‘We Are Living Things’ (2022) Review: A Drama that Blends Sci-Fi and Humanity
“You’re the only living thing I’ve ever felt connected to.”
Antonio Tibaldi’s We Are Living Things is an exploration of loneliness — a moody drama that blends two genres and two meanings into one narrative. The definition of “alien” can be taken into two different accounts, one referring to extraterrestrial beings in outer space whereas, the other refers to illegal immigrants. In We Are Living Things, the theme of “illegal” immigrants is woven into the narrative and ties to the storyline about aliens from space. The narrative themes in We Are Living Things may seem uncomfortable, but they’re important and show the universality between the two outcasts.
Solomon (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) lives in the backlot of a recycling plant in Brooklyn. He spends his days intercepting extraterrestrial messages using a telescope he built using spare parts. He meets Chuyao (Xingchen Lyu), who works at a salon as a manicurist, and learns that she shares his interest in finding UFOs and aliens. Chuyao believes she was abducted as a child in China — now, she is trafficked as an escort, controlled by her pimp Tiger (Zao Wang). When Solomon kills Tiger for putting Chuyao in danger and his death spreads in the news, they become fugitives and head over to Arizona to find Constance (O-Lan Jones), a woman who keeps track of UFO sightings and witnessed his mother’s abduction a few years ago.
We Are Living Things unites Solomon and Chayou through their feelings of misplacement and loneliness as outcasts from society. The focus on immigration is important due to the current political climate in the United States, where the lives of undocumented Americans are constantly threatened by conservative people and lawmakers, like former president Trump. In the case of Chayou, who is a victim of human trafficking, her arc is disturbing. When Solomon becomes fascinated by Chayou after their meeting, he walks into her bedroom and steals a magnetic necklace and notices a painting of a UFO. This continues when he stalks and kidnaps her, and Chayou has to inform Tiger that she is being followed by someone, which leads the pimp to insert a tracker inside her neck and cover it with a tattoo. As the movie progresses, viewers find out about Solomon’s intentions to show Chayou what Tiger does to young women like herself. The movie shows the ugly reality of human trafficking but the following sequence of actions could have been written without kidnapping a character. It seems irrelevant to the narrative and finds it incredible unnecessary and uncomfortable to watch a victim of human trafficking be treated in this manner.
From this point on, the movie changes genre from a thriller to a road trip between two outcasts of society to find another chance in life. We Are Living Things brings the two characters together to find Solomon’s mother. From one lost soul to another, their connection becomes stronger as they drive through the rural landscapes of Arizona. It’s not a matter of finding someone who understands you but sharing the feeling of togetherness in a lonely world. Solomon and Chayou are bound together by their trauma and it brings them closer in an unusual way, considering how their acquaintance began during the first half of the movie. Even when they can barely speak to each other, it leads them on a journey to find the unknown in the deserts of Arizona.
We Are Living Things takes quite drastic measures to conclude their journey. It’s tense and includes other sequences such as Homeland Security invading Chayou’s workplace and the sexual acts Tiger forces her to engage with clients against her will. The ideas and themes are blended into the narratives, but it’s not executed properly. Tibaldi’s exploration of what “aliens” mean in the context of this narrative draws parallels between aliens in outer space and illegal immigrants. It’s a subtle metaphor that blends sci-fi elements and creates a dramatic story from the perspective of immigrants and the trouble they go through to find a place of belonging. Without explaining how these narratives are distinguished, it leaves viewers troubled to find the meaning of it all. If these troubled sequences were handled sensitively and the themes were explored properly, perhaps We Are Living Things could have left viewers with one message: everyone needs to be treated equally.
