Humane
This week sees the growth of the Cronenberg cinematic family tree as Caitlin Cronenberg enters it with her directorial debut “Humane” which features Jay Baruchel, Peter Gallagher, and Emily Hampshire among the cast. Those who are coming to this film expecting more of the body horror imagery and sequences that can be cast in the works of David Cronenberg or Brandon Cronenberg should, for the most part, lower their expectations of surrealism and terror. However, there is a lot of the thematic at play this is yet another movie about the loss of control over one’s own self, in this case through the body or bodies.
The script by Michael Sparaga begins with an intriguing idea the enforced euthanization of people due to climate change and overpopulation. But it then actually has near zero idea of what to do with it which as it turns out is quite unnecessary as the Cronenberg film actually loses itself into a number of non believable actions taken by non believable people, in a uniquely dull style of shooting. In fact the scariest part about “Humane” is the sheer fact and concept of how frighteningly realistic its nightmarish vision is. But the way this film deals with the people’s view on the global crisis is wrong because these people do not get to see any motivation to care about these individual people who are supposed to represent global problems.
The entire event of ‘Humane’ takes place on a select day at the luxury residence of Charles York (Peter Gallagher), a former news presenter who tries to reunite his family in a world which has been given a shocking announcement that the population must be reduced by 20%. Who would get euthanized? Would a lawless scenario similar to the “Purge” be established? One of the most liikely sons of York, Jared (Jay Baruchel) doesn’t look like the saving kind, but he’s the one on TV ranting about how the establishment believes euthanizing the country’s people is what’s best.
The family reunion takes an interesting turn when Charles informs the children that he and his latest wife, Dawn (Uni Park), have made the decision to leave the world and a disreputable technician named Bob (Enrico Colantoni) appears to assist in that. While the devastation that such an announcement evokes is still in the air, something goes wrong of course and the children are required to designate someone else to carry out the order. One cannot help but imagine how that goes. Anger, disappointment, regrets, and other ill feelings constitute the major portion of the film’s plot, allowing the audience to relate with some of the emotions witnessed in an episode of “Succession” where Roy children have the unfortunate task of choosing one of their siblings to be executed.
It would be interesting to see it in that manner rather than what this film turned out to be. Most of what is interesting in the narrative of ‘Humane’ is probably not in the main story with the exception that a Cronenberg made a film that has some Whartonism in it, also important in how it depicts the booting down of the characters from the heights of their privileges and watching them go at each other in the mud for the chance of returning to the heights from which they were thrown over. It is hard to deny that the social commentary discussing points included in ‘Humane’ plans to address are some of the more interesting aspects, yet too many of them come off as surface-level and flirty with privileges without really saying much about it. A telecaster on behalf of his state, Jerry is willing to go the extra mile to retain his position, including the treachery of offering up his own child. What can be expected of someone who doesn’t act on their words?
Baruchel is said to have genuinely impressed people in yet another role, some might go as far as saying he has never given a bad performance, in this case as an anthropologist who studies the animals he wishes to be the alpha of, the plate.
Yes, there is some home entertainment to be had as Colantoni’s character someone who ought to love the job as he’s done it for quite a while ever since the euthanasia order began manages to get some decent beats in.
In a very different setting where this would work, it’s a killer that every other element is somewhat underwhelming. The other three children, Abigail, Grace and Sebastian chacon play the other three York children, and none of them come across as three dimensional, which is a critical issue when the film is so dependent on bounding off each other in a single settings. Hampshire comes off as the most blatant sociopath, and one with a 20% number on it, thinking it would be drastic if it was doubled. Bale is just a little in it and doesn’t do much. Chacon as the adopted child of York threatens to take things to a level that is exciting only to be discarded for a morbid twist.
Perhaps this environment would be more tolerable if “Humane” had better visual language. Cronenberg at some stage towards the end gets into the mix with the gory close up shots and gore scenes but it is obvious throughout the majority of this film that very little us too much is sight. How it shifts from very low light to blinding harsh lights situated directly overhead is something one expects in an interrogation chamber.
“Humane” has a few interactive elements and assets deployed around the documentary, mostly within the news clips of the film showcasing how the plight is being tackled in other parts of the globe. The movie is a clear retelling of COVID, where a father figure in the form of an entrepreneur gaining from mistruth and panic becomes an enlivening start of a one location drama. But it is more an idea than an implementation all this. At the end, “Humane” is appealing within itself, which is sad, because such good material tells rather banal story content.
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