Movie Review: We Are What We Are

How important are family traditions to you?  Is there a specific way Christmas has to be celebrated or it just isn't Christmas?  Are there certain books that need to be read to the children each night?  In the 2013 film We Are What We Are (a remake of a 2010 Mexican film of the same name), questions of family tradition and responsibility are taken to an extreme and very unsettling level.

The film follows the Parker family in the wake of a massive loss.  While attempting to deal with this, the question of tradition becomes massively important, and although the film slowly builds to explain exactly what those traditions are, the build-up, for me, was one of the best parts of the film.

Although the family is dealing with aspects related to horror (and specifically Gothic Horror) in the story, the question of who will host Thanksgiving after the death of a parent is something anyone cane related to, which is a really big part of what makes the film so accessible, because even though the audience doesn't have the same traditions as the Parkers (I hope), the basic issue is one to which anyone can relate.

If you've never seen it, the film is definitely worth a watch, but it is not kid friendly (even through there are kids in it), and it may be uncomfortable viewing for the squeamish.