“We are the Flesh” is the first theatrical release from Arrow Video’s theatrical division Arrow Films here in the U.S. It got my interest because of that and the fact that it was part of last year’s Fantasia International Film Festival where many of the new independent genre film first get noticed.
The film is about a brother and sister (Diego Gamaliel, María Evoli) who stumble upon an abandoned building looking for food and shelter as society is going to hell. They find a deranged man (Noe Hernandez) who befriend them and send them down a spiral that they may never get out of. Stuck in this madman’s world, the two find themselves trapped in a depravity world which makes them do shocking things under his sadistic influence as they slowly lose their humanity.
I’ve seen many films that left me feeling shocked at what I’ve previously seen. Films like “Pieces”, the original “Vampyres” and most of Jess Franco’s work has given me that feeling. You can add “We Are the Flesh” to the list as it might be early in 2017 to make this claim but this was a very shocking film that I’ve seen so far. I couldn’t take my eyes off and there might not be another film that will do that this year.
The reason it’s shocking was its direction from writer/director Emiliano Rocha Minter. One of the things that he does very well is make sure it has a shocking sense a dread throughout. Whether it was the camerawork to some of the film’s very bizarre imagery, everything helped make every scene have a sense of hopelessness and despair. It made me feel very uncomfortable and horrified with watching the images that were on screen. The other thing that makes Minter’s direction work so well was the acting. Minter does a very good job making sure the performances have a demented tone to them. It helped kept my interest the film especially where it was a little slow in the middle. This also has a very good performance from Noe Hernandez as the depraved man behind all of the madness that takes place. The performance helped add to this depraved and shocking film.
Minter’s screenplay is very depraved and has some very shocking moments. Amidst all that, he does a very job focusing each of the main characters decent into madness. He achieves that by creating scenes that are shocking enough that it made me feel uneasy watching this watch. Even though I feel this way, it serves a purpose to the story and the dark imagery that Minter is going for. That’s what makes this film very horrifying and uneasy.
The screenplay was one of those screenplay that had one of those WTF endings. I won’t go into detail about the ending as I don’t like to spoil those films. I’ll just say that the ending caught me off guard but it works. It added more to the shock value of this film as it was something that I didn’t expect.
It’s one of those films that makes you feel so uncomfortable that it makes you want to take a shower after watching. This is not for everyone. Even thinking that, this film achieves in creating a horrific atmosphere that leaves you in shock. It’s early but I have a feeling that “We are the Flesh” will be the most shocking and depraved film that I’ll see all year.
“We are the Flesh” is currently in limited release and hits DVD & Blu-Ray and Feburary 14th.
Review Rating: Five Stars
