#5 - What We Become (2015)

One of the best things about Hollywood no longer being the only producer of movies, is that other cultures are finally getting into the horror movie genre.  Asian horror is a huge thing now, but there's other countries getting into it, India and I think I even saw a Spanish horror movie a few years back.  Scandinavian horror films are out there, and they're coming to get you, Barbara!  I guess it makes sense in a region where it snows like 10 months out of the year.  What else have they got to do but watch movies and drink, right?  No wonder they're the happiest places on Earth.

What We Become (2015) is an intertwined tale of several families living in a scandinavian community of what look like apartment houses or something, at the end of a good summer.  The only problem is, people are starting to become ill.  Kids are throwing up at block parties, old people are dying (uh, well, earlier than usual, I guess), and the authorities are starting to get worried.  What could the mysterious illness be, and who's infected?

I apologize for my ignorance in not knowing what country actually made this movie.  It's on Netflix if you have some idea of what the language is, but I had subtitles on, and I wasn't paying attention to the words the actors and actresses were speaking.  If I had paid more attention to the dialogue, I might have been able to figure out which language it was, but the best I can figure, it's Norwegian, or Swedish, or maybe Finnish.  Yeah, that probably covers all the ones I can think of.  :-)  The acting and effects seemed pretty decent, and the plot made a basic sort of sense, given that the characters involved really didn't have much idea of what was going on.  I don't know any of the actors because they were all foreign, but they are probably veteran actors from their home country.

Anyway, it starts out a little slow and isn't much on action, but it develops the characters to some extent, and even though it felt like I had only known some of the people such a short time, I could at least identify with what they were going through.  I even felt bad for the poor woman who was only on screen for like 2 minutes, who had lost her husband and had two kids at home to feed.  She was just a glorified extra, but the poor woman was doing her best, and the movie makes you feel that.

Worth a watch, and if there's a sequel, that would even be worth a watch too.  I don't think I'd need to watch it again, because there really wasn't anything new or unusual here.  I don't want to give away any spoilers, and the minute you see the illness breaking out, you'll know what it is.  You've probably already guessed it, just from my post, but don't let that stop you from watching the movie.  What We Become is leaving Netflix in 5 days, so if you want to check it out, better hurry!

That's all for tonight!  Enjoy your weekend, and enjoy the last days of Oktoberfest!  :-D