What We Become (2015)
Sorgenfri (Original Danish Release Title)

Directed and Written By: Bo Mikkelsen

Rating:

Overall Rating: 3.5 Brains Out of 5

Plot: 3.5 Brains

Writing/Dialogue: 3 Brains

Acting: 4 Brains

Make-Up and Special Effects: 3.5 Brains

Cinematography: 4 Brains

Summary:

The 2015 Danish film, What We Become, follows a family of four as a mysterious virus spreads through their town, killing and transforming the residents. The movie opens with a neighborhood barbeque, where the audience is introduced to husband and wife Dino and Pernille, their teenage son Gustav, and young daughter Maj.

As the family enjoys their summer vacation, news of a strange and deadly virus spreads. Gustav, who’s more concerned with the new neighbor girl Sonja, doesn’t seem to take the threat seriously until the town is put under quarantine by the military. The family is sealed in their home by threat of figures in hazmat suits baring guns. Gustav’s curiosity and concern is peaked as he watches neighbors, including Sonja’s father, get aggressively carted off. The family receives no answers or explanations and are reliant on the military force for food and water deliveries.

Gustav decides to investigate and despite the orders of the military, leaves his home. He follows a truck back to where the infected are being taken. There, he witnesses hasty body disposal and aggressive treatment of people who he believes are simply sick. Unfortunately, Gustav is discovered and while he is escaping unwittingly releases a large truck of zombies.

The military, now unable to contain the situation, flee the town, leaving the residents to fend for themselves. Sonja and her infected mother, move in with Gustav and his family. After saving the family from the still mysterious zombie threat, their neighbor Casper and his girlfriend also join the group. After securing the house, the group must contend with a lack of food. Eventually Dino and Casper decide to face the unknown and go for a food run.

Back in the house Gustav and Sonja’s relationship blossoms. The two must deal with the death of Sonja’s mother, but Sonja’s grief appears short lived as she and Gustav have sex in the room next door shortly after their tragic discovery. Undenounced to the new couple, Sonja’s mom has begun turning into a zombie.

On the outside, Dino and Casper run into several zombies and discover the town has been blocked off and is under the guard of a military presence not afraid to shoot first and not ask questions. With no chance of escape, the pair continue their search for food and end up getting overwhelmed with zombies. Dino barely escapes with his life and Casper’s rifle, but sadly Casper is killed. Returning home, Dino discovers that his young daughter Maj left the house in search of her pet rabbit and is also under threat of the zombies.

Pernille and Gustav, who also went out in search of Maj, meet up with Dino to find Maj getting bitten by a zombie. The carry the injured child back to the house while trying to avoid the zombies chasing them. Back in the house, they are confronted by two more zombies, Sonja’s mother and Casper’s girlfriend. Racing upstairs, Gustav and Sonja barricade Gustav’s room and Sonja kills her mother by slowly ramming a spike through her eye. Pernille, Dino, and their daughter also find themselves in a somewhat secure room where they are forced to deal with the fact that their daughter is on the verge of becoming a zombie. Maj eventually turns and attacks her mother, Dino tries to kill himself but runs out of bullets and is also killed by zombie Maj. Gustav and Sonja manage to escape the overrun house and make it through the sea of zombies in the streets.

The film ends with Gustav and Sonja, the only survivors, running through the woods as an aerial shot reveals towns and cities of Denmark on fire.

(Pictured left to right) Maj, Pernille, Gustav, and Dino

Review:

Overall the film has a fairly comprehensive plot and is a very enjoyable watch. While a bit slow at the beginning, the unease and confusion of the characters plays well into building the suspense for the audience. The writing and dialogue is somewhat difficult to fully assess because the film is in Danish, but is still able to convey the character’s back story and carry the story forward. Most likely because I was unable to understand the dialog, I relied more on the acting to tell the story and was impressed, especially by the actor who played Gustav. Make-up and special effects, as well as cinematography, were also very professional and well done. The film felt very realistic with the exception of the slow motion shot of Sonja stabbing her mother in the eye, which utilized sub-par CGI.

Additionally, my main criticism is that the film felt like it was trying to cover too much in the amount of time they had. Most of the film is fairly slow and the threat and fear of the zombies doesn’t feel eminent. The ending seems rushed as suddenly the family runs out of food, Maj leaves the house and is bitten, Sonja’s mother turns, Casper is killed, and the house is attacked by a hoard of zombies who overwhelm them. After so much build up, too many conflicts come to a head all at once and there’s no time to mourn the loss of any of the characters or even process the events that have unfolded.


Connections and Concluding Thoughts:

Many tropes from American zombie films, especially Romero films, are shown in What We Become. Examples such as several gratuitous boob shots, the act of literally “boarding up the house,” a dumb and helpless female (Maj), and the idea that zombies are attracted to light, were all seen in the film. Also similar to American zombie films and readings such as World War Z, the zombies in What We Become result from a viral outbreak. This ties into the global fear of epidemics and mutated diseases and the impact they could have on a modern population.

Additionally, the other main source of conflict seemed to be based around the military and the unwavering, and borderline abusive control they had on the town. The family’s mistrust of the military and the lack of communication to the everyday civilians, conveys a fear of authority and the abuse of power.

The foreign nature of the film demonstrates the globalization of the zombie and the increasing popularity of the once solely American monster. The universal and repeated fears displayed in What We Become, further demonstrate how zombies can be utilized to reflect the fears of a culture, whether American or otherwise.

Movie Information:

What We Become can be found on Netflix, as well as iTunes, YouTube, Amazon video, Vudu, and Google Play for $3.99.

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3547682/