WHAT WE BECOME

Pernille and Dino live a carefree life in the beautiful and quiet Copenhagen suburb of Sorgenfri, together with their daughter Maj and their son Gustav. Their youngest, Maj, is a sweet and obedient kid, while their eldest, Gustav, is going through various puberty crises. But the arrival of an attractive across the street neighbor does wonders for his hormone levels. Then the summer quiet is brutally disturbed by two sudden deaths in the neighborhood. The cause is an unknown virus that seems to be spreading rapidly. It’s serious enough for the government to take drastic measures. Sorgenfri is closed off from the outside world. Then the inhabitants are ordered to stay inside at all times. Some disagree and try to flee, but the response of the ever more present military is swift and lethal. Finally all homes are hermetically sealed. The days go by. Food becomes scarce and there’s no cure in sight. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

When you’re a character in a horror movie, the most horrible things can happen to you. But if you, as the viewer, feel completely nothing for all those unlucky souls on the screen, you might as well switch to the Disney channel. Danish director and screenwriter Bo Mikkelsen has understood this. He takes the time to let us get to know the characters, so that we can bond with them and feel for them when their carefree world becomes ever smaller and more dangerous, until the only choices left are the ones that will tear them apart. What We Become is definitely one of the best European horror films of last year.