Wednesday, February 5, 2020

WE (2018) (Artsploitation Blu-ray Review)


WE (2018)


Label: Artsploitation Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated

Duration: 100 Minutes
Audio: Dutch DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (2.65:1) 
Director: Rene Eller 
Cast: Tijmen Govaerts, Aime Claeys, Salome van Grunsven, Laura Drosopoulos, Pauline Casteleyn, Friso van der Werf, Lieselot Siddiki, Gaia Cozijn, Maxime Jacobs


We (2018) is a dark coming-of-age story about eight Dutch-Belgian teenagers who spend their summer vacation exploring youthful excess and sexual curiosity in a way that quickly transgresses from being playful to straight-up depraved, bringing to mind the sexual delinquency of Kids, the nihilism of River's Edge, and the artful darkness of The Virgin Suicides, all spun into an enthralling and mesmerizing film that explores the darker curiosities of teens.


The things these teens get into range from, at first, playfully creating online pornography and flashing their naughty bits at cars from an overpass, to a prostitution and blackmail, violent backyard abortion, arson, and covering up death of one of their own, and laying that blame onto someone who, while not exactly innocent, didn't actually do it. 


It's told from four different perspectives, with each teen recalling in hindsight the things that lead to the events of that fateful summer. I found the film absolutely engaging, while not diving too deep into the lives of the teens it at least gives you a voyeuristic peek inside the curious group dynamics that leads these teens astray, seemingly lacking any shred of morality. 


it's not the sort of film that seems overly concerned with being political to me, or even that into exploring the personal motivations of the teens, it just kind of dirtily washes over you like a wave of artful exploitation.


We (2018)is an explicit and gorgeous looking exploration of teen self-discovery, chock full of sex and seediness, the cast of young people are fearless and absolutely commit to the dark hedonistic tendencies of the characters they inhabit, baring a lot of flesh along the way. This is my favorite film so far from Artsploitation, a film that perfectly encapsulates the name of the distributor, a sublime mixture of arthouse and exploitation.