By Seth Lukas Hynes
Humane
Starring Peter Gallagher, Enrico Colantoni and Emily Hampshire
MA15+
4.5/5
I’m already a big fan of her father David and brother Brandon, and now Caitlin Cronenberg makes an excellent directorial debut with the sci-fi psychological thriller Humane.
In a dystopian near future where the nations of the world must reduce their population by twenty percent, Charles York (Peter Gallagher) informs his children that he and his wife Dawn (Uni Park) have chosen to “enlist” to be euthanized.
When Dawn changes her mind and flees, the euthanasia squad demands that another member of the York family take her place.
Humane’s taut, darkly funny narrative brings sibling rivalry to a macabre extreme, combining elements of family drama, home invasion and even slasher movies, and the film is full of witty dialogue and memorable performances.
Gallagher plays a noble father whose efforts to protect his family quickly go south, and Enrico Colantoni is captivating as Bob, the leader of the euthanasia squad.
All the more chilling for his giddy politeness, Bob is a professional who loves his job, which happens to be state-approved killings.
Emily Hampshire is a contemptuous problem-solving dynamo as Rachel, and Jay Baruchel has the most overtly comedic role as Jared, a smarmy pundit who must now experience the horrific policies he promotes. As the York children gang up on their troubled adopted brother Noah (Sebastian Chacon), the cast does a great job of portraying the vast gulf between rationalizing a murder and actually committing it.
The world-building is insubstantial (like Civil War) and the environmentalism references are slightly heavy-handed, but the bleak background is still an effective springboard for the dark drama.
An outstanding debut from Caitlin Cronenberg and a solid showcase of small-scale suspense, clever dialogue and compelling performances, Humane is available to rent or buy on iTunes.
