Ooooo, lookie here, we made ART. Perhaps I should say, “We the Art.” I see the world of movie making as a giant Venn Diagram where one circle represents “I wanted to tell a story” and the other circle is “I wanted to say something.” This is essentially the battle between art and entertainment. The best films will do both, of course. Even though I personally lean towards storytelling over statement, I think it’s important to respect artistic intent. The problem I see is that a film like We the Animals is lodged so deeply in the “say something” circle, miles and miles away from intersection with the entertainment realm, that the film is difficult to watch for lack of entertainment value. Young filmmakers, I know you have something to say or else you wouldn’t be filmmakers … but here’s a tip: err on the side of storytelling whenever possible. Otherwise, who will be there to appreciate whatever statement you’re making?
Three aggressively identical brothers, Jonah, Joel, and Manny (Evan Rosado, Josiah Gabriel, Isaiah Kristian) live in the land of no shirts. Seriously, the lack of city, landmarks, and clothing made me believe this film was set in backwoods Florida. The fact that Paps (Raúl Castillo) is clearly Hispanic did not harm said thesis. And then at the end of the picture, it started snowing. That didn’t actually make the kids start wearing shirts, but it made make me rethink the venue.
I’m at a loss to describe We the Animals because the film is almost entirely plotless. This is much less a study of a protagonist overcoming a problem than what it’s like to be young, destitute, and shirtless 24/7. The three nearly identical boys are, luckily, blissfully unaware about how shitty their lives are. They happily chant, hunt, play, huddle, scheme, sing, battle, and sleep together. These rail-thin Hispanic children are hardly inseparable for at least the first hour, although sometimes our narrator, Jonah, wakes up early and draws in a book he hides under the bed. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hide something from two people who live in the same room and never leave your side?
Turns out dad has a temper, and after beating up mom (Sheila Vand), he leaves their squalor. Mom retreats into a shell at this time and the boys suddenly find life is even worse, which didn’t really seem possible. Hmmm, well, I guess if I’m being fair, the first 20 minutes of We the Animals described a happy family. And when a family is happy, shirts don’t matter. But when the dad leaves, happiness devolves into kids fighting over packets of soy sauce unearthed from the stagnant garbage. When you get to the soy sauce level of poverty, it’s time for a social worker.
I think we’re supposed to get that Jonah’s propensity for drawing is not only his personal artistic reflection, but it separates him from his brothers who are all hat and no cattle, er, shirt. Except for the hat part. I found this film fairly difficult to watch in that it takes a full hour for the one boy distinguish himself from the others and there is no plot to accompany the revelation. The characters in this film are very human in that they live and play and love and have absolutely no direction or goal. We the Animals is incredibly relatable for the human experience, yet will try the patience of any moviegoer waiting for a plot point. Jeremiah Zagar, you made a very honest film, bless you, and the forgiving among us will be reminded of Beasts of the Southern Wild … but y’all might remember I didn’t like that film, either.
Three brothers live close to the dirt
While commonfolk issues they skirt
In poverty they bask
Which is fine, yet I ask:
Can somebody please buy these kids a shirt?
Rated R, 94 Minutes
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Writer: Daniel Kitrosser, Jeremiah Zagar
Genre: Life doesn’t suck as much when you have nothing to compare it to
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Sociologists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Social workers
