We Monsters

A strange tale of destiny shaped by the consequences of a thoughtless deed, filmmaker Sebastian Ko's We Monsters serves up a portrait of a world spinning out of control. Paul (Mehdi Nebbou), an underemployed musician and single father, is driving his daughter Sarah (Janina Fautz) to a camp that she doesn't want to attend when they stop to pick up Sarah's school chum, Charlie (Marie Bendig). Pulling onto a shoulder of the road so the girls can run into the woods to relieve themselves, Paul becomes alarmed when the pair don't return. He finds Sarah alone, teetering on the edge of a dam and maintaining that she pushed Charlie down to the rocks below. Paul's sudden instinct to protect Sarah and enlist her in a cover-up soon becomes a black hole that swallows everyone from his ex-wife (Ulrike C. Tscharre) to Charlie's troubled, once abusive father (Ronald Kukulies). An intriguing and disturbing film with a twist, this is recommended. (T. Keogh)