Somos Lo Que Hay - Review (Minor Spoilers)

Somos Lo Que Hay (We Are What We Are), 2010

Originally written in february 2023

Its too slow for what it is. The scenes take way too long to get over and the film places such great importance on everything it shows, even when not much is happening. It's a bit indulgent, honestly.

Plot wise it takes way too much from one point to the other, and that's due to the film's presentation flaws. 

You can tell they were chasing an artsy presentation with those long silence shots with little dialogue, but it stayed more on the attempt than anything. 

This is yet one more mexican movie that tríes to achieve an authentic portrayal of mexican people, particularly they who find themselves in the lower class, but simultaneously it does so while stepping on the pitfall of completely de-localizing the dialogue and general demeanor of the demographic its portraying and movie-washes everything to keep it very correct. Thus contradicting the film's goal of authenticity, coming up with the most wooden Mexican people representation attempt. 

The photography aspect may be the best thing going on. In that case, its one more artsy movie that favored some lighting over its substance. 

And then there are some annoying details:

Theres the usual logical inconsistencies from a horror movie, like how the girl has her perfectly brushed straigh hair no matter what she does, that disco music scebw was obnoxiously fake and distracting, sometimes theyll scream out of their fucking lungs, and since weve established this family lives in a small complex with other houses cramped next to it, so all i ask is: can anybody else hear any of this? 

And i couldnt care less for that policemen subplot. The movie is already very slow and patient, its inclusión barely adds any substance and only tramps the film into being slower. 

That being said, theres some really well executed scenes here and there. Particularly those wich involve physical or emotional violence, but the film is mainly composed of those dreadfully boring quiet scenes. 

Overall i liked the idea of a lower class Mexican family partaking in some kind of dark secret to ensure its survival, it's a nice coding for some of the most extreme things poverty forces people into.  There's something so entertainingly hitchcockian about watching people meticulously carry out nefarious deeds. Unfortunately the engagement this provides is debated between the performers who do a convincing job, and the dialogue who seems evilly written so they won't be able to. 

The acting may not be bad, but again, no matter how good these kids are doing, the wooden dialogue prevents any emotion from blossoming. The mom may have been the best performer of the main cast but sometimes it was a bit inconsistent. 

There is one cool cameo sort of thing tough, from another mexican movie called Cronos, i won't spoil who it is, but the actor and the scene were very enjoyable to watch. 

I actually liked the soundtrack… the orchestral one, not that shitty disco music. I liked that it was not over present and when it appeared it sounded really good and unique. This is a very talented composer.

The conclusions were mostly satisfying. I Liked the payoffs and that the movie even ended up having an action set piece and even kill off some characters. 

If you don't have any semblance of how mexican people actually sound like and behave, you may enjoy this more than i did. As for now, despite its reedeming qualities, i think it's another artsy horror movie for the pile. 

5.5/10

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