Line #37 Film/WeAreWhatWeAre


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3	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wearewhatweare_224.png]]
4	[[caption-width-right:300:A special dinner with the Parker family.]]
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6	''We Are What We Are'' is a 2013 {{horror}} film that also has elements of drama. It is a remake of a 2010 Mexican film of the same name, but with some details changed. The film stars Creator/BillSage, Ambyr Childers, and Creator/JuliaGarner, and was directed by Jim Mickle.
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8	The story involves the Parkers, a family who follow a hallowed tradition that has been in their lineage for many years. It is the responsibility of Mrs. Parker to ensure that observance of the tradition comes to pass, but after she dies, it falls upon the eldest child in the family, Iris. Her slightly younger sister Rose also takes on some responsibility, albeit with more hesitation. Her reluctance becomes entirely understandable when it is revealed that the Parker family tradition is a yearly cannibalistic dinner.
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10	!! ''We Are What We Are'' provides examples of:
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12	* AbusiveParents: Mr. Parker.
13	* ApocalypticLog: The family heirloom is a pioneer ancestor's diary, describing in gory detail as things went from bad to worse.
14	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Mr. Parker.]]
15	* BaitAndSwitch: While it's easy to guess the Parkers are cannibals from several pieces of foreshadowing in the first act, they are not responsible for the girl who gets reported missing. She drowned in the flood and her body is found by the police.
16	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Parker children successfully escape their father (by killing him) and leave their hometown to a hopefully brighter future. However, they are now orphans, and many of their friends are dead.]]
17	* BloodFromTheMouth: This happens to Mrs. Parker before she dies.
18	* BreakTheCutie: Both the girls, but more so Iris
19	* CanineCompanion: Doc's dog. Although not a full-fledged EvilDetectingDog (since he fortunately never meets Mr. Parker), the dog does dig up the human bone that sparks Doc's investigation.
20	* CannibalClan: The basis of the plot.
21	* ChurchMilitant: Mr. Parker is one of these.
22	* CoolBigSis: Rose to Rory, her and Iris's younger brother.
23	* CutenessProximity: Plot-relevant when the police station receptionist is so distracted by Doc's dog that she doesn't notice him stealing a handgun.
24	* DaddysGirl: Iris initially has shades of this, though they mostly disappear after Mr. Parker [[spoiler:murders Anders]].
25	* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Mr. Parker gets EatenAlive by his children.]]
26	* DownerBeginning: The film starts with Mrs. Parker dying somewhat violently. Things only get worse.
27	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Rose's hair, which goes from tightly braided to a mass of curls. It seems to symbolize her becoming free.
28	* FanDisservice: Iris and Rose take a shower together. It's not at all sexy seeing as they both appear incredibly upset and disturbed. Not to mention that this scene takes place right after they've finished [[spoiler:killing someone.]]
29	* FlashbackEcho: Iris reads from the family diary (see also: PosthumousCharacter). Like Iris, the diary's author is the oldest daughter of the Parker family's pioneer ancestors. The girl's mother dies early on (similar to Mrs. Parker), and the father slowly loses his mind (similar to Mr. Parker gradually succumbing to Kuru). The father ultimately forces the eldest daughter to butcher her mother's body for food (similar to Mr. Parker forcing Iris to carry on the "family tradition" of cannibalism). The flashbacks are interspersed with present-day events: the pioneer family eating their "lost" uncle cuts to bacon frying in a present-day diner, and both fathers stumble around unsettlingly.
30	* GrayRainOfDepression:
31	** For the first part of the film, there is very heavy rainfall that causes flooding throughout the town.
32	** The weather turns out to be part of the plot, but it definitely sets a solemn mood. (The death and funeral in the first fifteen minutes don't exactly cheer things up, either.)
33	* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: During dinners, all the Parkers dress in clothes that would probably better suit pioneers.
34	* IncestSubtext: Between Iris and her father, in an abusive, one-sided way. There’s lots of talk about Iris “taking her mother’s role,” and scenes where Mr. Parker gets uncomfortably close to her— he even kisses her on the lips near the end of the movie.
35	** There’s also a ''lot'' of subtext between siblings Julián and Sabina in the original movie, again in a one-sided way.
36	* MissingMom: The film starts off with Mrs. Parker's death. Additionally, Doctor Brrow's wife is not in the picture, leaving him to mourn and avenge his daughter alone.
37	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Iris and Rose both show these feelings after [[spoiler:they kill the person to be used for the cannibalistic meal]].
38	* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: This is what happened to one of the past generations of the Parker family, thus creating the "tradition."
39	* {{Patricide}}: Iris and Rose are responsible for this, [[spoiler:thus becoming {{Self Made Orphan}}s]].
40	* PaterFamilicide: [[spoiler: After reading some medical books and learning the tremors that affected him and his wife are a prion disease caused by their cannibalism, Mr. Parker puts arsenic in the family dinner. Unfortunately for him, he's the only one of them who died that night.]]
41	* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:Mr. Parker adds arsenic to one of the family's suppers in an attempt to invoke this. It doesn't work out]].
42	* PerpetualFrowner: All of the Parker family, essentially.
43	** Rose and Rory smile about once each.
44	** Iris smiles once in the film, but it's forced.
45	* SexSignalsDeath: [[spoiler:Mr. Parker murders Anders while he's having sex with Iris.]] As soon as clothes started coming off, you knew ''something'' bad was going to happen.

Context Film / WeAreWhatWeAre