Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

punishmentpark On my DVD-case, it read: "A cannibal gore-fest...", and other, similar phrases. Well, I just saw the film again on the BBC, but it's really not that much of a gore-fest at all. On the other hand - fair is fair - those faint of heart may still want to avoid this.I think got the quirkiness of it much better this time around, as I kept detecting little humorous details here and there, and the whole premise (and story) radiates an atmosphere that is at the same time philosophical, comical, socially engaging and downright unnerving. The first time I watched this, I also hadn't figured out that this family does not eat people because they are poor, which makes a big difference.The problem that a lot of scenes stayed too much in the dark, literally, still stands, and here and there the film feels repetitive, and the cast hardly excels (though they dó represent the living dead...). The opening scene, the hunting for victims and the finale (daughter's escape and mom's demise) deserve an extra mention.A good 7 out of 10 this time around, a whole point extra since the last time.

GUENOT PHILIPPE I am very disturbed by this feature, for which I can't exactly tell if it is a drama, social drama, or simply a horror movie. Maybe both. But for sure it is a terrific and unususual scheme for a film. And I am not surprised it is from Mexico, at least from a Spanish culture country. British and American industry could have done such a film but made in another way, treated in another manner. Not a mix up between drama and horror. Yes, I still can't say what I think of it.But it's Worth a look. Not for all audiences, but I can assure you that you won't forget it for a long time.Good piece of work.

moviexclusive 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?

Hellmant 'WE ARE WHAT WE ARE': Three Stars (Out of Five)Mexican horror film (with English subtitles) about a family of cannibals in which the teenage children must take over the hunting duties of the father when he passes away. The film is similar in theme and character structure to a recent (2006) American low budget horror film called 'THE HAMILTONS', except that film dealt with a family of vampires. This one is not quite as well made or interesting as that flick but neither are horror classics. It is a decent 'B' horror film none the less with some pretty good acting. The directing and script are adequate (by Jorge Michel Grau) for the genre but of course not very original. Still the film is dark and disturbing and delivers that much at least.The story begins with a man (Humberto Yanez) stumbling through a mall and becoming obsessed with some mannequins in a shop window. After being shued away he passes out and dies in the middle of the mall floor. His wife Patricia (Carmen Beato) and three children are alarmed when he doesn't return home and his two sons, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julian (Alan Chavez), fill in for him at the street market where he worked as a watch repairman. After getting in a couple fights (over debt their dad owed) and kicked out of the market they return home to the news that their father has passed away, from their sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitan). As their mother freaks out and locks herself in her room Sabina informs her brothers it's now their duty to find someone for their regular cannibal ritual. The two brothers then set out into the city looking for prey.The film is very dark (both thematically as well as lighting) and brutally violent. It is very shocking to watch this seemingly normal family resort to such violent behavior like it's a regular way of life. The sons do of course have trouble with it at first, especially the more emotional Alfredo, as the sister Sabina seems more mature and adept at their traditional way of life. In that way the film is intriguing and like I said disturbing but none of the characters are really relatable and in the end the film paves no new paths. It's just another generic horror film told in a slightly different fashion (at least from the average American film). Worth seeing if you're a horror junkie, otherwise it's probably a skip.Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4tG6zhJxO8