HBO should go ahead and label this, “Luca Guadagnino: The Series”. The filmmaker, best known for his stories of passion, self-discovery, and drama in idyllic Italy brings all of his cinematic stylings to TV with We Are Who We Are, a series that looks to capture the exhilaration of first love.
It and Shazam star Jack Dyan Grazer plays Fraser, an introverted teen from New York who moves onto an Italian military base with his mothers, played by Alice Braga and Chloe Sevigny. He begins to form a special bond with Caitlin (newcomer Jordan Kristine Seamón), a popular girl who has been on the base for years.
From the surreal atmosphere to the explorations of love and identity, this may look like the small-screen equivalent to Call Me By Your Name. Guadagnino rejects that notion harshly in a recent Variety interview…
“I will never complain about people’s laziness, but that sounds very lazy,” Guadagnino said. “‘Call Me By Your Name’ is about the past seen through the prism of a cinematic narrative and this is about the here and now. This is about the bodies and souls of now. I think they are so different.”
Guadagnino wrote and directed all eight episodes of We Are Who We Are. HBO will debut the series on Monday, September 14th.
SYNOPSIS: Jack Dylan Grazer stars as shy and introverted fourteen-year-old Fraser, who moves from New York to a military base in Veneto with his mothers, Sarah (Chloë Sevigny) and Maggie (Alice Braga), who are both in the U.S. Army. Tom Mercier (Jonathan) plays Sarah’s assistant. Jordan Kristine Seamón stars as the seemingly bold and confident Caitlin, who has lived with her family on the base for several years and speaks Italian. Compared to her older brother Danny (Spence Moore II), Caitlin has the closer relationship with their father, Richard (Kid Cudi), and does not communicate well with her mother Jenny (Faith Alabi). Caitlin is the lynchpin of her group of friends, which includes Britney (Francesca Scorsese), an outspoken, witty, sexually uninhibited girl; the cheerful and good-natured Craig (Corey Knight), a soldier in his twenties; Sam (Ben Taylor), Caitlin’s possessive boyfriend, and Craig’s younger brother; Enrico (Sebastiano Pigazzi), a playful eighteen-year-old from Veneto, who has a weak spot for Britney; and Valentina (Beatrice Barichella), an Italian girl.
