We Are What We Are

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We Are What We Are

R

2013

1h 46m

Drama

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

89 Reviews

50%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

The Parkers, reclusive people who cling to ancient customs, find their secret lives threatened when a torrential downpour and the death of the family matriarch forces daughters Iris and Rose to assume special responsibilities.

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Critics Consensus

A compelling story cleverly told, We Are What We Are quenches horror buffs' thirst for gore while serving up serious-minded filmmaking and solid acting.

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Mar 2, 2014

3/5

An ambitious (if somewhat uneven) slice of downbeat American gothic which interweaves grim melancholia with pointed satire, doomy portent and moments of gnawing revulsion.

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Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

Feb 28, 2014

3/5

Some of the film is gruesome in the extreme but there is always lyricism and pathos alongside the bloodletting.

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Lisa Mullen

Sight & Sound

Feb 28, 2014

Mickle and co-writer Nick Damici give themselves plenty of time to tease out their themes and ladle on the tension.

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Erick Estrada

Cinegarage

Jul 18, 2023

Mickle made a good movie, very American, coming out of a great Mexican script. [Full review in Spanish]

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Brent McKnight

The Last Thing I See

Jul 8, 2020

B+

Moody, tense, and delicately layered, when you boil it down to the bare essentials, this is still the story of an isolated, woodsy family eating folk.

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Aug 28, 2019

A half-baked exercise that only becomes more strangely ridiculous as it tries to explain itself with some B cheapie writing flourishes.

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Rich C.

@Cordu0702 Apr 18, 2026

Absolutely loved this film. Top 5 all time ending in a film. A must watch!

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Gregarious Y

@RT74841773 Apr 9, 2026

Ending made me gag and almost throw up. Do not recommend.

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R V.

@rvalerio Jan 12, 2026

Not worth watching. Weird ending.

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Blackbird Broken Wing T

@Lilw0lf Dec 10, 2025

(SPOILERS!!) There are some pacing issues and times where the non-familial characters actions frustrate me but over all this is a decent watch. The real saving grace for me is the aspect of cannibalism that I rarely see touched on in horror movies. Kuru, a fatal prion disease that is acquired via cannibalism is the jumping off point of the film as it is the thing that kills the mother and sets off the rest of the events in the movie. The way this illness becomes the reason this family continues their cannibalistic practice is fascinating. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. The father isn't wrong that there is a curse on their bloodline but what he fails to see is the curse is one of their own making. Actions that first come about as a means of desperate survival are rationalized to the point that the action that once saved the family is continued even when it becomes the reason they are dying.

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Lúcio Leonardo P

@LucioTomas Oct 28, 2024

With an slow story, director Jim Mickle doesn't know if he wants to make a dramatic and horrendous thriller or if he wants a trashy horror, and this indecision makes us lose interest in how this film will end. Apart from the protagonists Julia Garner and Ambyr Childers, we have a very bad performance from the cast and, as was not to be missed, we also have plot holes and direction flaws. However, the ending of this film may surprise you! I was there, thanking the gods for the approaching end, when the last 2 minutes entered and it came to my mind: “we are what we are…”

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Georgan G

@RT98616417 May 18, 2024

Great acting in a well done scary plot filled with gore & horror. I could not take my eyes off the screen. Even if you are not a fan of the horror genre, this is worth your time.

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Jim Mickle

Director

Ambyr Childers

Iris Parker

Odeya Rush

Alyce Parker

Kelly McGillis

Marge

Wyatt Russell

Deputy Anders

Julia Garner

Rose Parker

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Synopsis

The Parkers, reclusive people who cling to ancient customs, find their secret lives threatened when a torrential downpour and the death of the family matriarch forces daughters Iris and Rose to assume special responsibilities.

Director: Jim Mickle
Producer: Rodrigo Bellott, Andrew Corkin, Nick Shumaker, Jack Turner, Nicholas Kaiser
Screenwriter: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Production Co: Belladonna Productions LLC
Rating: R (Disturbing Violence|Bloody Images|Language|Nudity|Some Sexuality)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $76.6K
Runtime: 1h 46m

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