The Cannibal Horror Hidden Gem You Can Watch On Hulu
It's one thing to watch a horror movie. It's another thing entirely to sit down for a film that will challenge everything you hold near and dear to your heart as it explores the dark side of humanity people probably weren't meant to watch.
"We Are What We Are" falls in the latter camp alongside the likes of "Megan Is Missing," which had the entire internet freaking out last year. As for "We Are What We Are," it's a Spanish-language film that's a direct sequel to the first feature ever made by Guillermo del Toro — "Cronos." But don't worry, even if you haven't seen "Cronos" before, you don't necessarily need to in order to understand what's going on here.
The film starts depressingly enough when the patriarch of a family dies on the sidewalk. His children and spouse wonder how they will provide for themselves after his death, which takes on a new twist once it comes to light they're actually cannibals. Things only grow more grotesque from there in this movie that received an American remake in 2013 with the same name.
We Are What We Are offers fear and social commentary
One might assume a movie about cannibalism wouldn't have a lot to say about society at large. However, when you look at why the family eats other humans, the larger themes begin to take shape.
After the family's father dies, it falls onto the children to find new victims, and the thing is that they're all terrible at it. They either can't capture people to bring back to their house, or they imprison someone whom they believe they shouldn't eat (like a prostitute). There are all of these rules associated with such a sinister practice, and at the end of the day, none of it makes a lick of sense. They all go along with the act because that's the way it's always been done in this family. In its own unique way, "We Are What We Are" points out the absurdity of going along with traditions without questioning why those traditions exist in the first place.
Naturally, the movie isn't for everyone. It holds a 72% rating on the Tomatometer from critics, but when considering only audience reviews, it stands at 48%. Horror enthusiasts should find the movie offers plenty to chew on. Just take this review from Sight & Sound's Paul Julian Smith: "Strikingly original in technique, it pays no heed to the old masters of Mexican film; alluding only indirectly to present social conditions, it rewrites the horror genre with a premise that is outrageously novel." One thing's certain: You probably don't want to eat a steak while watching this on Hulu.