The movie is based in a world that has almost been destroyed by environmental disasters not that much explain but you would assume its the obvious, humans ripping of and taking apart the planet, countries all over the world and taking extreme measures since human species is on the brink of extinction, there need to be a sacrifice that wont go in vane but also once taken the decision its show time. Humane (2024) is Caitlin Cronenberg directional debut, taking the audience into a world that is not much far from the current reality of present days but I doubt and hope we ever get to the curse of action governments were force to take this extreme measures due to overpopulation, a scenario where citizens are urged to "sing up" for a state supported assisted dying program in exchange for a large payment to their family who would remain alive, its the Thanos way just with a monetary reward.
During the movie details like numbers and how the rest of the world looks like are not given as some might think would happen, the movie is not really about the state of the planet and the rest of the population, all that becomes an assumption, the movie is more about how people can degenerate when threatened with the unknown, the director creates this close environment plot that makes the audience imagine whats going on out of the house where the drama goes down, I really enjoy that aspect, with all the ethical standards been violated and also showing the importance of life. The movie is about a wealthy and known family since the head of the family is a well known public figure who "sing up", the family is not perfect by any means, but something comes up that will change the reasons why he did it and latter on unchain an aftermath that involves the entire family with his wife going MIA the day they had to DIE since everything is coordinated, now the government came in to collect, they are short one body so they left it to the rest of the adults in the family, one has to go down.
Platform: Amazon
Release: April 26, 2024
Just Enough of Horror and Social Commentary
From the very beginning of Humane (2024) the audience is introduce to an atmosphere of discomfort with a very disturbing family, multiple arguments, some with a lot of moral standards and the main topic at hand with their father decided to sing up to the program, basically turning him into a martyr, probably a way to solidify his legacy, but it was mostly a power move to cover up for some shady stuff he has done in the past. A good third of the movie is about how fucked up society is, basically at the verge of a breakdown but director Cronenberg did a good job at steering the ship before the movie became a lecture on this topics then starts to become more a mix with elements of horror and social commentary, giving the characters their own moral standards and reasons why any of the four children need or not to die, consider they are all adults, one will do it for money, the other is selfish, other was ashamed of her father past and there was one in particular that they other three jump to because he has been the black sheep of the family for many years, the artist who is a drug addict (was) now clean but no one believe him.
The four are not locked up inside the house and have to decide who dies because the government is one body short and came in to collect another body besides their father since their step mother ran away. The movie does a perfect job at demonstrating what people are really capable of when they find themself against the wall, its easy taking decisions when its not your ass on the line, as the movie unfolds the real motives of the characters reveal, lie after lie falling apart and the audience get to see the worst of them, greed, selfishness and corruption; showing the audience how the potential of evil is almost limitless even on the best families.
Performances that Elevate the Scenes
The cast did a great in my opinion did a great job at bringing out the characters feelings, specially Jay Baruchel playing the role of Jared, one of the sons, an unscrupulous self centered man whose ethics were worthless, been on the government side in front of the camera pretending go be someone else influence by wealth and power but when it was his ass on the line he was a total different person making his character's problems and conflicts fascinating, if you are a fan of watching people in the movies suffer psychologically.
There was another character that really caught my attention that is Rachel, another of the four sons at the house that night, her role is played by Emily Hamsphire, a cold and calculating businesswoman who wont stop at nothing and for no one to get what she wants, she is the one who convince two of the four brothers to com plot against the black sheep of the family and make him the target, getting on their minds and giving them reasons and motives that were not theirs, it was her wanting to safe her ass since she got so much to live for and with the money their father has left them it would be now decided between three and not four of the children, money can buy souls and dignities.
The rest of the cast did a great job too, I don't find that any weak performance as from each and everyone of the characters you could feel their problems and emotions through the night event.
A Promising Start for a New Voice in Horror
Humane (2024) is not a perfect movie by any means but I think we starting to probably watch a trend growing, a new voice in the horror genre, probably already existed but now days in our society is very popular the psychological aspect of things, same goes for horror movies. Caitlin Cronenberg seem to know this, she has a set of skills, vision and ability to tell a story that is both disturbing and philosophical. During the scenes at the house when the four brothers are trying to kill each other there was always this thrill of when and who was going to attack who, waiting for the one who will jump from the back of behind the door to stab the other from the back, in the gore department there was none and I thought it would be the perfect scenario to bring up more of that physical horror aspect, but what really came out to light was the physiological aspect as how brothers betray each other for their own motives with none of them wanting to die but at certain point in time all of them wanting one of them to die.
In conclusion Humane (2024) is a movie that gave the audience motive to keep talking about it once it over, there are many things that were not explain leaving them to suspense, a powerful critique of the current human conditions we all live in our current society that also remind us the re precautions of our choices and how low we are capable of going when its time to choose between our own selfish preservation.
Caitlin Cronenberg directional debut was a success, even though the movie was not the greatest it was not a failure at all, a great one time watch type of movie, the ending was a bit weak and could have been better, as a viewer I was expecting a bit of revenge and payback. Director brought us a great blend of horror, social commentary and moral complexity, I can only imagine how her next projects will be once her skills as a director become more refine.
Not a movie for everyone, not a movie to watch expecting people cutting each others throats left and right. The movie was very close to what I was expecting to my movie preview, I would recommend it and give it a solid 7/10.
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