Family Ties

 

Family trees have deep roots in film. Yes, there's an element of nepotism that is incredibly frustrating when you think of how many talented, hard-working creatives you know who simply don't have the same opportunity as someone with a known last name. That being said, it's impossible not to be curious at what kind of filmmakers the children of David Cronenberg have turned out to be. 

Quick Plot: The world is not good. Nature is revolting, and the government's new priorities are to encourage voluntary (for now) conscription. Serving your country is nice in theory, but in this case, you're not signing up for combat: it's voluntary execution. 

Charles York is mildly above it all. A  retired, once celebrated newsman living in awkward comfort with his iron chef wife Dawn, Charles summons his four adult children to a formal home dinner with some news: he and Dawn are going to enlist.

The kids are not all right. Rachel (Schitt's Creek Canada-certified Emily Hampshire) is rocking her way through scandal as a disgraced pharmaceutical CEO. Jared is a government mouthpiece publicly urging "those people" to sign up. Noah is a hardworking recovering alcoholic pianist. And failed actress Ashley's current ambition is to get cast in a video game commercial. 

The servicemen arrive to take care of business right as Dawn (understandably) gets cold feet and scrambles. Supervisor Bob is displeased, and delivers some pretty rough news: backing out of an enlistment contract has consequences. Someone with the last name of York has to make good on the terms. 

The siblings are given two hours to decide. It goes about as well as many Thanksgivings or crowded Christmas dinners do, which is to say there's a lot of screaming, airing of childhood grievances, and a few beatings. 

Directed by Caitlin Cronenberg (daughter of David, sister of Brandon) from Michael Sparaga's script, Humane suffers a bit in timing in being released so closely after Mike Flanagan's Fall of the House of Usher. There are some very specific family dynamics and character beats that feel so familiar, only Usher had the luxury of spreading its twisted humor and eat the rich dinner over eight courses of episodes. 

One of Humane's major drawbacks is that it just doesn't seem to have enough time to really dive into the Yorks' relationships. Noah and Ashley have a fairly clear bond as the two youngest, and for reasons I won't spoil, that serves as a very important factor in how the second half plays out. But Jared is simply all the worst parts of humanity in the frame of Jay Baruchel (who I have to keep reminding myself is not Justin Long) and Rachel simply doesn't have enough time with us for the audience to understand her whiplash journey.

Despite how negative some of these comments might sound, I actually enjoyed Humane. It has a stark and understated approach to a version of a society crumble that we haven't quite seen before, and the sort of clumsy violence is a fresh approach that in reality, makes a lot of sense. People give victims in horror movies a hard time for not always dispatching their attackers, but you know what? Actually killing someone (and in this case, your own sibling) is probably VERY DIFFICULT for most of us, even in the most heightened of genre circumstances. 

Cronenberg is aiming more for dark comedy than spine-tingling horror, and when it works (Enrico Colantoni's Bob has a lot to do with that), it has some pointed things to say about bureaucracy, capitalism, and sibling politics. I found the ending unsatisfying thematically, but the fact that I'm still turning things over in my head is certainly a good sign. 

High Points

Peter Gallagher is, and will always be, a genuine treasure, and while his part is fairly small, it's absolutely key that we understand exactly what kind of man Charles York is (and isn't), both to his family and the public. You get that easily with Gallagher's presence, and he manages to convey both his "great man" and "vain jerk" status in equal measure

Low Points

It's genuinely weird that Baruchel's Jared is never actually confronted about his own hypocrisy in pushing enlistment but doing everything possible to save himself from it. Maybe Cronernberg thought it was simply too obvious to point out, but the idea that his siblings would never call him on it is just, well odd

Lessons Learned

It's not a booty call if you live together

Reading the fine print is never more important than when committing something to the government

One burnt kernel will ruin the whole bag of popcorn (which, sorry to say Bob, is why you should always make yours in an actual popcorn maker and avoid microwaved slime)

Marketing Bonus

Guys, the Instagram account Bob mentions is real, and it's entirely popcorn kernel-based, and it makes me very, very happy

Rent/Bury/Buy

I realize that I had more negative things to say than positive in the above paragraphs, but I still find myself thinking about Humane and wanting to discuss it more. Now streaming on Shudder, it's certainly worth your time.