Review: We Are What We Are (15)

The family at the heart of Jorge Michel Grau's frequently unnerving chronicle are cannibals. Grau doesn't feel the need to explain how or why they became flesh-eaters, nor does he go into any depth about the ritual they constantly discuss, and finally enact. Instead Grau hints at a back story that remains tantalisingly absent. Father collapses and dies in the street leaving mother, two sons and a sister grappling with who will become leader, hunt down prey and feed them.

There are dread shades of Fred and Rosemary West in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the ramshackle house where this quartet of survivors exists. They seem to have little real experience of the outside world perhaps having been shielded from it by dear old dad. Having first appeared to withdraw from overt blood and guts, Grau comes to embrace it with gusto as the boys go out in tandem to steal a street kid for dinner.

An odd, disjointed film that appears to offer a deeper portrait of this most taboo subject, We Are What We Are eventually drenches the screen with gore. Simplicity is lost and this gruesome tale of skewed domesticity ultimately disappears down a blind alley.

On staggered release