Tenemos la Carne

Mexico / France • 2016 • 79m •

• Directed by: Emiliano Rocha Minter. • Starring: Noé Hernández, María Evoli, Diego Gamaliel, Gabino Rodríguez, María Cid. • Music by: Esteban Aldrete.

After wandering a ruined city for years in search of food and shelter, two siblings find their way into one of the last remaining buildings. Inside, they find a man who will make them a dangerous offer to survive the outside world.

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Trailer

1:29

Review:

There is a select genre of film in the world that doesn't fall into one specific category. It can be science fiction, western, mystery, drama or more. It is a wide ranging genre that you won't find listed among categories on Netflix of Amazon Prime or Hulu. I call the genre "What the hell did I just watch?" This category often rambles from one scene to the next, sometimes never connecting those scenes or plunging us into what feels like a drug fueled exploration of themes with no sense of direction or even providing little to no story as it moves forward. Many times that isn't so much a question of no story so much as it is the writerdirector putting his own vision on the screen even if the rest of us can't make head or tail of that vision. WE ARE THE FLESH falls into this genre.

Let me start by trying to explain what we seem to be watching. A man is confined to his home in what must be a post-apocalyptic world. He mixes various items into a vat and extracts from that some form of drug that he both uses a stopperful at a time and trades for eggs with some unseen benefactor. Into his world arrive a brother and sister hungry and looking for a place to crash. With a maniacal glee and a look reminiscent of Charles Manson, he takes them in, feeds them and eventually breaks them down to the point they have sex with one another. More happens but I'll leave it at that for those inclined to take the journey being told here.

But I should also let you know that the journey is strange and by the end leaves you wondering what it was you just watched. It makes you question what the point of the movie was or if there even was one. Maybe there isn't one. Or maybe this is an art film where only the director can interpret the film, translating what the images he placed on screen meant or represented. In other words it's more art film than your average movie. If you like that you'll enjoy this. If you like more straightforward fare then this is one you'll hate.

There aren't many straight out disturbing images here as many films in this genre are prone to offer (consider the odd "baby" in David Lynch's ERASERHEAD) but it will offer something that people will talk about and discuss or be offended by. Short of watching a porn flick the film offers plenty of sexual situations and close ups of genitalia. It also offers what appears to be various forms of on film sex starting with oral sex. If you're easily offended that should be your clue not to seek this film out. If it doesn't offend you don't think that this film will stimulate you. It's sort of like porn on acid with bright colored lights shining on the action and shot in a weird world of curved walls and slanted flats.

When all was said and done the ending twisted the entire story I'd just watched. Yes, it has a twist ending. It doesn't make the movie good or bad but makes it even stranger still. Once more, whether you view that as a good thing or a bad thing depends on how you view the movie. For me it's not something I will revisit and was more bad than good. It left me feeling nothing except wondering how funding for films like this seems to come easily for some while other projects I would find more interest in are left in the dust. But that's just my perspective. Some will come away loving this.

As far as the disc being offered here once more Arrow Video outdoes themselves. Would anyone expect less? The quality of the print is sharp, crisp and clean. Love or hate the images they are there to see in perfect clarity. The extras are for fans of the film and the director offering two shorts by director Emiliano Rocha Minter (Dentro and Videohome), interviews with director Emiliano Rocha Minter and cast members Noé Hernández, María Evoli and Diego Gamaliel, a video essay by critic Virginie Sélavy, the trailer and a still gallery. The film is in Spanish but English subtitles are available.

Review by Mark Turner from the Internet Movie Database.