like yet another family, if not for the fact that their arguments revolve around whether the sacrifice should be a homeless child, a prostitute or a gay - in particular, Julián's violent and impulsive kidnapping of a street hooker stirs up a torrent of anger from his mother, given how their father was previously given to "whoring". Moody and disquieting it may be, one cannot quite shake off the feeling that it is no more than a glorified family soap, with cannibalism thrown in to disguise the laboured melodrama of sibling rivalry, maternal rejection, repressed homosexuality and incestuous desire.

Those looking for the film to live up to its R21 rating for gore will have to wait till the last third, since Grau largely keeps the violence before that off-camera, leaving the bloodbath for an extended climax where a chain of events leads the police and a group of vengeful prostitutes (who are friends of the lady Julián kidnapped and killed) at their doorstep. Even so, the staging of that climactic confrontation is as muted as the rest of the movie, the gore no more than splatter that looks like it could have been left over from some 80s exploitation flick. Consider this fair warning to those looking for some sort of payoff at the end - if you're looking for a thrilling finish, you're going to be massively disappointed.

And so, despite what its tantalising premise might suggest, this is firmly an art-house drama that trades in quiet long takes for a large part of its duration. The fact that the family crisis we see unfolds in a cannibalistic tribe does make it slightly more engrossing than if it were just an ordinary family, but there's no mistaking that this is still the stuff of melodramatic soap opera - and by that, we also mean not enough here is sufficiently compelling to live up to its aim of being political allegory. But like we said at the start, perhaps most significant is the undeniable feeling that this family drama of cannibals is simply pointless - after all, why bother with this aberration if they are ultimately no different from any ordinary family in their dysfunction?