We (Artsploitation Films Blu-Ray Review)

Is We Trash or Treasure?

Blu Ray Distributed By: Artsploitation Films / February 18, 2020

Sex, nihilism and aimless youth…in a Belgian-Dutch border village, eight privileged teenagers play increasingly dangerous games of self-discovery one hot summer. They challenge each other and themselves and soon, their sexual curiosity starts to blur the lines between right and wrong. Their adventure starts aimlessly, idyllically. They light fires at their clubhouse out in the sticks, pull pranks and have it off. Those kicks prove not to be enough. Their originally innocent sex games gradually turn into professionally sold porn, sexual assault, prostitution and blackmail. Their playful lives acquire a dark undercurrent and come to a crashing halt when something goes badly wrong. This modern coming-of-age story is an adaptation of the controversial novel “Wij” by Elvis Peeters.

Jamie’s Take (1.5 / 5)

I must be getting old. Am I out of touch with today’s youth? I sure as shit don’t have a clue how Instagram or Tik Tok work. Just this week I finally got Zoom working on my phone. What’s my point you may ask? Well, I just got done watching We, a Belgium drama about eight teens (four boys and four girls) and I was left thinking to myself how happy I am that I do not have kids. Isn’t that a horrible thought? But if I had a kid who turned out to be an asshole like these little shits in We, I would have turned my kid into the next Punky Brewster and leave it to fend for itself.

We takes place in the summer in a quiet small town, told in a Rashamon-style as each teen tells his or her side of the story on what happened during this summer where they experimented with sex, prostitution, blackmail and violence. Right off the bat it’s apparent that these teens are on trial for something and unfortunately, we the viewer gets to be subjected to their atrocities.

There is no real explanation as to why these kids do what they do but apparently it is out of boredom and curiosity. These little bastards come up with an idea to make money by not only steal from their parents but to make quick cash by prostituting themselves to the rich, secretly recording the incident and blackmail that particular person into giving them what they want. While I find this concept interesting, there is no protagonist in this film. There is no one to sympathize with or relate to. If one of the kids had a conscious and the film focused on that one person, I feel We could have been a better film or one that would hold my interest. Instead, We is very much like Alpha Dog or Kids or Gummo which were three films I hated that involved young people. If you happen to like those movies or the works of Larry Clark or Harmoney Korine, than perhaps you may enjoy We.

Maybe I have a hard time sympathizing with or understanding where these teens are coming from and why they do such things. It was like watching Goodfellas where every character was Joe Pesci. These kids lie, cheat, show no remorse for human or animal life (one fucking kid tortures a puppy) and yet the film makers decided to briefly show each kids parents and how tough they can be on their kids or not understand them. Boo fucking hoo.

If anything, the acting by these teens was very good and I would hope that each of them can someday become a star as the performances are quite good. I was a little taken back at the amount of nudity and graphic sex there was in We (I would assume or hope the shots of actual penetration / intercourse was performed by body doubles) and how brave these young actors were in showing off their Belgium boners and clean snappers. You would think that a movie posters of nude butts would have had me give We a five can rating, right? These fannies fail. And wouldn’t it have been more interesting to have cast normal looking teens? Teens that were overweight, or had acne, or braces? While the performances are the only saving grace to this movie, I would have liked to have seen average looking teens who weren’t all that attractive.

While the blu ray looks nice and I had no complaints, I have read some reviews where the transfer looked murky. I didn’t think so, it looked fine by me. The subtitles go by pretty fast so it was hard to keep up at times but that’s because like most millennials, these kids never shut the fuck up.

Another big letdown is the fact the film only has a trailer. I would have loved to have seen interviews with this cast as to why they were drawn to such a film or even hear an audio commentary track by the director and his reasonings for making such a vile and bleak movie.

Just to be clear, I was not offended by We. I didn’t find We disturbing or hard to watch (aside from the scene with the dog). I just didn’t want to spend 100 minutes with these careless and idiotic teens. Everyone in We is an asshole and eventually become monsters not just to others but to each other. The issue is there is no relatable character, one you hope succeeds or you feel sorry for, one that you route for. Nope, they are all little shits. Sigh…maybe I just don’t “get it”. Oh well. Now get off my lawn.