Movie Review: 'We Are What We Are' -- 2.5 stars

We Are What We Are
2.5 stars
Directed by Jim Mickle
Starring Bill Sage, Julia Garner, Ambyr Childers
Rated R
Playing at Sunshine Cinema

"We Are What We Are" centers on a strange upstate New York family called the Parkers.

Far be it from me to tell you just how strange they are, though anyone who's seen the 2010 Mexican film upon which this flick is based will know the answer.

Suffice it to say that dad Frank (Bill Sage), daughters Rose (Julia Garner) and Iris (Ambyr Childers), and young son Rory (Jack Gore) keep to themselves for a good reason.

The film is slow and too self-serious to really work. The characters are underdeveloped and too many questions are unanswered.

But there's plenty to admire in the gothic, moody exploration of the timeless conflict between family tradition and modernity -- the emotional pull of the past set against the lure of the present.