The modest but effective horror film, “You Are Not Me,” opens with Aitana (Roser Tapias) and her wife, Gabi (Yapoena Silva), arriving in Spain (from Brazil) with their adopted infant son, João (Boubcar Djitte Silla). At the airport, their luggage is lost. On the car ride to Aitana’s family’s estate, they have an accident. And to make matters worse, when Aitana surprises her parents for Christmas a week early, she is not welcomed with open arms; in fact, her appearance is described as “inopportune.”
Aitana is irritated by all these events, as well as other things that occur, but maybe she is just tired after a long, turbulent flight. However, when she meets Nadia (Anna Kurika) — whom she startles when she heads up to her bedroom — Aitana is really taken aback. Why did she not know about this woman who is caring for Aitana’s disabled brother, Saúl (Jorge Motos), living in Aitana’s room, and wearing Aitana’s clothes? Aitana thinks something is definitely not right about this arrangement, and while Gabi thinks her wife is just “being weird,” Aitana is determined to get to the bottom of things. When she confronts her parents, Dori (Pilar Almeria) and Justo (Alfred Picó), they are annoyed with their daughter’s behavior.
Aitana, however, feels she is being gaslit, and “You Are Not Me” joins those films, like “Rosemary’s Baby” or the recent “Cuckoo,” where the main character has to prove she is not losing her mind. Of course, when Aitana has a terrifying nightmare involving João being dropped from a great height, or she finds it odd that Saúl talks to their dead grandfather — which Justo thinks is fine — she begins to question her sanity. And when Dori confides in Gabi about Aitana’s “crisis” from three years ago, there is a suggestion that Aitana is an unreliable narrator.
Part of the fun of the film (and others of its ilk) is figuring out the clues and reevaluating them later to see how they are both real and suspect. When Aitana snoops around Nadia’s possessions, she finds things, like family jewelry, that make her question Nadia further. When Aitana sees her photograph replaced in a frame by one of Nadia, she becomes angry with her mother. And when Aitana is trapped in her room, she feels she is being targeted. Aitana is convinced that Nadia is responsible for literally and figuratively locking her out of her family. As she learns more about Nadia’s identity and what this stranger is doing for her family, Aitana is determined to make Nadia leave.
More than once, Aitana herself wants to leave, but the levelheaded Gabi insists they stay. As Dori and Justo makes Aitana feel “unaccepted,” she believes that Nadia is the daughter that her parents really wanted. A scene where Justo calls for his daughter, and Aitana realizes he means Nadia, is as darkly funny as it is disheartening for Aitana.
The film gets its mileage, which may vary for viewers, watching Aitana grapple with the uncomfortable situations she finds herself in at her family’s home. Dori warns Aitana not to cause a scene during the fancy Christmas dinner they are hosting. But Aitana tells her brother, within Nadia’s earshot, that this interloper must go. When a catfight ensues, it is both amusing and not unexpected.
“You Are Not Me” is a slow-burn thriller that takes it time and addresses issues of race, class, and sexuality as it builds towards its big reveal. Aitana thinks her parents are unhappy because she is queer, and their cool interactions with her, Gabi, and João cause her concern. Likewise, it is hard not to wince when João is referred to as a “chocolate bonbon.” The issues of economic inequity also come into play in ways best left to be discovered.
Wisely, writer/directors Marisa Crespo and Moisés Romera let the tension simmer throughout its first two acts, ratcheting things up with a jump scare when what is really going on becomes clear. Yes, it is sinister. Yes, it involves bloodletting. And, yes, it involves Aitana confronting something horrific.
As Aitana, Roser Tapias does well playing righteous, even though she should be more careful reading the room. Aitana is repeatedly told, “Now is not the time,” when she gets her back up, but she stubbornly refuses to listen. Still, it is easy to root for Aitana because Tapias invests her performance with emotion that makes her likable even when she is behaving badly.
The supporting cast of Pilar Almeria, Alfred Picó, and Yapoena Silva, are all appropriately pokerfaced, while Jorge Motos, as Aitana’s brother Saúl, is a standout as someone she feels she can trust during this time of uncertainty.
“You Are Not Me” may have a familiar set up, but this nifty film delivers a decent payoff.
“You Are Not Me” | Directed by Marisa Crespo and Moisés Romera | Opening December 6 at the Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan | Distributed by Doppelgänger Releasing.
