“You Are Not Me” - Film Review
Not everyone looks forward to the holidays. As much as they’re supposed to be about celebrating one another, embracing the spirit of giving, and spending time with loved ones, there is perhaps no time of year that’s filled with more challenges. It may seem antithetical at first glance, but the Christmas holidays are a great setting for horror movies. The days are longer and darker, stress is at an all-time high, and many people are forced to spend time in close proximity to strangers. You Are Not Me sees the potential horrors that can be mined during this time of year and milks them for all they’re worth.
Aitana (Roser Tapias) hasn’t seen her family in three years. In that time, she has met a partner, Gabi (Yapoena Silva), and the two have adopted a son. They’d planned to visit Aitana’s parents (Pilar Almería & Álvaro Báguena) for New Year’s Eve, but decided to instead surprise them a week earlier, on Christmas Eve. As soon as they arrive, Aitana feels something is off. A strange woman (Pilar Martínez) greets them at the door, but even stranger is another woman, Nadia (Anna Kurika), who Aitana’s parents are treating like their own child. The only person who’s happy to see Aitana and Gabi is Aitana’s brother (Jorge Motos). As the night progresses, Aitana can’t shake the unsettling feeling that something sinister is unfolding in her childhood home.
Courtesy of Doppelgänger Releasing
At first, You Are Not Me appears to be about parents who can’t accept that their daughter is gay and have replaced her with someone they can mold into their ideal child. Nadia was kicked out of her home at a young age by her parents and was living a transient lifestyle until she met Aitana’s parents, who gave her a roof over her head in exchange for doing work around the house. When they meet, Aitana is sure of her family’s motives when it comes to Nadia, but You Are Not Me morphs into something more than the fear of being replaced. Instead, the film is a commentary on social class and toxic family dynamics that rely on respecting elders above all else.
Courtesy of Doppelgänger Releasing
Call it personal preference, but a movie that traps all the characters in one space during a highly stressful event, like a holiday dinner, always provides a claustrophobic good time. You Are Not Me parses out its information like a slow leak in a faucet. The audience is in the same boat as Aitana, who cannot recognize her own family members. A sense of dread oozes into every corner of the house, which feels like it shrinks with every scene. Even the parents and their guests, who have the fullest picture of what the events of the evening will look like, have an underlying fear that is different from what Aitana is experiencing. You Are Not Me is one of those films whose destination is not difficult to guess, but whose journey makes it worthwhile.
There’s a cruelty to You Are Not Me that’s initially hidden by its holiday setting, but that becomes apparent once the true intentions of this family get-together are revealed. The film makes the case for more familial drama-thrillers to be set around the holidays and redefines what it means to be a “Christmas movie.”
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