Luca Guadagnino’s drama was a loving indie-pop meander about young Americans abroad.
DirectorLuca Guadagninoimagined an Adriatic army base at the nexus of every possible identity.
Fraser was a (definitely?)
Credit: Yannis Drakoulidis/HBO
gay fashionisto from New York, who struck up a friendship (I think?)
with (probably?)
Their parents were a shuffled pack of cultural trading cards.
Guadagnino staged one Richard-Sarah conversation like a duel, camera up close on actors' faces.
The third Trump-Clinton debate played on TV in the background: My symbolism sense is tingling!
Was the 2016 stuff essential toWe Are Who We Are, or was it more luscious wallpaper?
Italians know how to make a party look sacred.
Was this Eden about to fall?
All this mere hours after the presidential election.
Hard to know just how seriously to take all that, really.
Casting them as rigid military heavies counts as mind-blowing science fiction.
So this was a certain kind of TV thing.
Obvious critique would be to ponder if any human being has ever acted like any of these people.
Grazer is a sparkplug performer, already showing wide range between this and the delightfulShazam.
Still, Fraser always came off like a teenager dreamed up in an art gallery.
But you’ll never convince me that this Gen Z Frankenstein readslateDidion.
The finale made me realize something crucial aboutWe Are Who We Are: I absolutely love it.
This was vividly felt filmmaking; trying to explain it is way less fun than just dancing to it.
The foundations were myriad and unsteady: parents, friends, cool music, YouTube.
Monday’s finale is one last romanticism overdose.
I want to believe!!
She had a low-key New Wave cool, a good contrast to Grazer’s Jim Beam-chugging muchness.
I do wonder if there are more severe interpretations of how Cait’s specific struggles were dramatized.
A richer version of this narrative wouldn’t have relegated the politics to background noise.
Richard’s oh-shocking MAGA hats never reappeared.
Episode 7 featured (nameless) students talking about Afghanistan.
Otherwise, this was an army base where everyone respectfully avoided talking about forever wars.
“Our last day in Italy and we’re eating pizza from Domino’s?”
Danny complains in the finale.
Yet I’m so glad HBO and Sky Atlantic gave him this curious opportunity to explore the contemporary moment.
We will miss our artful meanders when post-pandemic TV drama doubles down on big-budget action crud.
The finale’s concert is a symphonic closing act.
The real high point is earlier, quieter, more delicate, and ridiculously beautiful.
Fraser and Cait are on the train ride to Bologna.
They have a lot to talk about, and they do not talk about anything.
Instead, they listen to “Time Will Tell,” sharing earbuds, leaning their foreheads together.
I swear, their faces plus the headphone cords form a heart shape.
They start singing, Fraser swaying, Cait’s finger striking the percussion beat.
There are so many clouds, and even the clouds look bright.Series grade: A-
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